IRAN: EU leaders issued a strongly worded condemnation of Iran yesterday over speeches made by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that denied the existence of the Holocaust.
The condemnation was contained in a declaration on the Middle East published at the summit, which also criticised Israel for building settlements and a security barrier in east Jerusalem.
The declaration "condemned unreservedly" recent calls for the eradication of Israel and denial of the Holocaust by Mr Ahmadinejad, who was elected Iranian president in June.
"These comments are wholly unacceptable and have no place in civilised political debate," said the declaration annexed to the conclusions of the European Council yesterday.
Mr Ahmadinejad first suggested last week that the killing of six million Jews by the Nazis was a legend, provoking international condemnation. In a speech broadcast live on Iranian television on Wednesday, he again denied the existence of the Holocaust.
"They have fabricated a legend under the name 'Massacre of the Jews', and they hold it higher than God himself, religion itself and the prophets themselves," Mr Ahmadinejad told a crowd in the southeastern city of Zahedan.
Diplomats said the comments were particularly unwelcome just days before talks on Iran's nuclear programme are due to resume between the EU and Iran.
The talks are designed to alleviate international concern that Iran is preparing to develop nuclear weapons. However, few observers expect much progress in the talks.
Germany had pushed for a separate declaration on Iran to underline how serious the EU was about its condemnation of the comments, but it was later incorporated into a single declaration on the Middle East, according to diplomats at the EU summit.
The declaration welcomes Israeli disengagement from Gaza and parts of the West Bank. However, it criticises Israel for activities in east Jerusalem which it says are of particular concern. It says Israel should stop building settlements, demolishing houses and building separation barriers on occupied territory.
"The EU urges the Israeli government to cease all activities in Palestinian territories that are contrary to international law," says the declaration.
"These threaten to make any solution based on the coexistence of two viable states physically impossible."
The criticism, by the heads of state, follows a decision by EU foreign ministers not to publish a report highly critical of Israel's actions in east Jerusalem earlier this week.
The report, prepared by EU diplomats, accused Israel of boosting Jewish settlement in and around east Jerusalem, and of using the route of a security barrier to seal off most of east Jerusalem's 230,000 Palestinian residents from the West Bank.
The declaration also asks that all Palestinian factions, including Hamas, renounce violence, recognise Israel's right to exist, and disarm.
Those who want to be part of the political process should not engage in armed activities, says the declaration, which reaffirms the EU's commitment to the full implementation of the roadmap for peace.
Meanwhile, EU leaders strongly condemned the assassination in Lebanon of journalist Gibran Tueni, an outspoken critic of the Syrian regime.
"The assassination is the latest in a vicious campaign against Lebanese citizens, journalists, political leaders an their right to freedom of expression," says the declaration.
It also notes with "extreme concern" the conclusions of a UN report which found that Lebanese and Syrian security forces were involved in the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri.
The declaration also warmly welcomed the elections in Iraq on Thursday as a "further step towards democracy and stability in Iraq". It said the EU would continue to support the reconstruction of Iraq and would broaden its relationship with the state once the constitutionally elected government was set up.
However, it expressed concern about recent reports of human rights violations and repeated the EU's strong opposition to the death penalty.
The European Council also adopted a strategy to increase co-operation between EU and Mediterranean states. The plan calls for better border management measures, a new surveillance systemand the creation of rapid reaction teams to provide assistance at times of high levels of migration. The strategy was drawn up in response to the deaths of several migrants attempting to enter Spanish enclaves in Morocco.