July 09, 2008	Wednesday	Rajab 5, 1429

KUALA LUMPUR, July 8: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called on the G-8 nations, whose leaders are currently meeting in Japan, to announce destruction of all nuclear warheads in their countries to prove their commitment to peace and stability.

He was speaking at a press conference after the conclusion of the D-8 summit here. Answering a question, he said his country was ready to help brotherly Muslim nations cope with the oil crisis.

He said the current global economic crisis reflected the vulnerability of the existing world order. The current global economic crisis was the beginning of the end for the international system dominated by the US and Britain.

He claimed that the oil crisis had been created to suit the interests of certain countries.

He brushed aside the possibility of Tehran accepting the suggestion of some countries to stop nuclear enrichment for four weeks as a gesture of good-will.

“The nuclear countries have no moral high ground to impose their whims on other independent countries,” he remarked.

In reply to another question, he said Iran opposed Israel for its Zionist policies which were the source of instability in the Middle East.

He said Iran was not against any religion, including Judaism. “In Iran we have (a sizeable) Jewish population living in peace.”

He said he was ready to meet President George Bush or Barack Obama in the presence of media personnel.—Afshan Subohi