IRAN: A group of Iranian intellectuals has criticised Iran for hosting a conference that questioned the killing of six million Jews by the Nazis, saying it used human suffering in the Holocaust to make "political points".
The government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has described the Holocaust as a "myth", hosted the meeting in December saying it wanted to allow researchers from countries where it is a crime to question the Holocaust to speak freely.
It drew condemnation from the West, the Vatican and Israel. The 192-member UN General Assembly last month also adopted a resolution without a vote condemning Holocaust denials.
More than 100 nations co-sponsored the measure.
"We the signatories of this letter are of the opinion that such 'conferences', more than anything, harm the academic image of the Iranian universities," said the letter circulated on the internet and signed by 23 academics, writers and artists.
About half the signatories are based in Iran, with others based in the United States and elsewhere, the letter said.
Rights activist Emadeddin Baghi, one of the more prominent signatories, confirmed he had signed the letter but did not comment further. Some Iranians said several of those who signed in Iran were not very well-known figures.
"We believe that conferences like this do not help the cause of the Palestinian people and only provide pretexts for the warmongers in the region," said the open letter, which was posted on Baghi's website, www.emadbaghi.com.
President Ahmadinejad has accused the West and Zionists of using the Holocaust to justify the creation of the state of Israel at the expense of Palestinians.