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Khatami-Peace /POL/
Khatami: world thirsty for friendship, peace and justice today
Damascus, Jan 19, IRNA -- Iranian President Seyed Mohammad Khatami
in a message to participants at the `Damascus Conference on How to
Proceed with Dialogue Among Civilizations' Saturday stressed on the
world masses' strong demand for friendship, peace, Justice and
Human Rights.
President Khatami has said in the message read by the head of the
International Center for Promotion of Dialogue Among Civilizations
Ata'ollah Mohajerani that such values as peace, justice and human
rights will never be achieved in the absence of freedom and amid
war, dictatorships, and discrimination.
'Even peace, if achieved through war, will always be unsteady
and vulnerable,' added the Iranian president.
Elsewhere in the message we read, 'let us take full advantage of
convening the Damascus Conference and the special attention paid by
my dear brother Bashar Assad, the esteemed president of the Arab
Republic of Syria in that regard.'
Khatami has sincerely thanked the presence of invaluable Muslim
intellectuals at the Damascus conference, adding, 'dialogue is an
art and meanwhile a science, that has been born along with the
mankind, and is always with man. It has roots in the exalted thoughts
of mankind and man's look into eternity and that is why dialogue has
close proximity with different faiths, particularly with Islam, that
is benefitted from the eternal miracle of words.'
President Khatami has argued that the Islam has not only moved
constantly towards perfection through dialogue among religions and
sects throughout history, but opened its arms to embrace thoughts
that have no monotheist roots, such as the Greek philosophy, that
entered Iran and the Islamic world through Alexandria.
'That is why we can claim that the Islamic philology has, at least
based on a certain interpretation, displayed the lenience that existed
among Muslims towards outsider opinions, and thus, the Islamic
philosophy has emerged as one of the most blossoming and dynamic
branches of the global philosophy,' has added Khatami.
The initiator of Dialogue Among civilizations has argued, 'that
is how the Islamic philosophy proved its efficiency and practical
usage in the east and the west.'
Elsewhere in the message, Khatami has reflected the worries of
the present day man of expansion of the flames of war, terrorism, and
discrimination, when man is passing through one of the most sensitive
passages of its history and welcomed the idea of holding dialogue.
He has evaluated dialogue among various cultures and civilizations
as a means for building up a world worth living, where lasting peace
would prevail and fears of kindling the flames of new wars would
ease to exist.
'That is why Dialogue Among Civilizations is not a geographical
necessity today, but a strong demand of the thought circles of the
world,' has added the Iranian president.
Khatami has drew the attention of the world intellectuals to the
necessity to provide convincing answers to the acute questions
before mankind, and to view the world developments the way it is
expected of an individual to interpret.
'Today we are also witness to enmities expressed and
misinterpretations made about the divine faith of Islam, in a world
where distrust prevails, but such approaches have either historic
roots, or have roots in tendencies aimed at exerting hegemony, or
based on that erroneous interpretation of Islam, that in the name of
religion, hypothesizes resorting to aggressive methods, terrorism
and establishment of new dictatorships,' has argued President Khatami.
He has expressed sorrow over the situation in Palestine, which
has emerged due to resorting to the above-mentioned undesirable
mentalities, in which the historic and cultural identity of a great
nation (the Palestinians) is intended to be totally ignored, and
furthermore sacrificed, arguing that dialogue can prove most efficient
in such unfortunate conditions.
President Khatami has ended his message with requesting the
participants at the conference to focus their attention and
activities on methods aimed at safeguarding and harbinger lasting
peace, justice and friendship for the mankind
The three-day Damascus Conference on How to Proceed With Dialogue
Among Calculations that opened Saturday night is cosponsored by the
International Center of Promotion of Dialogue Among Civilizations,
Iran's Cultural Attache in Damascus and the Strategic Studies Center
of the University of Damascus.
NA/JB
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