Ahmadinejad joins list of rogue visitors to U.N.

Iran leader has already caused stir
Though he has yet to arrive, he is already caused a stir with a failed bid to lay a wreath at the World Trade Center site. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said he would not allow Ahmadinejad to go to ground zero.

The city’s tabloids went ballistic, labeling him a “madman,” “idiot” and a “Holocaust-denying, nuke-coveting, terrorist-aiding nut.”

“He’s more dangerous than Osama bin Laden,” said Malcolm I. Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. “He has missiles. He has an army which has purchased huge amounts of weapons.”

Despite being roundly denounced from the White House to the mayor’s office, Ahmadinejad will be treated like royalty, chauffeured around the city by the Secret Service, which, in tandem with the NYPD, will protect him until he leaves early Wednesday. His appearances at the U.N. and Columbia — which rescinded an invitation to Ahmadinejad last year after an uproar — are expected to draw large crowds of protesters.

The cost to taxpayers? Kim Bruce, a Secret Service agent, said she did not know how much her agency will spend. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he has no idea what it will cost New York. Whatever it is, he said, the federal government is supposed to pay for the protection of foreign political figures but seldom does.

Travel restrictions
While he is here, Ahmadinejad will be under the same travel restrictions as diplomats in the Iranian U.N. mission, said Kendal Smith, spokesman for the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Iranian diplomats are free to travel up to 25 miles from midtown Manhattan. Any farther requires an exemption.

Will Ahmadinejad try to eat at one of New York’s excellent Persian restaurants? A spokesman for Iran’s U.N. mission said Ahmadinejad would fast during the day because of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and would have no time to go to restaurants.

Some have used Ahmadinejad’s visit to draw attention to this country’s tradition of protecting free speech.

“This is a country where people can come and speak their minds. It’s something that we’re proud of — giving people whose ideas and beliefs we find abhorrent if not dangerous,” White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

“It would be wonderful if some of the countries that take advantage of that here allowed it for their own citizens there.”

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