Ahmadinejad's Webster speech canceled

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech at a Swiss university has been canceled due to apparent pressure from pro-Israeli lobbying.

President Ahmadinejad was scheduled to deliver a speech at the Webster University in Geneva, Switzerland and later participate in a question and answer session, but the event was cancelled after intense Israeli lobbying, ISNA reported on Monday.

The Iranian president arrived in Geneva on Sunday to attend a UN-backed Durban Review Conference against racism, xenophobia and intolerance beginning on Monday.

Tel Aviv stepped up efforts to convince European countries to boycott the meeting and to abstain from meeting the Iranian president, a vocal critic of Israel.

Israel also recalled its ambassador to Switzerland, Ilan Elgar, in protest to the UN conference that was boycotted by Tel Aviv's allies.

The United States and Israel walked out of the first UN racism conference in Durban in 2001, which condemned Israeli atrocities against Palestinians and sought to pass a resolution likening Zionism to racism.





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