Perilous Times
Ahmadinejad says in U.N. address that capitalism is dying
6:53pm EDT
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on
Tuesday told a U.N. General Assembly session on poverty that capitalism
was on the verge of death and that it was time for a new economic
system.
"The discriminatory order of capitalism and the hegemonic approaches
are facing defeat and are getting close to their end," Ahmadinejad said
at a summit meeting assessing progress on achieving U.N. goals to
drastically reduce poverty by 2015.
"The undemocratic and unjust governance structures of the
decision-making bodies in international economic and political fields
are the reasons behind most of the plights today humanity is
confronting," he said, according to an English translation of his
prepared remarks.
Ahmadinejad had drawn large crowds for previous U.N. speeches but
Tuesday's address was delivered to a virtually empty hall.
It was unclear whether the unusually low attendance was due to waning
interest in Ahmadinejad five years after he first addressed the
assembly or if it was the fact that he was one of the first speakers in
the morning session, which began at 9 a.m. EDT/1300 GMT.
Ahmadinejad offered no clear alternative to capitalism but said, "The
world is in need of an encompassing and, of course, just and humane
order in the light of which the rights of all are preserved and peace
and security are safeguarded."
Ahmadinejad will address the 192-nation General Assembly again on
Thursday during its annual General Debate, in which world leaders
traditionally cover issues important to them.
In the past, Ahmadinejad has used the General Debate as a forum to
defend Iran's nuclear program and assail its arch foes Israel and the
United States, typically prompting walkouts by the United States and
some European countries.
(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau, editing by Bill Trott)