21 September 2007
Jewish leaders in the United States have welcomed a decision to deny Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad permission to visit Ground Zero. Reports that the Iranian president had requested to visit to the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks had drawn widespread condemnation, including a statement from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations which called the proposed visit an "outrage." Hours later, after a spokesperson for the New York Police Department clarified that the Iranian request had been denied, the Conference issued a second statement welcoming the move. Ahmadinejad is expected in New York next week for the opening of the 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly. A protest rally organized by Jewish groups is planned for Monday, 24 September. The hard-line Iranian president reportedly wanted to lay a wreath for the victims of the 9/11 attacks at Ground Zero.
Meanwhile, the renowned Colombia University of New York has said it would go ahead with its plan to host Ahmadinejad. The Iranian president is scheduled to appear on Monday at a Q&A session with academics and students as part of the school's “World Leaders Forum”. Last year, the university dropped plans for a speech by Ahmadinejad due to security and logistical problems. The decision came after a Jewish activist group criticized the university over its invitation to the Iranian president, who has called the Holocaust a "myth" and said Israel should be destroyed.
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