NAM Leader’s Morning Session Ends

(FNA)- The morning session of the second day of the 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit adjourned after tens of the heads of state participating the conference expressed their viewpoints on the missions and goals of the bloc.

The meeting, started under the leadership of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this morning, was addressed by different leaders and presidents of the NAM member states.

A number of 63 leaders of the NAM states had registered for addressing the summit. On the first day, 20 heads-of-state delivered speeches, while over 40 are due to convey their opinions to their counterparts in the largest international grouping after the UN today.

The closing ceremony of the NAM summit will be held after the leaders' speeches. The summit meeting is due to issue a final statement at the closing ceremony, which reportedly has over 680 paragraphs on various topics, including opposition to aliens' interference in Syria's internal affairs, opposition to the unilateral sanctions against countries and also supporting countries' independence.

The United States and Israel are among the nations fearful that the summit drawing a reported 50 or more heads of state and government will give Tehran a boost in legitimacy and rally disgruntled states to its defense of its nuclear programs.

The Islamic Republic's three-year tenure as head of the NAM is a chance for Tehran to elevate its international standing as the United States seeks to cripple its economy and isolate it diplomatically over its disputed nuclear program.

Many analysts say that the diplomatic spotlight will give Tehran an opportunity to show Washington has failed to cut it off from the rest of the world.

Around 110 states are attending the conference and more than 45 states have sent their top officials to the heads-of-state summit.

The guest list included UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and new Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi - the first Egyptian leader to visit Iran since its Islamic revolution in 1979.

NAM is an international organization of states considering themselves not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. NAM is the largest grouping of countries outside of the United Nations.

NAM member states represent nearly two-thirds of the United Nations' members and comprise 55% of the world population, particularly countries considered to be developing or part of the Third World.