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| May 4, 2006 | Thursday | Rabi-us-Sani 5, 1427 |
Ahmadinejad not expected at World Cup
BERLIN, May 3: Germany does not expect Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend the soccer World Cup starting next month, Interior Ministry official August Hanning said on Wednesday. “We have no indication that the Iranian president wants to come to Germany,” he said at a news conference about World Cup security.
“Of course we do have to play our host role, but it's also needless to elaborate some people are more welcome than others.”
In April, the Iranian Soccer Federation said Ahmadinejad might come, a prospect that raised concern about protests.
German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he would have to face criticism for his remarks that Israel “should be wiped off the map” and questioning whether six million Jews were killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust.
Hanning said the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme had not helped relations between the two countries either. He said Ahmadinejad had not been officially invited.
He said the Iranian national squad was one of four teams that would receive special security at the World Cup, which kicks off on June 9. The others are the United States, England and Saudi Arabia, seen as leading targets for al Qaeda.
Hanning said Iran's interior minister told Schaeuble in February he was worried about possible terrorist attacks on the players.
Hanning said some 300 uniformed police officers from other European Union countries were expected to work in Germany during the tournament, with similar status to their German colleagues.
The United Kingdom's is the biggest force with 40 officers. Some 200 police officers from non-EU countries will also come, to liaise with German forces in dealing with their fans.
Hanning said he trusted German officials to use their judgement in cases where fans made the banned Adolf Hitler salute. “We have laws which stem from our history and we are more sensitive in some areas than others are,” he said.
Making the salute is a criminal offence in Germany, as is the display of Nazi symbols or denying the Holocaust.—Reuters
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