WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he will not buck New York's rejection of his bid to visit the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack.
The New York Police Department, the U.S. Secret Service and the Port Authority decided to reject Ahmadinejad's plan to visit the World Trade Center site while he is in New York for a United Nations General Assembly session.
Ahmadinejad told CBS News' "60 Minutes" his intention in trying to arrange the visit was to show respect by laying a wreath.
The Iranian president talked Thursday with "60 Minutes" in Baghdad. The interview is to be broadcast Sunday when Ahmadinejad arrives in the United States.
Reminded that authorities have spiked the idea, Ahmadinejad said he "won't insist" on visiting Ground Zero. However, he wondered why Americans would find such a visit problematic.
"Usually you go to these sites to pay your respects," he said. "And -- also to perhaps to air your views about the root causes of such incidents. I think that when I do that, I will be paying, as I said earlier, my respect to the American nation."
Copyright 2007 by UPI
