ABUJA: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met fellow Muslim leaders at a summit in Nigeria on Thursday after branding the United States as a global dictator.
The aim of the Developing Eight (D8) summit was to improve trade among members, but issues including new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program could also be addressed.
Turkey’s damaged relations with Israel after a deadly raid on an aid ship bound for Gaza may also be discussed, with Turkish President Abdullah Gul among those attending.
Ahmadinejad, after his arrival on Wednesday, lashed out at the United States and Israel in a speech to hundreds of people at the Iranian embassy in Abuja.
"They are the self-proclaimed leaders and everybody should know that self-proclaimed leadership is dictatorship," said Ahmadinejad, referring to the United States. "The era of dictatorship is over."
Ahmadinejad’s speech in the West African country, where Muslims make up an estimated half of the 150 million population, drew a rapturous welcome from the crowd, which chanted "Nigerians support Iran."
He was to give another speech outside the summit on Thursday afternoon.
The Istanbul-based D8 groups Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey, with a total population of 930 million people.
One of the major goals of the body is to create a free-trade zone, but leaders at the summit lamented the fact that little progress has been achieved.
"The D8 has not been able to fully attain its objectives," said Malaysia’s deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
The preferential trade area, "which was supposed to be the blue-chip of our economic cooperation, had only been ratified by two member states… Malaysia and Iran," said Yassin.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who came to power in May after the death of his predecessor, Umaru Yar’Adua, took advantage of the talks to lobby for investment.
Despite its huge oil and gas resources, Nigeria is woefully short of electricity due to the poor condition of its refineries, which have been hampered by corruption.
