On the eve of the worldwide release of his $175 millionepic, Troy, German director WolfgangPetersen has waded into the dispute over current US foreign policy in Iraq bydrawing some provocative comparisons between the behaviour of Agamemnon, theGreek tyrant who launched the assault on Troy 3000 years ago, and contemporaryworld leaders.

"History repeats itself in a chilling way. TheAgamemnons of the world are showing up over and over again. We had one veryspecific one in Germany for a while, the Russians had one and now Americans aredealing a little bit with one...hopefully dealing with him in November,"the director said in what was clearly a reference to Hitler, Stalin and GeorgeW. Bush, who will be contesting the US Presidential elections in November.

Speaking in London last week, Petersen added that theparallels between the siege of Troy and what is happening now in Iraq areself-evident. "When Homer was telling the story about Agamemnon trying tomove east and swallow everything in his path, it sounds awfully familiar,"he commented. "War is something that defines us. We are designed todestroy each other...it (Troy) is ourstory. It's so fresh. It's the same deal."

Petersen also revealed that he is keen to make a sequel to Troy, possibly using Virgil's The Aeneid (which begins with the fall of Troy and follows thefleeing Trojans to Carthage and on to Italy) as source material. "Idefinitely will talk to (writer) David Benioff to see if anything might be inthe cards...I would never count this out," he said.