Iran leader: Bin Laden killing was 9/11 coverup

USA TODAY

Another year, another outrageous United Nations speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

And another walkout.

The U.S. led a delegate exodus today after Ahmadinejad criticized the Obama administration for killing Osama bin Laden, saying he should have testified at a trial about other culprits of the 9/11 attacks.

As he has before, Ahmadinejad called 9/11 "mysterious," and a pretext for U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Instead of assigning a fact-finding team, they killed the main perpetrator and threw his body into the sea," Ahmadinejad said.

The Washington Post also reports about Ahmadinejad's speech:

"Those who raised questions about Sept. 11 or the Nazi Holocaust were "threatened with sanctions and military action," he said.

His words sent diplomats streaming for the exits, starting with the U.S. delegation and followed by dozens of Europeans and others. More than a third of the General Assembly seats were empty by the time Ahmadinejad finished speaking, to polite applause.

The Iranian president had recently made conciliatory gestures to the West, including his support for a decision to free Americans Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, who were arrested in 2009 after straying into Iranian territory during a hike along the Iraqi border. But there were no olive branches in evidence during his sharply worded speech, which was accompanied by finger-wagging and dramatic hand gestures.

"Do these arrogant powers really have the competence and ability to run or govern the world?" he asked, referring to the United States and the former colonial powers of Europe. In an apparent reference to the Western-led military intervention in Libya, he added: "Can the flower of democracy blossom from NATO's missiles, bombs and guns?"

Positioning himself as spokesman for developing and non-aligned countries, Ahmadinejad called for scrapping the "prevailing world order" -- including the U.N. Security Council as currently structured -- in favor of a more evenly balanced system.

"There is no other way than the shared and collective management of the world to put an end to the present disorders, tyranny and discriminations worldwide," he said.