Ahmadinejad accuses Sarkozy of pharaonic arrogance

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Published: DECEMBER 16, 2008 13:52
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy was imitating the "arrogant" style of the pharaohs who ruled ancient Egypt. Sarkozy said on Monday that he could not shake hands with Ahmadinejad because he had said Israel should be "wiped off the map". He also said Ahmadinejad did not represent Iran. Ahmadinejad, who outraged the West in 2005 by calling Israel a "tumor" to be wiped off the map, accused Sarkozy in a speech at a southern Iran rally broadcast on state television of adopting "an arrogant pharaonic style" towards the Teheran government. Pharaohs are a symbol of arrogance and tyranny in Islam.