Germany to walk out at UN if Iran denies Holocaust

German diplomats are
prepared to walk out in protest if Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeats before the UN General Assembly his past denials of the Holocaust, Berlin officials confirmed Tuesday.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed a newspaper report that Germany would respond harshly to any anti-Semitic rhetoric during the speech this Thursday.

"We are seeking a common response from the European Union (EU) nations," said the spokesman.

The plans were reported by the newspaper Handelsblatt.

In April, most EU delegates walked out of a meeting of the UN Human Rights Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, after Ahmadinejad claimed Zionism was "racism personified."

Handelsblatt said Israel had approached a variety of western foreign ministries in recent days to ask for a coordinated walkout from the room during Ahmadinejad's speech.

The Iranian president said on Friday at a speech in Tehran that the Holocaust was a "fairy tale".