Iranian intellectuals criticize Holocaust meeting

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A group of Iranian intellectuals has criticized Iran for hosting a conference that questioned the killing of 6 million Jews by the Nazis, saying it used human suffering in the Holocaust to make "political points."

The government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has described the Holocaust as a "myth," hosted the meeting in December saying it wanted to allow researchers from countries where it is a crime to question the Holocaust to speak freely.

It drew condemnation from the West, the Vatican and Israel. The 192-member U.N. General Assembly last month also adopted a resolution without a vote condemning Holocaust denials. More than 100 nations co-sponsored the measure.

"We the signatories of this letter are of the opinion that such 'conferences,' more than anything, harm the academic image of the Iranian universities," said the letter circulated on the Internet and signed by 23 academics, writers and artists.

About half the signatories are based in Iran with others based in the United States and elsewhere, the letter said.

Rights activist Emadeddin Baghi, one of the more prominent signatories, confirmed to Reuters he had signed the letter but did not comment further. Some Iranians said several of those who signed in Iran were not very well-known figures.

"We believe that conferences like this do not help the cause of the Palestinian people and only provide pretexts for the warmongers in the region," said the open letter, which was posted on Baghi's Web site www.emadbaghi.com

Ahmadinejad has accused the West and Zionists of using the Holocaust to justify the creation of the state of Israel at the expense of Palestinians.

Others in Iran criticized the conference, including Moris Motamed, the sole parliamentarian representing Iran's Jewish community. He described the event as a "huge insult."

Some Iranian critics also said holding such a meeting offered ammunition to the West, which is seeking to pressure Iran over its disputed nuclear program.

The letter said the conference did not meet requirements for an academic forum, for example it cited a failure to choose specialists to speak. It criticized the "appalling speech" presented by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

"Those who perpetuate the discourse on Holocaust denial ignore the feelings of the people directly affected by this event. These people include, among others, a group of our Jewish fellow citizens in Iran," the open letter said.

What the letter called Israel's crimes against Palestinians did "not provide moral ground for the denial or undermining of the genocide of the Jewish people," it said.

It added that "the undermining or denial of human suffering for the sake of making political points -- whatever they might be -- will inevitably lead to moral degeneration".