SECRETARY-GENERAL SHOCKED AT REMARKS ON ISRAEL ATTRIBUTED TO PRESIDENT OF IRAN

SECRETARY-GENERAL SHOCKED AT REMARKS ON ISRAEL ATTRIBUTED TO PRESIDENT OF IRAN

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General was shocked to see the remarks attributed to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in which he reportedly cast doubt on the truth of the Holocaust and suggested that the State of Israel should be moved from the Middle East to Europe.

The Secretary-General recalls that only last month the General Assembly passed a resolution which “rejects any denial of the Holocaust as an historical event, either in full or in part”.  He urges all Member States to combat such denial, and to educate their populations about the well established historical facts of the Holocaust, in which one third of the Jewish people were murdered, along with countless members of other minorities.

He also recalls his statement of 27 October, in which he reminded all Member States that Israel is a long-standing Member of the United Nations with the same rights and obligations as every other Member, and that, under the United Nations Charter, all Members have undertaken to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record