LONDON (AP)-[of the wire, no link, similar story here]-Britain's Foreign Office said Wednesday it planned to protest "sickening" comments made by the president of Iran calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map."
State-run media reported that Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said during a speech to students Wednesday that a new wave of Palestinian attacks would destroy the Jewish state.
A British Foreign Office spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government policy, said the deadly suicide bombing that killed at least five people in Israel Wednesday illustrated the "horrible reality" of the violence being praised by Ahmadinejad.
In a swipe at some Arab states, Ahmadinejad also denounced attempts to recognize Israel or normalize relations with it.
"There is no doubt that the new wave (of attacks) in Palestine will wipe off this stigma (Israel) from the face of the Islamic world," Ahmadinejad told students during a Tehran conference called "The World without Zionism."
"Ahmadinejad's comments are deeply disturbing and sickening," the Foreign Office spokesman said.
"Saying Iran wants to wipe Israel from the map will only heighten concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions. We will be protesting to the Iranian charge d'affaires tomorrow," he said.
Copyright © 2005 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.(AP-DJ)--10-26-05 1859EDT |
