By Country / Iran
Muslim Brotherhood Retracts Holocaust Statement
December 23, 2005
23 December 2005 -- A spokesman for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood today retracted a comment made earlier by the group's leader in which he said the Holocaust was a myth.
Mohammed Mahdi Akef's remark -- made on the Muslim Brotherhood's website -- echoed comments made recently by Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.
Today, Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Essam El-Eriane said the use of the word "myth" was inappropriate. El-Eriane said the "Holocaust happened to Jews like it happened to other groups, and we can't deny that."
In Iran, Mohammad-Ali Ramin, an official in charge of defending the rights of Muslim minorities in the West, suggested that Ahmadinejad establish a committee for clarifying the "real extent" of the Holocaust.
(dpa)