Israel criticism sparks UN walkout

Dozens of delegates have walked out of a United Nations conference in Switzerland on racism after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, described Israel as being a "racist government".

Ahmadinejad said that after the Second World War the United States and other nations had established a "cruel, oppressive and racist regime" in occupied Palestine.

He said: "The UN security council has stabilised this occupation regime and supported it in the last 60 years giving them a free hand to continue their crimes."

Ahmadinejad also asked the conference: "What were the root causes of the US attacks against Iraq or invasion of Afghanistan?

'Enormous losses'

"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".

Many delegates who remained in the hall applauded Ahmadinejad's comments.

France had earlier warned that that European delegates would walk out of the meeting if Ahmadinejad made "racist or anti-Semitic accusations".

Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, told France Info radio: "We will have to be very clear. We will not tolerate any slips."

Before he set off for the summit in Geneva, Ahmadinejad had been quoted by Iran's state broadcaster as saying "the Zionist ideology and regime are the flag bearers of racism".

UN criticism

Earlier, Ban Ki-Moon, the United Nation's secretary general, criticised Western nations for boycotting a racism conference in Switzerland, saying he was "profoundly disappointed".

The United States, Canada, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands, said they would not attend amid fears Ahmadinejad, could use the summit to propagate anti-Semitic views.

Washington also said it believed a draft text to be discussed at the conference is overly critical of Israel and its treatment of Palestinians.

Opening the five-day summit earlier, Ban said he regretted some nations were not attending the summit, but also condemned those who deny or minimise the extent of the Holocaust.

He said: "I deeply regret that some have chosen to stand aside. I hope they will not do so for long".

"Some nations who by rights should be helping us to forge a path to a better future are not here.

"Outside these halls, interest groups of many political and ideological stripes shout against one another in acrimony," Ban said.

'Healing wounds'

Earlier on Monday, Israel withdrew its ambassador to Switzerland in protest over a meeting between Ahmadinejad and Hans-Rudolf Merz, his Swiss counterpart.

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 begins at sundown on Monday.

Canada and Israel said months earlier they would shun the meeting, which the UN organised to help heal the wounds left by its last racism summit in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.

The US and Israel walked out of the conference after Arab states sought to define Zionism as being racist.

Washington cited "objectionable" language in a text prepared for the Geneva meeting as its reason for staying at home.

The draft does not mention Israel by name, but it reaffirms the Durban statement and its reference to the plight of Palestinians.

Barack Obama, the US president, announcing his administration's decision not to attend the conference, said Washington wanted a "clean slate" before tackling race and discrimination issues at the UN.

Several Muslim nations at the summit in Switzerland have called for moves to prevent perceived insults to Islam, which they say have proliferated since the attacks on the US on September 11, 2001.