http://www.almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=70406&language=en
Ahmadinejad Urges Arabs to Cut Trade Ties with Israel
15/01/2009 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on Arab and Islamic
nations on Thursday to cut trade relations with Israel over its war against the
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. "Today is the day that the Arab League must
fulfill its duty. If not today, then when?" he asked.
Addressing a press conference, broadcast live on state television, Ahmadinejad
said: "Cutting trade relations with the Zionists by the regional, Islamic and
Arab countries is the least expectation ... from these states." He added:
"Businessmen and the rich must cut economic relations with this regime."
Ahmadinejad, who has previously called for Israel to be "wiped off the map",
earlier on Thursday accused some Arab and Islamic states of complicity in
"genocide" being carried out by the Zionist entity against Palestinians in
Gaza. "Unfortunately, some states in the Arab and Islamic region tolerate or
support this rare genocide with silence or a smile of satisfaction,"
Ahmadinejad said in a letter to Saudi King Abdullah.
Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad also said that Tehran was waiting for a "fundamental
change" of US policy under Washington's new administration headed by Barack
Obama. "If changes are fundamental, genuine and based on respect... we wait and
see and do not make premature judgment," Ahmadinejad said.
"The first change we expect is that the United States should limit its
interference (to) within its borders," he said. "They have been oppressing our
people for 58 years now... they must change their attitude toward us."
The Iranian president also called the policy of carrot and sticks an "outdated"
one. "If it is the continuation of the wrong and arrogant policies, the result
is predictable," he added.
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