"Holocaust deniers" targeted anger towards US and Israel Lebanon is intending to prevent a controversial gathering of Holocaust revisionists later this month in the capital, Beirut.

"It is an extraordinary development and I think it is very, very positive" Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri is quoted as saying that the conference would not be held in Beirut, following a cabinet meeting during which the issue was discussed on Wednesday.

"We are looking for the future ... to establish a better climate," he said, alluding to a "smear campaign" which had been conducted in relations to the conference.

The gathering has been condemned by a number of leading Arab intellectuals, as well as in the Arab media, amid fears it would damage Lebanon's image.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre, a Jewish rights organisation dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust, had described the Beirut conference as a "gathering of hate".

"It is an extraordinary development and I think it is very, very positive. It's one of the few bright spots to try to create an environment of moderation," an SWC spokesman said.

Organising group the Institute for Historical Review - which is dedicated to questioning conventional perspectives of the Holocaust - denounced the decision and accused Lebanon of giving in to pressure.

"I regard this as outrageous," IHR director Mark Weber told Associated Press, accusing the Lebanese authorities of hypocrisy.

Organisers had not announced the exact location of the 31 March - 3 April conference, entitled Revisionism and Zionism, for security concerns.

Arabs are more concerned with the Palestinians' plight

A group of 14 Arab intellectuals including poet Mahmoud Darwish, academic Edward Said and others from Lebanon Algeria, Morocco and Syria, branded the gathering an "anti-Semitic undertaking".

Correspondents say the western Holocaust sceptics may have been trying to associate their beliefs with Arab ambivalence about the plight of the Jews in Europe in the light of perceived Israel's role in denying freedom and justice to the Palestinians.

Many Arabs believe that Israel and its supporters have concentrated on Jewish suffering during Holocaust as a way of deflecting criticism of the modern state of Israel.

IHR is co-organiser with Verite et Justice, whose leader Jürgen Graf has taken refuge in Iran after being was sentenced in Switzerland to 15 months imprisonment for Holocaust denial.