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Round Table: Dialogue among Civilizations United Nations, New York, 5 September 2000 Provisional verbatim transcription

Address by Ambassador Jalali, Permanent delegate to UNESCO

Mr. Jalali: I would like to inform this gathering that President Khatami enthusiastically wanted to participate in our debate this afternoon. As you heard this morning from him he thinks that intellectual discussions and debates are the real force behind giving birth to dialogue among civilizations as a new paradigm. We were waiting here for him to arrive but his meeting with the Secretary-General happened to take much longer than was scheduled. I received his message some minutes ago saying that unfortunately he could not manage the time to attend your valuable discussion. Having heard the report of the essence of the current debate here he conveys his best wishes to you all and appreciates your presence and your valuable contribution to this [indecipherable].

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