IRAN - Oct 26 - Wipe Israel From Map, Says Ahmadi-Nejad.(Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad)

Pres Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, declares Israel shall be "wiped off the map" and warns Arab countries against developing economic ties with Israel in response to its withdrawal from Gaza. His remarks, delivered at a conference in Tehran entitled "A World without Zionism", led to diplomatic protests by the UK, France and Spain, while Shimon Peres, Israel's deputy PM, said Iran should be expelled from the UN. In Washington, spokesmen for the Bush administration said the statement underscored US concern over Iran's nuclear weapons programme. Ahmadi-Nejad's comments came as Islamic Jihad, a militant Palestinian group allied to Iran, killed at least five Israelis with a bombing in the Israeli town of Hedera. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility, saying it was avenging Israel's killing of a West Bank commander on Oct 24. US analysts noted that the president's remarks were not a departure from hardline Iranian rhetoric and did not represent new policy. But they said the rhetoric was aggressive and badly timed, and would serve to confirm western suspicions of Iran's more confrontational approach that were raised by the new president's speeches at the UN last month. However, European diplomats suggested the comments would not derail efforts by France, Germany and the UK to get Iran to ...