Int’l NAM News Agency Starts Work

Tehran, Aug 1, IRNA - The International Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) News Agency starts work at Presidential office here Wednesday. The International NAM News Agency was officially inaugurated in the presence of deputy head of NAM communication and information headquarters. Emphasizing the key role mass media play in the current world, Mohammad Sheikhan expressed hope that the International NAM News Agency would be a harbinger of peace and justice across the globe. The International NAM News Agency would cover the news items of 16th NAM Summit to will be held in Tehran from August 26-31. NAM, an international organization with 120 member states and 21 observer countries, is considered as not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. The organization was founded in the former Yugoslavia in 1961 and its members account for about two-thirds of the UN member states as well as 55% of the world population. NAM's purpose, as stated in the Havana Declaration of 1979, is to ensure "the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of non-aligned countries.” Iran is to assume the rotating presidency of the NAM for three years./end