[Dialogue] U.N.'s Ban denounces Iran on Holocaust, Israel

[Harry Wainwright]

Reuters

 

U.N.'s Ban denounces Iran on Holocaust, Israel
Thu Dec 14, 2006 2:35 PM ET

By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Incoming U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told
Iran on Thursday it was unacceptable to deny the Holocaust or call for
Israel to be wiped off the map.

Ban, at a news conference, was asked about Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, who since coming to power in August last year has caused an
outcry by terming the Holocaust a "myth" and calling Israel a "tumor" in the
Middle East.

Ahmadinejad just ended a two-day international conference on the Holocaust
that was dominated by speakers who questioned the extermination of 6 million
Jews by the Nazis in World War Two.

"Denying historical facts especially on such an important subject as the
Holocaust is just not acceptable," Ban said.

"Nor is it acceptable to call for the elimination of states or people," Ban
said. "I would like to see this fundamental principle respected in both
rhetoric and practice by all the members of the international community."

A former South Korean foreign minister, Ban spoke to reporters after he took
an oath of office in the U.N. General Assembly as secretary-general to
succeed Kofi Annan. He assumes his post on January 1.

Ban left open the possibility of visiting Tehran on a series of issues.

"Whenever and when the situation requires me to do, I am prepared to engage
in dialogue with the Iranian people," he said.

But he avoided commenting on questions about Iran's nuclear ambitions, now
the subject of a resolution before the U.N. Security Council.

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