SUDAN: Ahmadinejad reiterates his doubts that 6 million Jews were killed by Nazis during holocaust

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday (March 1) expressed doubt that the Nazis killed 6 million Jews during the holocaust. Ahmadinejad questioned the figure during a lecture he delivered in Khartoum entitled, 'Iran and the World,' on the second day of his visit to Sudan. "We ask that on what basis, evidence or document you claim that there were six million Jewish victims of the war?" he said. Since coming to power in 2005, Ahmadinejad has sparked international condemnation with comments referring to the Holocaust as a "myth" and calling Israel a "tumour". Ahmadinejad asked why the Jews created a state for themselves in the Middle East rather than in Europe, where the Holocaust took place. "If you accept that the Jews were killed in Europe, then why do you come and establish a government for them in Palestine?" he asked. "Did the Palestinians invite you to come to this country or did you come through war and genocide and by killing and displacing millions of Palestinians. You came as occupiers of this country and you destroyed Palestinian homes and farms and established your entity there," Ahmadinejad continued. Tehran is under pressure from the West over its nuclear programme. Ahmadinejad says the project was for peaceful purposes and that Iran had no intentions to make a bomb. "All our initiatives are peaceful and within the framework laws and treaties and under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.' Later, Ahmadinejad and his host, Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir, were to witness the signing of several agreements designed to boost trade and economic ties and bring more Iranian investments into Sudan.

ITN Source | March 1, 2007

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