UN says sorry to Iranian journalist after summit ban

June 4, 2008
AFP
Original Source: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g8q1ENwdYeu4AyS6iCjHzDw8Sqzg

ROME (AFP) — The United Nations apologised Wednesday to an Iranian journalist who was barred from a food summit in Rome, allegedly due to opposition from the Islamic state whose president was among participants here.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said it was sorry after the incident involving Ahmad Rafat, an Iranian who works for the Italian news agency ADN-Kronos.
I hope Ahmad Rafat will accept the apologies of the organization and myself following this incident, said FAO communications official Nick Parsons in a statement.
Rafat was accredited for the three-day summit, but when he tried to enter Tuesday his accreditation was seized and he was told he was considered a person not desired by Iranian authorities, his agency reported.
A few hours later Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed the summit's opening day and gave a press conference.
Rafat said he believed his accreditation was withdrawn because he criticized the lack of freedom of information in Iran, said the ADN-Kronos agency.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) voiced concern at the incident, describing Rafat as a highly respected journalist, who has covered the Middle East and Balkans and reports extensively on Iran.
It added that the incident was the second case involving journalists being barred from major UN events in recent weeks.
Journalists from Taiwan were barred from the World Health Assembly last month in Geneva after a UN prohibition put on Taiwanese media at the behest of China, said the IFJ.
The UN agencies must not be used as the battleground for member states to victimise journalists they don't like, said IFJ chief Aidan White in a statement.
The UN should be providing models of pluralism and respect for media freedom, he added.