GENEVA, (Reuters) – The United Nations has expelled  three activist groups for “unacceptable disruptive behaviour” at  its Geneva conference on racism, including noisy protests during  a Monday appearance by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

U.N. spokesman Rupert Colville said yesterday that the  three groups — the French Union of Jewish Students, the Neda  Institute for Political and Scientific Research, and COEXIST —  were no longer able to participate in the Geneva conference that  ends today.

Those groups had registered a combined total of 229 people  to take part in the Geneva meeting, though only 64 of those had  actually picked up their badges, Colville said, explaining the  action by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.