Iranian President Mohammad Khatami called for the creation of what he termed 'Axis of Dialogue', aimed at bridging cultural differences between the West and the Islamic world, IRNA reported from Berlin.

"Disputes among cultures should not prevent anyone from taking up the good sides. The West can also learn from eastern cultures - the Islamic, Chinese, Indian. Therefore the axis of dialogue will be shouldered by scholars as proxies of civilizations," Khatami said Tuesday in an interview with the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

"However, I am sure that this dialogue can also influence the political dialogue which for the moment does not exist. At this point in time, the one who holds more power wants to dictate his opinion. This is a monologue and not dialogue," he added.

The president stressed," One has to learn dialogue the same way like one who learns German."

Khatami pointed out that the "paradigms of violence and exercizing violence should be confronted with dialogue".

... Payvand News - 1/27/04 ... --