Syrians walk out of NAM summit amid Morsi criticisms

CAIRO: Syria's delegation to the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran walked out Thursday when Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi began an address in which he referred to the "oppressive" Syrian regime, official Egyptian media reported.

"The Syrian delegation withdrew as President Morsi began discussing the Syrian file," the official MENA news agency reported.

Morsi, Egypt's first Islamist president, was in Tehran to hand over rotating leadership of the movement to Iran, Syria's closest regional ally.

He was the first Egyptian leader to set foot in Iran since the Islamic revolution in 1979.