BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon's top Shiite cleric charged Wednesday that President Bush's policies have turned the Middle East into a ``hell'' of strife, delivering more scathing commentary on the U.S. leader just days after calling him ``the devil's messenger.''

In an interview with The Associated Press, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hassan Fadlallah also waded into Lebanese politics, charging that every sect except his own wants to dominate the small, diverse nation and insisting Hezbollah needs its weapons to defend the country.

``When I look at the actions of that man (Bush) and his administration, I see that his policies have managed to turn the region into hell,'' said Fadlallah, a revered leader among Shiites, who make about a third of Lebanon's population. ``They are responsible for all the problems of the world.''

Without offering evidence, he said the United States and Israel were behind the revival of the Sunni-Shiite schism in the Arab world in hopes that would make it easier to control.

But except for Iraq, the Shiite-Sunni divide has not turned into sectarian conflict, he said, arguing that Sunnis across the Arab world had rallied behind the Shiite militants of Hezbollah during their 34-day war with Israel this summer.

Fadlallah has a history of animosity toward the United States, but his comments Wednesday and in a sermon Friday focused on his anger at U.S. actions during the Lebanon war and in Iraq.

Washington rejected repeated pleas by Lebanon and other Arab nations to call for an early cease-fire in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, arguing a truce would not endure without an end to Hezbollah's dominance of southern Lebanon. The war killed nearly 1,000 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 150 Israelis.

Fadlallah was widely thought to have been the spiritual leader of the Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah during the 1980s. He escaped a 1985 bombing that killed 75 people. The attack was believed by many to have been masterminded by the CIA following reports - repeatedly denied by Fadlallah - that he blessed the drivers of vehicles used in 1983 suicide bombings that killed 241 U.S. Marines and 58 French soldiers in Beirut.

His links to Hezbollah appear to have loosened since, but he and Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, remain on good terms and share almost identical views on domestic and international issues.

Frail and pale, the 70-year-old Fadlallah spoke to AP in an underground room at a mosque complex in a southern suburb of Beirut. His nearby home and office were destroyed in an Israeli air raid this summer, but he was not in either at the time.

His comments continued a harsh assault on Bush that he leveled during a sermon Friday.

``President Bush is the leader of terrorism in the world,'' Fadlallah told worshippers. ``He thinks that God has sent him to make the world a better place, but I see that he is the devil's messenger sent to destroy the world.''

That comment appeared to be inspired, at least in part, by President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who had called Bush the ``devil'' during a speech last week. A sign outside the mosque where Fadlallah was interviewed bore the image of Chavez with the word ``gracias'' - ``thank you'' - written above.

In the interview, Fadlallah accused the United States of engineering Iraq's sectarian strife to perpetuate its presence there and warned Iraqis that Sunni-Shiite violence in their country will ``bring the temple down on everyone's head.''

``I believe there will be no problem when the American occupation of Iraq ends,'' said Fadlallah, who has followers in Iraq, the Gulf, Pakistan and India.

He also spoke about the debate over the future of Hezbollah, which is being accused by domestic critics - mainly Christians and Sunni Muslims - of setting off the ruinous war with Israel by capturing two Israeli soldiers July 12.

Since the war, Hezbollah has demanded a change in Lebanon's government to bring in more of its representatives and allies.

Fadlallah insisted that Shiites - Lebanon's largest sect, making up 30 percent to 35 percent of the 4 million people - are not seeking to dominate the country.

``But we know that every other sect in Lebanon has a plan to dominate the country. Only the Shiites have no such plan,'' he said. ``Even the weapons of the resistance (Hezbollah) are for the defense of Lebanon and not to move domestically against any of the other sects.''  (AP)