ASIAN MEDIA PLAYERS MUST UNITE, SAYS AHMADINEJAD

FROM HASNUL HASSAN

TEHRAN, Nov 18 (Bernama) -- Speed, accuracy and fair reporting should be the
hallmark of all global media organisation, and the information being supplied
should not be "corrupted", said Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The president conveyed this during an impromptu gathering with the delegates
at the just-concluded Organisation of Asia Pacific News Agencies' (OANA) 31st
Executive Board Meeting in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

The president likened information to the air that people breathed in that it
should flow freely "without any disruption and pollution".

He pointed out that instruments to disseminate information had been misused
by certain parties to suit their own agendas.

Ahmadinejad cited the Gaza conflict as an example of media manipulation of a
situation involving defenceless people who had called the place home for more
than 1,000 years.

Certain media outlets, he said, had relabelled the oppressed as terrorists
while the oppressor was being trumpeted as freedom fighters.

Alluding to the 9-11 saga, Ahmadinejad argued that some parties had used the
media to justify sending troops to other countries on the pretext of wiping out
terrorism.

He reckoned that more than one million people had died either directly or
indirectly as a result of such actions, including women and children, with
infrastructure such as schools and hospitals being destroyed along the way.

"So,who are the real terrorists now?" the Iranian president, who is known
for his no-holds barred comments, told the session where Malaysia was
represented by Bernama General Manager Hasnul Hassan.

Ahmadinejad stressed that certain parties were trying to control the minds
and views of the global public through the media.

"The media is a modern weapon in a psychological war that contributes in
undermining traditions, cultures and religions. It destroys people's
identities," he noted.

Ahmadinejad said there was a need for news agencies in the Asia Pacific to
be united and coordinated.

"The Asia Pacific region is the cradle of human values, literature, culture
and religion. It's our responsibility to protect it. Asia today needs
integration and unity," said the president.

He said members of OANA should close ranks and contribute towards building
the pillars of the Asian family.

"OANA should foster happiness and friendship among all nations. It must be
active and endeavour to send out the message of Asia that values brotherly love
and peace," he said.
-- BERNAMA