(3 Jun 2008)

1. Wide of Iranians living in Italy protesting against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visit to Rome
2. Protesters unfurling banners with anti-Ahmadinejad slogans and images on the steps of the Piazza di Spagna
3. Close of banner
4. Protesters chanting, carrying banner and waving Iranian flag
5. Various of protesters unfurling black fabric on steps
6. Women covered in black veils
7. Tilt down from close of Iranian flag to protesters chanting
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Azar Karimi, President of the Associated Young Iranians in Italy:
"We are here because he is a terrorist, he is against democracy, he killed (m) millions of Iranian people and he shouldn't have come here because he represents only the Iranian regime and the terrorists in Iran."
9. Wide of members of Rome's Jewish community demonstrating at the top of the Circus Maximus arena
10. Protestors carrying Israeli flags
11. SOUNDBITE (Italian) No name Given, Representative of the Jewish community in Rome:
"We appreciated that the (Italian) government didn't invite Ahmadinejad, Ahmadinejad invited himself. He is an uncomfortable presence above all for the Italian government and for all the institutions of the world, at this point they had to accept him here. But we must demonstrate that we exist and don't have any intention of accepting the ideas of the president of Iran and others like him who would like us to disappear."
12. Wide of protest

STORYLINE:

Dozens of people staged protests against the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Rome on Tuesday.

The president was in the Italian capital to take part in a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) summit on the global food crisis.

But his arrival was met by wide-spread protests from Jewish groups, human rights groups and Iranians based in Italy.

Dozens of Iranians living in Italy, along with members of several human rights groups gathered at the foot of the Spanish Steps, waving Iranian flags and carrying banners bearing anti-Ahmadinejad slogans.

"We are here because he is a terrorist," Azar Karimi, president of the Associated Young Iranians in Italy, told AP Television.

"He is against democracy, he killed (m) millions of Iranian people," she said. "He represents only the Iranian regime and the terrorists in Iran."

Meanwhile, Jewish groups staged several anti-Ahmadinejad protests across Rome.

Youths climbed the first tier of the Colosseum to release leaflets denouncing the Iranian leader.

Another group of Jewish demonstrators marched toward the summit site.

Members of the city's Jewish community demonstrated at the top of the Circus Maximus arena, close to the FAO headquarters where the summit was taking place.

A representative for the group said he understood that the Iranian president was not in Rome on an official invite from the Italian government, but added that his group had to protest against Ahmadinejad's presence in their city.

"We must demonstrate that we exist and don't have any intention of accepting the ideas of the president of Iran and others like him who would like us to disappear," the representative said in reference to Ahmadinejad's often vitriolic anti-Israel rhetoric.

The Iranian president's anti-Israeli remarks, the latest made as he touched down at Rome's small Ciampino airport, according Italian news reports, have enraged many across the globe.

Italian politicians also expressed outrage at Ahmadinejad's remarks as well as his previous threats of destruction and frequent denials of the Holocaust.


Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ] ​​
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]


You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]

свернуть