New UN chief denounces Iran for denying Holocaust, threatening Israel - Haaretz

Last update - 07:20 15/12/2006

New UN chief denounces Iran for denying Holocaust, threatening Israel

By Reuters

UNITED NATIONS - Incoming United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Iran on Thursday it was unacceptable to deny that the Holocaust took place or to call for Israel to be wiped off the map.

Ban was responding to a question asked at a news conference 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.

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"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 UN 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 UN Security Council.

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1.	SO HAPPY TO SEE ANNAN GONE!	22:21	\|	Bimmer	14/12/06

2.	dark times ahead at the UN	22:23	\|	Leon Rosgarten	14/12/06

3.	Hopefully the Ban era will be different	22:38	\|	Michael	14/12/06

4.	farewell Annan, hope to never see/ hear you again	22:43	\|	Richard	14/12/06

5.	1bimmer. Although you are quite right about annan...	22:49	\|	bat yam	14/12/06

6.	Who cares?	22:55	\|	Henry in Canada	14/12/06

7.	ANNAN, to 1 and 3	22:56	\|	Tina	14/12/06

8.	Ki-moon smells sulphur	23:04	\|	mike	14/12/06

9.	Leon Rosgarten	23:07	\|	Albert	14/12/06

10.	Annan�s uninvolvement with stopping genocides in Africa	23:10	\|	luc	14/12/06

11.	Good Start !	23:15	\|	Avi Yerushalmi	14/12/06

12.	what about Israel ?	23:33	\|	Jan Elshout	14/12/06

13.	I thank the new UN chief for his statement, now I wish to see the	23:37	\|	Nadav	14/12/06

14.	Leon , long time not hear from you	00:06	\|	davka	15/12/06

15.	Annan Likely to Find Employment from an Arab Government	00:37	\|	David	15/12/06

16.	to #2 (Leon)	01:04	\|	Kevin	15/12/06

17.	Simplistic responses	01:10	\|	wally	15/12/06

18.	@ #2 Did you miss something??	01:19	\|	Adrian de Klerk	15/12/06

19.	Ban ki-Moon and his thoughts on Israelis treatment...	01:23	\|	Maureen Ann	15/12/06

20.	Good to see Israelis rejoice to a UN chief	01:27	\|	A Lebanese	15/12/06

21.	Ban Ki-moon is a Mugyohoe Christian	01:41	\|	Paul Henzen	15/12/06

22.	Annan Bye Bye pls dont ever show up again	01:42	\|	Johnny	15/12/06

23.	Welcome New UN Chief	02:57	\|	Carl Peters	15/12/06

24.	Welcome Ban Ki-moon	03:06	\|	ATLAS	15/12/06

25.	LEON ROSGARTEN GREAT COMIC #2	03:08	\|	TOBIA	15/12/06

26.	Thank God there is a new Sheriff in town.Maybe he can clean it.	03:22	\|	Marwan مروان خوري	15/12/06

27.	17 days between and you can`t just give it a tough	03:25	\|	Simon Mohammed	15/12/06

28.	Rosgarten, learn the lessons from Mengistu`s genocide conviction	03:25	\|	Jake	15/12/06

29.	Ki-moon, Take Us From The United Nothing To The United Nations!	03:40	\|	Lavi	15/12/06

30.	Annan	03:48	\|	Nik Miller	15/12/06

31.	Good riddance to bad rubbish.	03:49	\|	Nik Miller	15/12/06

32.	Thank you, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for your statement regarding Iran`s..	05:41	\|	Nadav	15/12/06

33.	A Lebanese #15	05:53	\|	Bruce	15/12/06

34.	Don`t Expect Too Much	06:18	\|	Joel Freimuth	15/12/06

35.	#2	06:25	\|	alex	15/12/06

36.	Someone tell Ahmadinejad to take care of his people	06:26	\|	Michael Korn	15/12/06

37.	"Annan" means "Cloud" in Hebrew, how appropriate...drift away....	06:29	\|	zayyin ba ayin	15/12/06

38.	I agree. Good riddance to Annan!	06:37	\|	Gina	15/12/06

39.	annan	06:40	\|	samuel	15/12/06

40.	lets see if he can repair un. time somebody threw the garbage out	06:42	\|	ralph	15/12/06

41.	Paul Henzen	06:56	\|	Gina	15/12/06

42.	#16. Be more worried about your country	06:58	\|	Michael Korn	15/12/06

43.	L. Rosgarten in London UK: I have a better one just hand tailored	07:03	\|	zayyin ba ayin	15/12/06

44.	# 2 Leon Rosgarten	08:41	\|	Josef	15/12/06

45.	# 19 Paul Henzen	08:50	\|	Josef	15/12/06

46.	# 18 A Lebanese	08:59	\|	Josef	15/12/06

47.	Does BAN know ABC`s	09:17	\|	revoltop	15/12/06

48.	With reverence, to Kofi Annan	09:18	\|	Brigitte Meier	15/12/06

49.	# 19 Josef, ei kest� !	10:24	\|	Paul Henzen	15/12/06

50.	# 49 Paul	12:22	\|	Josef	15/12/06

51.	why do muslim men marry non-muslim girls?	13:42	\|	Watcher	15/12/06

52.	to Michael Korn, Israel, Pharaohs n Egypt	13:52	\|	Anubhav	15/12/06

53.	to #47 reveltop - Ban is starting with the oldest	14:25	\|	hmpierson	15/12/06

54.	# 50 Josef, kiitos ja `Hyv�� Joulua !!	14:56	\|	Paul Henzen	15/12/06

55.	Annan was and is a joke!	15:24	\|	Bob Dobalina	15/12/06

56.	#53 HMPIERSON	22:53	\|	revoltop	15/12/06

57.	To Jan Elshout	14:42	\|	Mike	17/12/06