Protests greet Ahmadinejad
Protests at Columbia and UN as Ahmadinejad begins US visit
New York: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has arrived in New York to protests ahead of an appearance on Monday at Columbia University and an address to the UN General Assembly later in the week.
In a television interview taped in Iran last week and aired Sunday on US television, Ahmadinejad said that Iran was neither building a nuclear bomb nor headed to war with the United States.
Ahmadinejad is to speak and answer questions at a forum at the elite university on Monday, followed by a scheduled address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
On Sunday, the day the Iranian leader arrived in New York, a group of elected officials and civic leaders demonstrated outside Columbia University.
Protests were to follow Monday near Columbia and the UN, where the Iranian president was to address the General Assembly on Tuesday.
Columbia's invitation has drawn howls from politicians, religious groups and other organizations. But university president Lee Bollinger has promised to grill Ahmadinejad on subjects such as human rights, the Holocaust and Iran's disputed nuclear program.
In a recent interview with CBS 60 Minutes, Ahmadinejad said Iran has no need for a nuclear bomb. He also said: "It's wrong to think that Iran and the US are walking toward war. Who says so? Why should we go to war? There is no war in the offing."
Before leaving Iran, Ahmadinejad said the American people have been denied "correct information," and his visit will give them a chance to hear a different voice, the official IRNA news agency reported.
