Berlin  - German diplomats are prepared to walk out in protest if Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeats before the UN General Assembly his past denials of the Holocaust, Berlin officials confirmed Tuesday.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed a newspaper report that Germany would respond harshly to any anti-Semitic rhetoric during the speech this Thursday.

"We are seeking a common response from the European Union (EU) nations," said the spokesman.

The plans were reported by the newspaper Handelsblatt.

In April, most EU delegates walked out of a meeting of the UN Human Rights Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, after Ahmadinejad claimed Zionism was "racism personified."

Handelsblatt said Israel had approached a variety of western foreign ministries in recent days to ask for a coordinated walkout from the room during Ahmadinejad's speech.

The Iranian president said on Friday at a speech in Tehran that the Holocaust was a "fairy tale".  dpa