George Bush gave his last general assembly speech as president [Reuters]

In a confrontational speech on Tuesday in New York, he said: "The American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road, and its next rulers must limit their interference to their own borders."

He also said that Israel's "Zionist regime" was headed for collapse.

Addressing 120 world leaders, he said that Israel was manipulating Europeans and Americans.

"The Zionist regime is on a definite slope to collapse, and there is no way for it to get out of the cesspool created by itself and its supporters," he told delegates.

On the subject of Iran's nuclear programme, he said that Iran would "resist" Western bullies attempting to prevent the country acquiring civilian nuclear technology, which western nations are fearful could be used to develop nuclear weapons.

Refering to the US and its allies he said: "They oppose other nations' progress and tend to monopolize technologies and to use those monopolies in order to impose their will on other nations."

He said that Iran "will continue to defend its rights".

"The Iranian nation is for dialogue. But it has not accepted and will not accept illegal demands."

Economic worries

Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary general, opened the assembly earlier in the day. He urged world leaders to put aside their national interests  and show "global leadership" to alleviate world poverty in the face of world economic turmoil.

Ban Ki-moon focused on global economic problems [AFP]

He said the economic problems could have a "very serious negative impact" on the capacity of rich nations to help others achieve their targets - primarily to reduce extreme poverty by 50 per cent.

Ban said: "We face a global financial crisis. A global energy crisis. A global food crisis. Trade talks have collapsed, yet again."

The secretary general said that the world also faced a "development emergency."

"We must galvanise global awareness and global action, with a special focus on Africa."

Ban said that a "green revolution" was needed in Africa with additional new resources.

He added that the intenational community had "not matched words with deeds" in reference to assisting Africa's development.

'Changing realities'

On the world economic crisis, Ban said: "We must think about how the world economic system should evolve to more fully reflect the changing realities of our time."

Ban also urged stronger action to combat the crisis in Somalia and highlighted the problems for the UN to meet deployment deadlines in Darfur, Sudan.

"If ever there were a call to collective action - a call for global leadership - it is now."

President Bush also spoke to the assembly on Tuesday, saying that he realised that other nations were watching the US to see how they deal with the economic crisis.

He said that he was confident that the US will act "in the urgent timeframe required" to prevent broader problems.

He did not ask for assistance from other nations.

Talking about the US$700bn bailout package proposed by his administration to fortify the US economy, Bush said: "I can assure you that my administration and our Congress are working together to quickly pass legislation approving this strategy."

Other speakers on Monday's session included Nikolas Sarkozy, the French president,  and who urged greater regulation of financial markets.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president, urged for reform of the UN to give it greater power to deal with global economic and security crises.

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