UN walkout

Delegates from the US and Europe staged a mass walk-out during a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday at the United Nations General Assembly.

The US delegation walked out when Ahmadinejad accused Washington and its allies of threatening anyone who questioned the Holocaust and the September 11 attacks with sanctions and military actions. European Union delegations soon joined the exodus.

A French source told the AFP news agency that the departure had been coordinated and was planned to take place if Ahmadinejad called into question European nations for their 'support of Zionism' or referred to the Holocaust.

In the past, Ahmadinejad has often verbally attacked US foreign policy and support for Israel.

'Hypocrisy and deceit'

The Iranian leader also accused the US of using the September 11, 2001 attacks as a pretext for launching wars on Iraq and Afghanistan, "displacing millions with the ultimate goal of bringing into its domination the Middle East and its oil resources."

The speech also contained more general condemnation of what he called the West's "hypocrisy and deceit."

He claimed that the West condoned "drug trafficking and killing of innocent human beings" in pursuit of its "imperialistic goal."

However, Ahmadinejad did not comment on the Palestinian plan to ask the UN Security Council to recognize a state of Palestine. He also made no mention of the pro-democracy uprisings that have swept the Arab world this year.

His address did not refer to Tehran's disputed nuclear program either.

'Abhorrent anti-Semiticism'

The German delegation said it had left the assembly because of the "crude, anti-American, anti-Israeli and anti-West tirade by the Iranian president." A French spokesman called Ahmadinejad's attacks "unacceptable."

Mark Kornblau, spokesman for the US mission at the United Nations, condemned Ahamadinjad's remarks as "abhorrent anti-Semitic slurs and despicable conspiracy theories."

Before Ahmadinejad's speech, several hundred people protested against his presence at the General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting.

Ahmadinejad prompted a similar walkout at the 65th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2010 when he claimed that most people believed the US government was behind the September 11 attacks.

Author: Timothy Jones (AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Rob Turner