UK diplomat walks out of Iran speech
By politics.co.uk staff
A senior British diplomat was among those who walked out of the UN’s anti-racism conference in Geneva following remarks by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Peter Gooderham, the UK’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, joined delegates from France and other western states following an attack by Mr Ahmadinejad on Israel.
The Iranian leader said the establishment of the Israeli state had “made an entire nation homeless under the pretext of Jewish suffering and… helped bring to power the most cruel, repressive and racist regime in Palestine”.
Around 40 delegates walked out in response to cheers from pro-Israeli sections of the audience, the BBC reported.
“The view of the British government is we unreservedly condemn the Iranian president’s inflammatory remarks,” the prime minister’s spokesman said later.
“In the light of his remarks the decision was taken not to attend that part of the conference.”
The anti-racism conference has already been blighted by boycotts from the US, Germany, Australia, Italy, the Netherlands and others because of Mr Ahmadinejad’s attendance.
The first conference, held in Durban in 2001, struggled because of similar difficulties. NGOs were accused of anti-Semitism and some states unsuccessfully sought to condemn Zionism as a racist doctrine.
