• Published 00:14 01.01.09
  • Latest update 22:36 21.04.09

WATCH: Ahmadinejad entourage brands Elie Wiesel 'Zio-Nazi'

One of Iran's 180 delegates accosts Wiesel at Durban II, footage caught by Wiesenthal Center representative.

By Haaretz Service Tags: Durban conference Jewish World Israel news

On the sidelines of the Durban II conference in Geneva on Tuesday, a member of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's entourage accosted Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel and began screaming "Zio-Nazi" at the Holocaust survivor.

The incident was caught on tape by Simon Wiesenthal Center's Latin American Representative Sergio Widder.

Ahmadinejad, who attended the international conference against racism along with a 180 Iranian representatives, was the only head of state to accept the United Nations' invitation to speak before the delegates.

Dozens of Western diplomats walked out during Ahmadinejad's speech and a pair of rainbow-wigged protesters threw clown noses at Iran's hard-line leader Monday when he called Israel the most cruel and repressive racist regime.

The United Nations said on Tuesday that Ahmadinejad dropped a reference to Holocaust denial from his speech the previous day at the Durban II conference.

The controversial conference, which many states boycotted for fear it would single out Israel for criticism, coincided with the eve of Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day.

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