Ahmadinejad's trip to African Union summit cancelled

Jul 1, 2009, 10:01 GMT

   Tehran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has cancelled a visit to Libya scheduled for Wednesday, the presidential office said without giving a reason for the decision.

   Ahmadinejad had been invited to address an African Union summit that is being held in Libya Wednesday to Friday.

   The cancellation came on the heels of the June 12 presidential election, of which Ahmadinejad was declared the winner amid opposition charges of fraud.

   Iran's Guardian Council, a legislative body in charge of approving election results, confirmed Ahmadinejad's re-election Monday after a partial vote recount and ruled out any further protests by his challenger Mir-Hossein Moussavi on election fraud.

   About 17 people are believed to have been killed during street demonstrations protesting Ahmadinejad's win. Both Moussavi and another presidential candidate, Mehdi Karoubi, have called for the election to be annulled and held again.

   Observers said they believe the internal political tension was the reason behind the cancellation of Ahmadinejad's Libya trip. However, the president made a visit to Russia four days after the election for a summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. It has been his only trip abroad since the vote.

   Some African leaders had also complained that Ahmadinejad's attendance at the summit in Libya would detract from the main issues being discussed there, including raising agricultural investment to ensure food security.