L'Aquila (Italy), July 9 (DPA) The Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations Wednesday criticised the 'unjustified' detention of journalists in Iran and condemned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust.

In a joint declaration issued at a summit in the central Italian city of L'Aquila, G8 leaders reiterated their 'full respect for the sovereignty of Iran'.

However, they deplored the violence that broke out in the aftermath of its contested presidential election last month and called on Iranian leaders to 'solve the situation through democratic dialogue on the basis of the rule of law'.

The statement, issued after a working dinner, echoed similar wording agreed by G8 foreign ministers at a preparatory meeting in Trieste.

It added a reference to Ahmadinejad's frequent denials that the mass murder of Jews under Germany's 1933-45 Nazi regime ever happened.