Ahmadinejad called off a visit this week to Libya, where President Moammar Kadafi had invited him to speak at the African Summit. Iranian TV reported Iranian spokesman Hassan Qashqavi as saying that Ahmadinejad's "busy work schedule" prevented him from attending. Instead, the president stayed home and met with an official from a nation that shares his anti-U.S. stance: Rafael Ramirez, the Venezuelan energy minister.
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Iran's Ahmadinejad faces diplomatic isolation
After a disputed election and crackdown on protesters, the Iranian president maybe be feted in some anti-U.S. corners, but faces slights and snubs from other nations.
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The conservative Mehr news agency reported that "Ramirez, for his part, praised the massive voter turnout in the presidential election in Iran, saying the widespread support of the Iranian nation for [Ahmadinejad] in the election overwhelmed the world.
"On the Western interference in postelection events in Iran, the Venezuelan minister said, it is evident to the world that the United States and Britain always try to foment divisions among nations around the world."
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jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.com
borzou.daragahi@latimes.com
Special correspondent Devorah Lauter in Paris and Amro Hassan of The Times' Cairo Bureau contributed to this report.
