Ottawa — Prime Minister Jean Chrétien says the United States and the West must shoulder some of the responsibility for last year's terrorist attacks on New York and Washington because of their wealth and exercise of power in the world.

In a CBC interview taped in July and aired last night, Mr. Chrétien suggested the root causes of last year's Sept. 11 attacks were global poverty and an over-bearing American foreign policy.

"It's always the problem when you read history — everybody doesn't know when to stop. There's a moment when you have to stop, there's a moment when you are very powerful," he said.

Immediately following Sept. 11, Canadian politicians rejected the "root causes" argument, saying the attacks were the work of irrational fanatics that had nothing to do with legitimate grievances.

But Mr. Chrétien told CBC, religious fanatics are using the anger and resentment of the world's poor to fuel their terrorism.

"I do think that the Western world is getting too rich in relations to the poor world," he said.

"And necessarily, we're looked upon as being arrogant, self-satisfied, greedy and with no limits. And the 11th of September is an occasion for me to realize it even more."

In the CBC documentary, the Prime Minister recalled being in New York prior to last year's terrorist attacks and hearing complaints from Wall Street capitalists about Canadian economic ties to Cuba and other disagreements over foreign policy.

"I told them: When you are powerful like you are, you guys, it's the time to be nice," he said.

"And it is one of the problems — you cannot exercise your powers to the point of humiliation of the others. And that is what the Western world — - not only the Americans but the Western world — has to realize."

On Wednesday, Mr. Chrétien attended memorial services in New York City, saying he wanted to show solidarity with mourning Americans.

The CBC interview marked the first time Mr. Chrétien has said the United States and its Western allies bear some responsibility for the events of Sept. 11, suggestions that have been angrily dismissed by American officials.

Mr. Chrétien's comments echo the findings of a recent Ipsos-Reid poll, which suggested that 84 per cent of Canadians believe the United States bore at least some responsibility for the stunning attacks.

The CBC documentary, which traced the actions of senior government officials that fateful day, revealed that the Prime Minister had essentially authorized U.S. fighter jets to shoot down a Korean airliner over Canadian skies if it diverted from a planned emergency landing in Whitehorse.

While still over Alaska, the pilot of the Korean Airlines 747 had erroneously sent coded signals indicating the airliner had been hijacked. The pilot was ordered to land in Whitehorse, and was met by U.S. jet fighters while still over American territory.

NORAD command in Winnipeg agreed the airliner could enter Canadian airspace accompanied by the U.S. fighters, but insisted the decision to shoot it down must reside with the Canadian government.

On the afternoon of Sept. 11, Mr. Chrétien received a phone call and was told the airliner might have to be shot down.

"I said, 'Yes, if you think they are terrorists, you call me again but be ready to shoot them down.' So I authorized it in principle," the Prime Minister said.

"It's kind of scary that [there is] this plane with hundreds of people and you have to call a decision like that. But you prepare yourself for that. I thought about it — you know that you will have to make decisions at times that will [be] upsetting you for the rest of your life."