Nobel Prize winning author Doris Lessing has said that the 9/11 attacks were not as bad as the reign of terror waged by the IRA on mainland Britain.

The Associated Press (AP) reports Lessing, in conversation with the leading Spanish daily El Pais, as saying "September 11 was terrible, but if one goes back over the history of the IRA, what happened to the Americans wasn't that terrible."

The author went on to say in an interview published last Sunday: "Some Americans will think I'm crazy. Many people died, two prominent buildings fell, but it was neither as terrible nor as extraordinary as they think. They're a very naive people, or they pretend to be."

According to the 88-year-old, "people forget" the IRA bomb attack on Margaret Thatcher's government in 1984 which killed five people and injured several more. The attack happened during the Conservative party's annual conference in Brighton.

Lessing also voiced her strong opinions on President Bush whom she referred to as a "world calamity" and former Prime Minister Blair who she believes "has been a disaster for Britain and we have suffered him for many years."

The September 11 attacks resulted in nearly 3,000 casualties. In the 30 years of violent terror campaign waged by the IRA, about 3,700 people died and thousands more were injured.

Lessing was awarded 2007 Nobel Peace prize in Literature for her "fire and visionary power" according to published reports.