Ex-German chancellor, in Iran, says "Holocaust a fact"

Reuters ^ | Sat Feb 21, 2009

[nickcarraway]

Visiting former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder criticised on Saturday Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for casting doubt over the Holocaust, saying the slaughter of 6 million Jews by Nazis was a fact.

Since coming to power in 2005, Ahmadinejad has provoked international condemnation for saying the Holocaust was a "myth" and calling Israel a "tumour" in the Middle East.

"The Holocaust is a historic fact and there is no sense in denying this unparalleled crime," Schroeder told the Iranian Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

"Iran needs to take responsibility and respect international rules, if it wants to be taken seriously as a regional power."

Schroeder, due to meet Ahmadinejad in Tehran later on Saturday, also criticised the hardline leader for his views on Israel which Iran has refused to recognise since its 1979 Islamic revolution.

Schroeder arrived in Tehran on Thursday for a four-day unofficial visit.

Ahmadinejad, who often rails against Israel and the West, said in January the subject of the Holocaust had been used to expand the international influence of the United States and Britain after World War Two.

Responding to Schroeder's remarks, the head of Iran's Chamber of Industry and Commerce Mohammad Nahavandian said it would be wrong to "measure the developments in the Middle East with two yardsticks".

[BobL]

Just saying that the holocaust happened is a really gutsy thing these days for a European leader (or former leader, in this case). It’s quite likely to offend some (i.e., all) of the huge (and quickly growing) members of the minority.

[tsmith130]

I believe it’s actually against the law in Germany to deny the holocaust.

[appleseed]

I pray that Bibi will knock Ahmadinejad back to the stone age where his thinking and philosophy belongs.

[jwalsh07]

Hear, hear!

[Dawnsblood]

Wow! Did he get Putin's permission to embarrass the Iranians? I think he is still a Gazprom stooge after all (para 6).

[BobL]

Agreed...but who would enforce it now?

[Volunteer]

It IS against the law to deny the holocaust in Germany. This is a law that is enforced.

I can not understand how any one could deny these events. You can actually talk to people who survived the camps and people who liberated the camps.

[Islander7]

One of the reasons the Muslims deny the facts of the holocaust is because they participated in it.

Tell The Children The Truth

Islamic governments are based on the Nazi model of fascism.