Tehran, Iran ? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s hard-line president who has said the Holocaust was a myth, now has charged that European countries sought to complete the genocide by establishing a Jewish state in the midst of Muslim countries.

“Don’t you think that continuation of genocide by expelling Jews from Europe was one of their aims in creating a regime of occupiers of Al-Quds (Jerusalem)?” the official Islamic Republic News agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying Sunday.

Ahmadinejad said Europeans had decided to create a “Jewish camp” as the best means for ridding the continent of Jews. He said the camp, Israel, now enjoyed support from the United States and Europe in the slaughter of Muslims.

He said anti-Semitism had a long history in Europe, while Jews had lived peacefully among Muslims for centuries.

His remarks have been condemned by the White House, Israel, Germany, France and the European Commission, among others. Germany has said the remarks would affect negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.