DUBROVNIK: SEMINAR ON MEDIA, TERRORISM ENDS

DUBROVNIK, Nov 9 (Hina) - A two-day international seminar, organised in Dubrovnik by the Croatian Foreign Ministry's Diplomatic Academy under the auspices of the Central European Initiative, on Saturday focused on public diplomacy and the media in the fight against terrorism. #L# Boris Malahov of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Media Department said in his speech that the journalistic community had great responsibility when reporting from crisis areas. Irresponsible reporting can result in unnecessary victims, the Russian official said, speaking critically about the reporting of some Russian media during a recent hostage crisis in Moscow. Participants in the seminar, however, stated that although it was very difficult to find balance between freedom of the press and responsibility, that balance had to be established by the journalistic profession. "Journalists are not willing to accept external pressures and decrees when freedom of reporting is concerned, even when it comes to the most delicate matters," said Jelena Grcic Polic of the Croatian Foreign Ministry. Russia's Malahov expressed disagreement with the absolute right to freedom of reporting in cases like the Moscow hostage crisis. The debate escalated after several participants pointed to the need for the revision of Putin's policy not only towards Chechnya but towards the whole of Caucasus. It was then concluded that public diplomacy had failed in that respect for the simple reason that it had not come to life at all. Most participants agreed that it was essential to explore the causes of terrorism. Malahov and Mohamed Mustafa El-Gammal of the Egyptian Institute for Diplomatic Studies concluded that in dealing with the problem of terrorism it was necessary to insists on "the dialogue of civilisations", adding that Iranian President Khatami was the originator and promoter of this idea. Today's lecture closed the last one in this year's cycle of seminars and panel discussions held at the city's Inter-University Centre. The seminar was addressed last night by Robert W. Becker, deputy head of the OSCE Mission to Croatia. (hina) rml