Ahmadinejad to begin consultations to reform NAM structure

TEHRAN,Sept.6(MNA) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that he will begin consultations to reform the structure of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in the near future. “The Non-Aligned Movement needs a (better) structure, and, in view of the permission that I have obtained from the heads of state of the member countries of the Non-Aligned Movement, I will begin consultations to (reform) the structure of the movement in the near future,” Ahmadinejad said during a televised interview broadcast live on Iranian television on Tuesday night. Making efforts to promote justice, human dignity, and respect for the people’s rights is one of the plans of the Islamic Republic to advance the cause of “joint global governance,” he said. During the first day of the NAM summit of heads of state and government on August 30, Egypt handed over the rotating presidency of NAM to Iran for a three-year term. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Sunday that Iran has initiated efforts to establish a temporary secretariat of the Non-Aligned Movement. Commenting on widespread criticism of his recent visit to Saudi Arabia to attend an emergency Islamic summit in Mecca on August 14 and 15, Ahmadinejad said that officials that have no responsibility in regard to the country’s foreign policy should not make remarks in this relation. “Certain people make ill-advised remarks about the foreign policy. We should not insult officials and the leadership of any country, but we can only criticize the policies of governments,” he said. “Why should we have been absent from the Mecca meeting? Why should we show hostility toward our neighbors?”