Italian Journalist Team concludes visit to Yemen [Archives:2003/678/Front Page]

Mohammed Al-Qadhi
An Italian team of journalists will conclude tomorrow a visit to Yemen upon an invitation organized by the Italian Embassy in Sana’a. The 3-person team composed of: Mr. Vittorio Buffa from Group “L’Espresso”, Mr. Remigio Benni from “ANSA” press agency, and Mr. Bruno Crimi from “Panorama” Weekly magazine were met with some Yemeni officials including President Ali Abdullah Saleh, politicians and media people. The Italian ambassador, Mr. Giacomo Sanfelice di Monteforte told Yemen Times that the embassy wanted from this invitation to Italian journalists to visit Yemen to “update the image of Yemen in the Italian media so that it can present the good aspects about Yemen like democratic process, media and others.” He added that “it is very useful for Italian journalists to come to Yemen and exchange views.” He said that the visit was very successful and rich as it touched important issues related to recent developments in Yemen, meeting people from the government as well as the opposition and media to see how things are going on.
The Italian team held a roundtable discussion in Sana’a and Aden attended by politicians and media people. The debate tackled different political, economic and media issues. There has been an emphasis on the issue of corruption which, Yemen journalists put as a major problem facing Yemen today. The question of press freedom was also debated, including the obstacles Yemeni journalists face. An Italian businessman , Mr. Striano complained the bureaucracy and bad routine he faces in Yemen, in addition to security which all create a bad image of Yemen in Italy, though he emphasized the improvement of security situation.
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