www

Teheran, 11 Sept. (AKI) - Iran's hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday announced he will address address the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 23 September.

Ahmadinejad (photo) made the announcement on the seventh anniversary of Al-Qaeda's deadly 11 September 2001 attacks on US cities, which killed nearly 3,000 people.

Besides taking part in the UN General Assembly for the third consecutive year, Ahmadinejad will dine with members of the Iranian community and give interviews to a number of major American TV networks.

Meetings have been arranged between Ahmadinejad and several Latin American and African presidents. So far no western prime ministers or presidents have agreed to meet him.

Iran diplomats at the United Nations have for several weeks been searching unsuccessfully for an American university that is prepared to host Ahmadinejad, according to Iranian sources.

Ahmadinejad last year gave a talk at New York's prestigious Columbia University, where its president described him as a "petty dictator" and "representative of a country that does not respect human rights."

Demonstrators, observers and activists staged protests outside the university and at UN headquarters during Ahmadinejad's visit.

During his Columbia University address, Ahmadinejad made the famous remark that "there are no homosexuals in Iran."

Source: AKI

Ahmadinejad to address UN on 23 September