Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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September 24, 2007

Iranian President To Make Controversial US Speech
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=199CC79:A6F02AD83191E160EF29A488A83224619574F7DCC14957C0 Critics say
Columbia University should not give Iranian leader platform to speak





Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in the United States and makes
two appearances Monday, attracting protest and controversy.



Mr. Ahmadinejad is set to address journalists in Washington by
videoconference from New York and give a speech at Columbia
University.

He arrived in the United States Sunday for a visit that includes
addressing the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday.



Iranian exiles, New York politicians and media as well as human rights
and Jewish groups have all protested his visit.

The Bush administration alleges that Iran supports Shi'ite insurgents
in Iraq, and that Tehran is seeking to obtain a nuclear weapon,
charges Iran denies.

Mr. Ahmadinejad has also called for Israel's destruction and denied
the Holocaust happened.

Critics say Columbia University should not give the Iranian leader a
platform to speak. But the university's president says Mr. Ahmadinejad
will be challenged on his positions and defends the appearance on the
principles of free speech and academic freedom.







Condoleezza Rice (File)U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said
Monday, on CNBC television that in a free country, the decision to
allow someone to speak is the university's to make.

But Rice added that it would have been wrong for the Iranian president
to visit the World Trade Center site, as he requested, to lay a wreath
for the victims of the September 11th terror attacks.

New York police denied the Iranian leader's request on security
grounds. U.S. President George Bush said last week he understood why
the police would not want someone who is running a country that is, in
his words, a state sponsor of terror at the site.

The Iranian president said on the CBS program 60 Minutes that Iran
does not need nuclear weapons and he does not believe the United
States and Iran are on a path to war. The interview was recorded last
week in Tehran and broadcast Sunday.

He says Iran has the right to develop a nuclear program, which he says
is for peaceful purposes only.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.




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