Washington Warns Lebanon Not to Host Conference on Zionism

TEHRAN Washington has warned Lebanon not to host a conference on Zionism, according to a Lebanese daily.

The Beirut-based daily As-Safir reported on Saturday that the U.S. State Department conveyed the request through the U.S. ambassador in Beirut and the Lebanese ambassador to Washington.

The report added that some U.S. congressmen and Jewish organizations in that country have been trying to portray those organizing the conference, which is entitled "Zionism and Revisionism," as anti-Semitic and racist.

According to the daily, the Congress has suggested that holding the conference may affect the U.S. attitude and aid to Lebanon.

The conference has been organized by the Swiss Truth and Justice Organization and the California-based Institute for Reviewing History, the report added.

It cited the aim of conference as refuting the Zionist claims regarding the so-called Holocaust.

The daily also quoted some U.S. sources as saying that, considering the freedom of expression in Lebanon, the officials of this country will not be able to ban the conference.