IRANIAN PRESIDENT AHMADINEJAD URGES MEDIA TO CIRCULATE MESSAGE OF FRIENDSHIP

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 (Bernama) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has
underlined the need for solidarity among the media in Asia-Pacific and
disseminate accurate news and information.

He urged them to circulate message of friendship, peace and brotherhood of
all nations throughout the globe.

He made the remarks in a ‘surprise’ meeting with executive board members as
well as editorial and technical experts of the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News
Agencies (OANA) who met in Teheran on Sunday.

More than 40 representatives of 18 member agencies including Malaysia,
Russia, Japan, China, South Korea, Indonesia and India attended the meeting
under the theme "A quest for global media balancing".

The Iranian News Agency, IRNA, quoted Ahmadinejad as saying that the media
influenced by Western powers had a one-sided approach towards certain issues
such as the fight against terrorism, Zionists attacks on Gaza and opposition to
the production and expansion of weapons of mass destruction.

Formed in 1961 on the initiative of UNESCO, the organisation aims to secure
direct and free exchange of news between the news agencies of a region inhabited
by more than one-half of the world's population.


On Iran’s nuclear programme, Ahmadinejad said the legitimate right of the
Iranian nation was not negotiable.

Voicing Iran’s readiness for constructive cooperation with Western states
in the area of nuclear technology, he said nuclear cooperation with Iran would
benefit the West.

The OANA delegates also met Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki on
Sunday night and made a one-day trip Monday to Shiraz -- "the city of poets,
flowers and gardens" in the southwest of Iran.

Meanwhile, host Mehr News Agency (MNA) has signed cooperation agreements
with Bernama, the Malaysian national news agency, South Korea’s Yonhap and
Antara of Indonesia.

Bernama was represented by General Manager Hasnul Hassan while MNA by its
managing director Parviz Esmaeili.

According to the agreements, the news agencies would cooperate in exchanging
news and on technological and training issues.

-- BERNAMA