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Dozens of delegates have walked out of a UN conference on racism after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, described Israel as a "racist government".
Ahmadinejad told delegates at the summit in Switzerland on Monday that after the Second World War the US and other nations had established a "cruel, oppressive and racist regime in occupied Palestine".
"The UN security council has stabilized this occupation regime and supported it in the last 60 years giving them a free hand to continue their crimes," he said at the Durban Review Conference hall in Geneva.
Dozens of diplomats from countries including Britain and France left the hall in protest as he made the remarks.
Ahmadinejad also asked the conference: "What were the root causes of the US attacks against Iraq or invasion of Afghanistan?
"The Iraqi people have suffered enormous losses ... wasn't the military action against Iraq planned by the Zionists ... in the US administration, in complicity with the arms manufacturing companies?"
'Enormous losses'
Many delegates who remained in the hall applauded Ahmadinejad's comments.
At least three demonstrators, dressed as clowns and shouting "racist, racist," were expelled as Ahmadinejad began to speak.
Alan Fisher, Al Jazeera's correspondent at the conference, said Ahmadinejad had reiterated his views on Israel, especially over its 22-day war on Gaza.
He said: "At the time [of the offensive] he said what was going on in Gaza was a genocide... this was an opportunity for him to say that at a world forum.
"There are people in the hall who believe that what Ahmadinejad was saying is correct - that is why there is such a split here."
President criticized
Alireza Ronaghi, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Tehran, said: "Ahmadinejad's words are being criticized in Iran, not just among the youth, but among the different political factions.
"This is the exact attitude [for which] he has been criticized for some time."
"Even among the conservatives they have said such remarks are totally uncalled for."
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, condemned Ahmadinejad's "speech of hate" and called for a "firm and united" reaction from the European Union.
Jonas Gahr Store, Norway's foreign minister, said the Iranian leader's comments had "run counter to the very spirit of dignity of the conference ... he made Iran the odd man out".
The speech by Ahmadinejad, who is a frequent critic of Israel and has cast doubt on the extent of the killing of Jews during the Second World War, coincided with Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel, which began at sundown on Monday.
The US, Canada, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands, had earlier said they would not attend the conference amid fears Ahmadinejad would use the summit to "propagate anti-Semitic" views.
Washington also said it believed a draft text to be discussed was overly critical of Israel and its treatment of the Palestinians.
PHOTO CAPTION
Unidentified delegates walk out of the Assembly Hall as Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses the High Level segment of the Durban Review Conference on racism at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva April 20, 2009.
Al-Jazeera
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