NAM Summit Triumph For Iran : Daily

Islamabad, Sept. 2, IRNA – A leading Pakistani daily Sunday described the summit of Non-Alligned Movement (NAM) in Tehran as a great victory for the Iranian leadership. “The outcome of the non-aligned summit on Friday marked a diplomatic triumph for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he managed to secure the support of 120 nations on his nuclear policy,” Dawn newspaper said in its editorial comments. It referred to the Tehran Declaration, the final statement which backed Iran’s position on what to Israel and the West is anathema and said not only that the country had every right to pursue its peaceful nuclear program but that it was entitled to the full ownership of the fuel cycle — to uranium enrichment, in other words. “The summit highlights his (Ahmadinejad) government’s success in dispelling the impression that Iran suffered from international isolation and that its nuclear policy had few takers,” the editorial “Fighting Back” said. The UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, who attended the summit, also gives the declaration the stamp of UN approval and constitutes a snub for Israel, which had asked him not to visit Tehran, the paper recalled. Another largely-circulated daily The News also said Iran succeeded in holding the summit and winning support of the NAM members. “Certainly, Tehran appears to have succeeded in winning over some support and some friends in its neighborhood. Washington will not be pleased,” it said in its editorial. The paper said that President Asif Ali Zardari has delivered a speech at the 16th Non-Aligned Summit in Tehran which tilts strongly in favor of Iran and its people. “He has said categorically that force must not be used against the neighboring country. Instead, any problems should be resolved through dialogue and other peaceful means”. The daily described President Zardari’s words as important as they come from a country which has long been locked in an uneasy alliance with Washington, and indicate that Pakistan may now be willing to look in some other direction beyond the West./end