Iran's Ahmadinejad not expected in Frankfurt - police
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-06-16 20:04
Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an avid soccer fan, is not expected to
attend his country's World Cup match against Portugal in Frankfurt on Saturday,
local police said.
"Ahmadinejad is not supposed to be here," Frankfurt police spokesman Peter
Freier told a news conference on Friday.
Some German politicians have said Ahmadinejad would not be welcome in Germany
after he questioned whether the Holocaust happened and because of his calls for
Israel's destruction.
Some 1,000 people, among them Israel supporters and exiled Iranians,
demonstrated in Nuremberg in connection with Iran's opening World Cup match
against Mexico on last Sunday.
Ahmadinejad, whose country is also at odds with
the West over its nuclear programme, was in China on Friday as an observer at
a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
Mohammad Aliabadi, one of Iran's seven vice presidents and responsible for
sport policy, is with the national team in Germany and will be at Frankfurt's
Waldstadion on Saturday, city officials said.
Similar rallies as those held in Nuremberg are planned
in Frankfurt. Freier said 50-70 people were expected to attend a demonstration
called by human rights groups against what they see as human rights violations
in Iran.
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