Berlin - Germany's Central Council of Jews criticized Saturday former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's plan to meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has in the past denied that the Holocaust occurred.

In an interview with the Hanover daily Neue Presse, general secretary of the Central Council of Jews Stephan Kramer said, "Mr. Schroeder is greatly damaging the reputation of Germany and the German government."

Kramer said that by meeting the Iranian president, Schroeder was supporting Ahmadinejad and his government, and appealed for the former chancellor to cancel his engagement, "on the grounds of human rights."

Just hours before he was due meet Ahmadinejad, the former German chancellor criticised the Iranian president's stance against the existence of Israel and his denial of the Holocaust.

"The Holocaust is an historic fact and there is no sense in denying this unparalleled crime," Schroeder said on Saturday, at a speech to the Iranian Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Teheran.

Schroeder said Iran needed to take responsibility and respect international rules, if the country wanted to be taken seriously as a regional power.

The former German chancellor added that comments about the Holocaust would merely distract from attempts to find a common solution to the Mid-East conflict.

Iranian officials reacted promptly to the criticism of the former German chancellor.

The head of the Iranian Chamber of Industry and Commerce Mohammad Nahawandian said, "To find common solutions, we shouldn't forget the recent massacre of people in Gaza and should internationally condemn Israel for it."

It would be wrong to "measure the developments in the Middle East with two yardsticks," Nahwandian added.

Iran's ambassador in Berlin, Aliresa Sheikh-Attar, didn't think Schroeder's criticism of Ahmadinejad would damage ties between the two countries.

"The relations between Teheran and Berlin are too important to be overshadowed by a subject such as the Holocaust," Attar said. (dpa)