Schwarzenegger says his 60th birthday wish is for the US to improve its reputation in world

Arnold Schwarzenegger has a simple wish for his 60th birthday: that the United States, his adopted country, improves its reputation in the world.

Photo: Schwarzenegger says his 60th birthday wish is for the US to improve its reputation in world

The California governor, who celebrates his birthday Monday, told the Vienna newspaper Kronen Zeitung he hopes America will recover its international prestige.

"My wish is that this great country once again gets the reputation it once had around the world," the daily, which interviewed Schwarzenegger in Sacramento, quoted him as saying. "At present, that's not the case. I hope a lot changes soon."

Schwarzenegger said he does not feel 60, describing himself as enjoying "top fitness" and feeling "dazzling" for his age.

"Age consists only of numbers on a birth certificate. What's important is what one has in his mind and body, and I still have plenty of both," he said.

The former bodybuilder turned action movie star was born in the southern Austrian province of Styria. He became a U.S. citizen in 1984.

Peter Urdl, the mayor of Schwarzenegger's native village of Thal, said he sent the governor a birthday present - the original street number of the house where he was born on July 30, 1947.

"This belongs to him. No one here will ever be assigned that number again," Urdl said.