YEKATERINBURG (Russia) - IRAN'S under-fire President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday joined an array of world leaders at a regional summit in Russia, defiantly declaring that the age of empires had ended.

In a show of confidence after the worst riots in his country in a decade, Mr Ahmadinejad made no mention of the violence or his hotly disputed reelection victory in his address to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Russia hopes to use summit to boost stature 'The global financial crisis continues to deepen, its influence on the global economy is becoming increasingly distinct,' he added. For his part, Medvedev expressed optimism that 'within the framework of the work we are doing in the organisation there can be developed the mechanisms that can allow to overcome the crisis.' ... more

'The international capitalist order is retreating,' the controversial president told world leaders, including Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and China's Hu Jintao, in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.

'It is absolutely obvious that the age of empires has ended and its revival will not take place.' A broadly-smiling Mr Ahmadinejad, wearing a dark suit and as usual no tie, earlier shook hands with a beaming Mr Medvedev before the leaders went into the second day of the summit.

Whether Mr Ahmadinejad - who has a habit of stealing the limelight at such events - would turn up had become a source of intrigue after he postponed his planned arrival on Monday following unrest over his disputed election victory.

Mr Ahmadinejad was initially scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Mr Medvedev but a Kremlin spokesman said that meeting has been cancelled, apparently because of a tight schedule.

Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov earlier described the elections as an 'internal affair of the Iranian people", in Moscow's first official reaction to the controversy.

The Iranian president is attending the summit in Iran's capacity as an observer to the the organisation and Tehran has in the past expressed interest in becoming a fully-fledged member.

The visit to Russia is Mr Ahmadinejad's first foreign trip since his landslide re-election victory over his moderate rival Mir Hossein Mousavi sparked two days of street protests and some of the worst rioting in Tehran in a decade.

In the latest sign of Beijing seeking to promote its influence in Central Asia, Mr Hu announced that China would extend a US$10 billion (S$14.6 billion) credit to member states to help them overcome the financial crisis. -- AFP