ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN - Tehran International Conference

"Review of the Holocaust: Global Vision 10-12 December 2006

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N.S. university meets with prof who attended Holocaust denial conference
December 22, 2006 - 15:53 , 570 News

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (CP) - A Nova Scotia university upset that a professor went to an Iranian conference that raised doubts about the Holocaust has met with the teacher, but hasn't decided if he will be punished.

Sean Riley, president of St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, says a decision about what, if anything, should happen to Shiraz Dossa won't be made until the new year.

Dossa, a political science professor at the university, attended the conference earlier this month and discussed how the Holocaust plays into the so-called war on terror.

The professor, who met with the university's vice-president of academics today, has insisted he is not a Holocaust denier and describes people who deny the genocide as lunatics.

Still, Riley says the university does not want to be associated with such an event in any way, and suggests the professor should have better researched the purpose of the conference.

Riley says the university isn't challenging the academic freedom of its faculty, but says the school must take a stand against a conference that espouses a "repugnant" view.

Dossa, who did not answer his home phone or return e-mails requesting an interview, has avoided any public appearances since returning from Iran.

Some media organizations have had reporters camping out in front of Dossa's house this week. He apparently told a TV reporter he wouldn't be talking about the matter until the new year.