Iranian is denied ground zero visit
Part of it is who he is. But few outside of 9/11 families and workers get in these days.
NEW YORK - Almost everyone agrees that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad does not belong at ground zero.
So who gets access these days to the 16-acre pit where the World Trade Center once stood, a site that many regard as hallowed ground?
Construction workers. The families of victims. The occasional journalist. And not too many others, in stark contrast to the days immediately after Sept. 11, 2001.
Amid the chaos after the twin towers fell, rescue workers and cleanup crews mingled with a parade of well-known visitors. Within a month, the city was turning down hundreds of requests to visit the site.
Six years later, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said a proposed visit to ground zero by Ahmadinejad during next week's session of the U.N. General Assembly had no chance. Police cited construction and security concerns, and the Iranian president, who is under Secret Service protection while in the United States, was told to steer clear. "Our position is that he will not be permitted to go," Kelly said.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said: "I personally find what this guy has said abhorrent, and I think it would be inappropriate to have him visit."
New York-based presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rudy Giuliani also expressed their opposition to the suggested visit.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the United States would not support Iran's attempt to use the site for a "photo op."
The Iranian president, in an interview to air Sunday on CBS's 60 Minutes, indicated he would not press the issue. "I won't insist," Ahmadinejad said, though he expressed disbelief that the visit would offend Americans.
When interviewer Katie Couric reminded him that the United States considers Iran an exporter of terrorism, he said: "We are very much against any terrorist action and any killing."
Although Ahmadinejad may not be welcome at ground zero, he is at Columbia University, where he is scheduled to appear Monday at a question-and-answer session with faculty members and students.