(p)U.N. Approves Resolution Condemning Holocaust Denying(/p)

(p) By Bill Brubaker(/p)

(p)Washington Post Staff Writer(/p)

(p)The United Nations General Assembly today approved a resolution, drafted by the United States and co-sponsored by 103 countries, that condemns denials of the Holocaust.(/p)

(p)The resolution came six weeks after a conference in Tehran, organized by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, questioned whether six million Jews were exterminated during World War II.(/p)

(p)Ahmadinejad and the conference were not mentioned in the resolution, which "condemns without any reservation any denial of the Holocaust" and "urges all member states unreservedly to reject any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either in full or in part, or any activities to this end."(/p)

(p) The conference, which drew 67 Holocaust skeptics and deniers from 30 nations, including former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, was widely denounced.(/p)

(p)"The Iranian regime perversely seeks to call the historical fact of those atrocities into question and provide a platform for hatred," the White House said in a statement last month.(/p)

(p) Iran disassociated itself from today's resolution, calling it a political exercise to deflect attention from Israel's "atrocious" crimes. The acting U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Alejandro D. Wolff, told reporters he was disappointed that more of the 192 U.N. delegates did not attend today's General Assembly session.(/p)

(p)"Those who would deny the Holocaust -- and, sadly, there are some who do -- reveal not only their ignorance but their moral failure as well," Wolff said in a statement. (/p)

(p)A statement from U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon's office said the resolution "reflects the prevailing view of the international community. The Secretary-General reiterates his conviction that the denial of historical facts such as the Holocaust is unacceptable."(/p)

(p) Ahmadinejad has repeatedly cast doubt on the Holocaust, calling it a "myth."(/p)

(p) "Those having supported the Zionist regime during their lifetime should be aware that its lifetime will be over, and their interests as well as reputation will be endangered," Ahmadinejad said last month, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency. "Just as the ground was prepared to assign such a regime, the Zionist regime will be overthrown by its supporters."(/p)

(p) Correspondent Colum Lynch at the United Nations contributed to this report. (/p)