Iran’s president launches weblog
**Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has joined a burgeoning international community - by starting his own weblog.
**The launch of www.ahmadinejad.ir was reported on state TV, which urged users to send in messages to the president.
Mr Ahmadinejad’s first posting, entitled autobiography, tells of his childhood, Iran’s Islamic revolution, and the country’s war with Iraq.
The blog includes a poll asking if users think the US and Israel are trying to trigger a new world war.
There is a postform for users to send in questions for the president, and a picture gallery containing a series of images of the blogger himself.
The move by Mr Ahmadinejad comes amid continuing internet censorship by the Iranian government.
In a country where the media is strictly controlled, the internet has become the main forum for dissident voices.
But in its bid to crack down on anti-government bloggers, the government uses one of the most sophisticated internet censorship systems in the world.
Such restrictions will not pose a problem for the president. However, at the end of his first posting - which runs to more than 2,000 words in English - he promises to try to keep things “shorter and simpler” in future.
“With hope in God, I intend to wholeheartedly complete my talk in future with allotted 15 minutes,” he writes.
Read on at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4790005.stm
interesting move, obviously aimed at the public. Very creative way to break though the media propaganda against him. His background is amazing, how he got from being born into poverty, to being the president of Iran. He worked his way up. good stuff. :k: