Obama looking for 'ass to kick' after spill

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama said he wanted to know "whose ass to kick" over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, adding to the pressure on energy giant BP as it sought to capture more of the leak from its gushing well.

In a TV interview aired on Tuesday, Obama also said that if BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward worked for him, he would have fired him by now over his response to the 50-day-old spill, the worst environmental disaster in US history. It was triggered by an April 20 well blowout and rig explosion that killed 11 workers.

The US president, who himself faces growing criticism that his administration was slow to react to the economic and ecological catastrophe hitting four Gulf states, said he did not want to prejudge the investigation into the incident.