Iran's leader delivers NY speech

by urbano411 | September 24, 2007 at 10:25 am

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has begun speaking at New York's Columbia University, despite protests in the United States.

Many Americans say he should not have been invited to speak.

The US accuses Iran of seeking to build a nuclear bomb and arming insurgents in Iraq - Tehran rejects the charges.

Mr Ahmadinejad has been denied a visit to Ground Zero, with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saying that "it would have been a travesty".

"This is somebody who is the president of a country that is probably the greatest sponsor - state sponsor - of terrorism," Ms Rice told CNBC television.

The Iranian leader is in New York to attend the UN General Assembly, where he is due to speak on Tuesday.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has clashed with the head of New York's Columbia University while making his controversial appearance at the campus.

Columbia President Lee Bollinger described Mr Ahmadinejad as a "cruel dictator" who denied the Holocaust.

In response, Mr Ahmadinejad called the remarks "an insult", adding that more research was needed on the Holocaust.