Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has offered to debate both Republican Presidential candidate John McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama when he arrives in the United States next week for the United Nations annual summit.

The fiery Iranian leader, who provoked a storm of controversy when he visited last year, said he would debate global issues at a public forum in UN headquarters if the candidates agreed.

Obama said early in his campaign that, as president, he would be prepared to meet the leaders of U.S. foes such as Iran and Syria.

A spokesman for Obama's campaign did not return a call for comment on whether the democratic presidential candidate would be willing to meet with the Iranian leader.

Ahmadinejad's debate challenge comes at a time when Democrat Hillary Clinton pulled out of a march against Iran after learning that Republican running mate Sarah Palin would be participating in the same event.

New York authorities refused Ahmadinejad's request during his visit last year to lay a wreath at the former World Trade Center site, however, he was invited to speak at Columbia University where the crowd jeered his comment that "there were no homosexuals in Iran".

Obama has enjoyed a huge surge in the online gambling world, regaining much of last week's losses when both he and McCain were listed with near even odds.

At the oldest US facing bookmaker, Bookmaker.com, Obama had odds of -177 to become the next US President while McCain was back to being an underdog that would pay $147 for every $100 bet.

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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher