Ahmadinejad in Rome for summit

Iran's president renewed his vitriolic anti-Israel rhetoric yesterday as he arrived in Rome for a UN summit in a visit that sparked protests by Jewish groups and condemnations by Italian politicians.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, taking part in a UN summit on the global food crisis, spoke out against Israel as soon as he touched down at the capital's small Ciampino airport, Italian news reports said.

"European peoples have been most hurt by the Zionists, and today the economic and political costs of this false regime are on the shoulders of Europe," the ANSA news agency quoted him as saying.