Ahmadinejad: 'Destruction of Israel' or 'elimination of Zionist regime'?

AP are reporting that the Iranian president today called for the destruction of Israel. Fox news and Jerusalem post both have headlines accordingly. It is only upon closer scrutiny that it is apparent that what was reported at a state run website was Ahmadinejad stating that the solution to the Middle East crisis was the 'elimination of the Zionist regime'. 'Zionism' is a political movement - a 'regime' is a form of government. Whether or not one approves of this view from the Iranian president is irrelevant. What he seems to be saying from AP's own report is clealy not the same as calling for the 'destruction of Israel' - any more than calling for the elimination of US Neoconservativism would mean calling for the destruction of America.

Note that Blair - in his press conference earlier today - also chose to claim that Ahmadinejad stated "Israel must be eliminated."

AP - 'Israel's destruction is the solution'

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday the solution to the Middle East crisis was to destroy Israel, state-media reported.

In a speech during an emergency meeting of Muslim leaders in Malaysia, Ahmadinejad also called for an immediate cease-fire to end the fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah.

"Although the main solution is for the elimination of the Zionist regime, at this stage an immediate cease-fire must be implemented," Ahmadinejad said, according to state-run television in a report posted on its Web site on Thursday.

See AP: All the news that's fit to slant