CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) – Former Iranian president Mohammed Khatami condemned Osama bin Laden and suicide bombing but defended groups such as Hezbollah for what he characterized as resistance against Israeli colonialism during a speech Sunday at Harvard University on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

In a 30-minute speech given under tight security at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Khatami repeatedly praised the concept of democracy but said American politicians, since World War II, have been infatuated with “world domination.”

Khatami said he was one of the first world leaders to condemn “the barbarous acts” of Sept. 11. Responding to a question from the audience about bin Laden, Khatami said he had two problems with the al-Qaida leader behind the attacks.

“First, because of the crimes he conducts,” he said, “and second because he conducts them in the name of Islam, the religion which is a harbinger of peace and justice.”

In response to another question about the notion of suicide bombers gaining entry to heaven as reward for their martyrdom, Khatami said, “Those who put others through hell will never go to heaven.”

Police estimated about 200 protesters showed up, and many blamed Khatami for failing to stop government crackdowns on student activists in Tehran during his two terms in office.

Several human rights organizations say the crackdowns are believed to have been initiated by his rivals and approved by Iran’s ruling Muslim clerics.

“His speech is on ethics and violence. It would be very bizarre if he came here to speak on ethics and violence and did not acknowledge and discuss his own record in Iran,” said Eric Lesser, 21, president of Harvard College Democrats, which teamed with their Republican peers for the protest. “Students were arrested and thrown in prison for speaking their mind in the same way we’re doing right now.”

Khatami was considered a reformist during his two terms as president that ended last year. His visit to the United States has been criticized by many, particularly amid concerns about Iran’s nuclear program.

The visit angered Joshua Levin, 42. He said, “When someone this evil comes to your city you must oppose him. He’s a fascist. He sponsors terror.”

There were no major problems, but police presence was heavy. One man was briefly detained during the protests, but police later said there were no arrests.

Khatami called for social changes in Muslim countries, saying, “the east needs to overhaul its social life to escape its backwardness.”

He did, however, take a more conservative tone in response to a Harvard student’s question about Iran’s practice of executing homosexuals.

“In all schools of thought and all religions, there is punishment, and punishment is not violence,” Khatami said. “Homosexual activity is a crime in Islam, and crimes are punishable.”

Khatami took a softer tone on Israel than current President Mahmoud Ahmedijad when asked whether he favored the elimination of the state of Israel. He said he opposes the systematic elimination of any people. “The Jews have a right to live in peace and control their destinies,” he said, but he skirted the issue of whether they have a right to do so in an Israeli state in the Middle East.

Harvard has been criticized for the timing of its invitation to Khatami, who is taking a two-week tour of the United States.

Gov. Mitt Romney, a potential Republican candidate for president in 2008, criticized the visit and ordered state agencies to not cooperate, if asked, for assistance. State Police did not provide an escort as they normally would to a visiting dignitary. Cambridge police drove with Khatami’s motorcade.

Harvard professor Graham Allison, who moderated the program, noted that the university officially will commemorate the Sept. 11 attacks and defended the invitation by citing President Bush’s remarks in a Wall Street Journal interview.

“I’m interested in learning more about Iran, the Iranian government and how they think,” Allison quoted Bush as saying. “So are we,” Allison added.

Lesser, a protester, also defended the former president’s right to speak.

“Bullets and bombs are important in the war on terrorism, but it’s also a war of ideas. We need to win hearts and minds of reformers in the Middle East,” he said

Khatami is the most senior Iranian to travel outside New York in the United States since Islamic fundamentalists seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held Americans hostage for 444 days. He was invited to the United States by the U.N.-sponsored Alliance of Civilizations, of which he is a founding member. The group strives to foster cross-cultural understanding between Western and Islamic states.