European Union delegates walked out of a major United Nations anti-racism conference on Monday after Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a verbal onslaught against "cruel" Israel. The meeting which had already been boycotted by several Western countries such as the United States and Australia, as well as Israel, was plunged into further controversy as Ahmadinejad took to the stage.
Several demonstrators were ejected as the Iranian president began his speech at the conference in Geneva and soon afterwards delegates from the European Union quit the conference room in protest at some of his comments. Ahmadinejad, who has previously called for the Jewish state to be wiped off the map, criticised the creation of a "totally racist government in occupied Palestine" in 1948, calling it "the most cruel and racist regime".
"They sent migrants from Europe, the United States in order to establish a racist government in the occupied Palestine," he added. But while the speech from the Iranian leader, who has also described the Nazi Holocaust as a "myth", was shunned by Western powers, other delegates who stayed to hear him speak greeted his words with applause.
His address came after he held talks with UN chief Ban Ki-Moon, who had kicked off the conference by criticising countries who decided to stay away from Geneva. "Some nations, who by rights should be helping to forge a path to a better future, are not here," Ban said, telling delegates he was "profoundly disappointed."
"I deeply regret that some have chosen to stand aside," he added before holding his own meeting with Ahmadinejad. In a statement released through his spokeswoman, Ban said that he would not tolerate any denying of the Holocaust, the slaughter of European Jews by Nazi Germany during World War II.
"He condemns Holocaust denial and those who minimise the importance of the Holocaust," Ban's spokeswoman said. But despite his comments, the diplomatic fallout spread as Israel recalled its ambassador in protest at the Swiss president's decision to meet Ahmadinejad - the Iranian's first formal meeting with a Western head of state since taking office in 2005.
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