ATHENS, Aug 14: Iranian world judo champion Arash Miresmaili, who carried his country's flag in Friday's Olympic Games opening ceremony, has pulled out of the tournament because he refused to fight an Israeli.

The 23-year-old, twice a winner of the flyweight (under 66kg) world title, opted not to take on first round opponent Ehud Vaks of Israel as a gesture of support for Palestine.

"Although I have trained for months and was in good shape I refused to fight my Israeli opponent to sympathize with the suffering of the people of Palestine and I do not feel upset at all," Miresmaili told the IRNA news agency.

Students news agency ISNA quoted Iran's sports officials as saying Miresmaili still deserved the one billion rial (115,000-dollar) prize the Iranian Olympic medal winners were promised by the Physical Education organization.

"Miresmaili must receive a special prize as he was the prime candidate for a gold medal and I will do my best about it," said head of the judo federation, Mohammad Derakhshan.

It is not the first time Iranian judokas have declined to fight against Israeli opponents.

At the 2001 world championships, Mahed Malekmohammdi refused to face Yoel Razvozov while Asian champion Masoud Haji Akhoundzade also pulled out of a planned clash with Israeli lightweight Zvi Shafran.

Boycotts of fixtures involving Israeli are nothing new.

At the 2003 world table tennis championships in Paris, Israel lodged an official protest after Yemeni and Saudi players refused to play against one of its team members.

Yemeni player Hani Al-Hammadi had been due to face Israel's Gay Elensky but turned and left when he saw his opponent was Israeli.

One day later, Elensky was due to meet Saudi player Nabeel Al-Magahwi - but the Saudi player refused to come to the table.

Al-Magahwi was banned for a year for his action and became a national hero in his homeland.

"What I did in Paris was the right thing and I feel proud of it," he said. "It is a natural for an Arab or a Muslim not to want to face an Israeli, because of our protest against the Israeli aggression in Palestane.

"It was very touching when an old lady from Palestine, who had lived in Paris for most of her life, called me and told me that she and her people feel proud of the stance I took."-Reuters