PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL<br/> Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wrapped up his Latin American tour in Ecuador, accusing the U.S. of using his country's nuclear programme as an excuse for political manoeuvring.<br/> SOUNDBITE: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad saying (Farsi):<br/> "The nuclear question is a political excuse. All of them know well that Iran isn't looking to build nuclear bombs."<br/> Ahmadinejad's stance is being backed by Ecuador's President Rafael Correa. He says Washington's allegations of a nuclear weapons programme are based on flimsy sources.<br/> SOUNDBITE: Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa saying (Spanish):<br/> "How can those reports be accepted? Isn't it the same thing that happened with Iraq which caused an invasion that cost over a million lives. Also later the conclusion was reached that they didn't have weapons of mass destruction. How could we possible not learn from history and such a recent painful history?"<br/> Ahmadinejad arrived in Ecuador's capital on Thursday.<br/> He's on his way back to Iran on Friday at the end of a four-nation tour of Latin America that also took in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba.<br/> His trip took place as tensions rise further still following new U.S. sanctions intended to inflict economic damage in the hope of forcing Iran to drop its nuclear programme.<br/> Paul Chapman, Reuters
