Michael Jackson fan hacks into Ahmadinejad website

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, famous for his love of media clampdowns, has been left red-faced after his personal website was hacked into by an apparent Michael Jackson fan who called for the controversial Iranian leader's death in 2010. The breach came on the same day that Tehran banned contact with dozens of international organisations, including the BBC.

The audacious hacker mentioned the deaths last year of Jackson, actors Farrah Fawcett and Patrick Swayze and Iranian protester Neda Agha-Soltan, and then pleaded for God to add both Iran’s President and its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to the list of recently departed famous.

"Dear God, in 2009 you took my favourite singer - Michael Jackson, my favourite actress - Farrah Fawcett, my favourite actor - Patrick Swayze, my favourite voice - Neda,” the hacker wrote, adding: “Please, please, don't forget my favourite politician - Ahmadinejad and my favourite dictator - Khamenei in the year 2010. Thank you."

The hacker broke into Ahmadinejad’s personal blog (www.ahmadinejad.ir), on Tuesday morning, but by mid-afternoon the page had been taken down. It is still available online, however, via  Google's cache. Meanwhile Ahmadinejad's site has been down, perhaps due to heavy traffic after the story generated huge interest among bloggers.

Yesterday Iranian authorities stepped up their campaign to blame the country’s political turmoil on foreigners, when the intelligence ministry announced a blacklist of more than 60 overseas groups. It has banned thinktanks, universities and broadcasting organisations that it sees as waging a "soft war" aimed at toppling Iran's Islamic system.

Among them are the US-funded radio station Voice of America, Yale University and the George Soros Open Society Foundation thinktank. An Iranian reformist website, Rah-e Sabz, which has been a news source for international media - who have been prevented from covering the recent unrest - is also included. ·