Racism

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm argued that there was "no place" for racial hatred or Islamophobia in Germany.

"We condemn such acts, wherever they take place," said Wilhelm.

The 31-year-old Muslim woman, Marwa al-Sherbini, was killed by a Russian-born German during his appeal hearing for insulting her with racist slurs, in a case that sparked anti-German demonstrations outside the German embassy in Tehran over the weekend.

Ahmadinejad on Sunday demanded the United Nations impose sanctions against Germany and accused the West of applying double standards when it comes to human rights.

The incident was proof for of the "brutality of the German government and clear evidence for corruption in the German justice system," said Ahmadinejad.

Ahmadinejad added that while Berlin and Washington had plenty to say regarding events in Tehran following Iran's presidential elections, no reaction had been registered regarding al-Sherbini's murder.

"We want condemnation from the United Nations Security Council and the imposition of sanctions," said the Iranian president.

Government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm acknowledged the Iranian president's remarks but insisted that there was no climate that promoted such actions. He said it was now a matter for the German justice system to punish those who commit these acts.

On July 1, the pregnant Egyptian woman mother of a three-year-old was stabbed 18 times in a courtroom in the Eastern German city of Dresden by a Russian-born German, who was appealing an earlier conviction for making racist slurs against the Egyptian in a children's playground in 2008. Dresden prosecutors had asked her to testify in his trial.

Sherbini's husband was seriously wounded by a policeman who mistakenly identified him as the perpetrator.

nrt/dpa/AP

Editor: Neil King