UNITED NATIONS, Sept 17: US Senator Hillary Clinton cancelled her appearance at a demonstration against the president of Iran after learning Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will be there, an aide said on Wednesday.

A group of Jewish organisations had said both Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton would speak at the protest near the United Nations on Sept 22 against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has said Israel should be wiped off the map.

But Clinton adviser Philippe Reines said the New York senator would not be attending.

“(Palin’s) attendance was news to us, and this was never billed to us as a partisan political event,” he said in an e-mail.

Ms Clinton lost a hard-fought battle for her party’s nomination to Senator Barack Obama, but is now supporting the Democratic nominee for the Nov 4 presidential election.

Campaigners for Alaska Governor Palin and Republican presidential candidate Sen John McCain reacted swiftly to Ms Clinton’s decision.

“Governor Palin believes that the danger of a nuclear Iran is greater than party or politics,” said Tracey Schmitt, a spokeswoman for the McCain-Palin campaign.

“She hopes that all parties can rally together in opposition to this grave threat.”

United Nations officials have said it is possible that McCain and Palin will show up on Sept 23 on the sidelines of the first day of the UN General Assembly.

This would give Ms Palin a chance to meet a few world leaders on the day President George Bush and one of his main foes, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, address the 192 UN member states.

Although Ms Palin, 44, has brought new energy to the McCain campaign and helped narrow Mr Obama’s lead in opinion polls before the Nov 4 US presidential election, Democrats say the mother of five lacks the foreign policy experience a vice president should have.

Iran denies Western allegations that it is seeking atomic weapons, but has refused to suspend sensitive parts of its nuclear programme that could be used to make atom bomb fuel.

—Reuters