True to his usual form, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sparked controversy in his address at the Columbia University in New York on Monday night, questioning the Holocaust and refusing to back down in his stance on Israel.

Invited to speak in front of Columbia students, he got a hostile reception from numerous protesters, as well as university president Lee Bollinger, who said that Ahmadinejad "exhibit[s] all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator."

Ahmadinejad denied the existence of homosexuals in Iran and once again defended his country's nuclear ambitions.

He also called for more research about the Holocaust and demanded that the fate of Israel be decided by a "the people of Palestine in a free election."

Ahmadinejad's visit to the US, where he is due to address the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, has sparked massive controversy, as have his intention to visit the site of the former World Trade Center, which he has scrapped in the meantime.

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