iplomats have walked out of a UN anti-racism conference during a speech by the Iranian president in which he described Israel as "totally racist".
Dozens of delegates got up and left, moments after two protesters wearing coloured wigs disrupted the start of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech.
Diplomats who remained applauded as Mr Ahmadinejad continued his address.
France said it was a "hate speech" and the US called it "vile". Some countries had boycotted the meeting altogether.
The walkout is a public relations disaster for the United Nations, which had hoped the conference would be a shining example of what the UN is supposed to do best - uniting to combat injustice in the world, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva.
