Sen. Francesco Maria Amoruso (Italy), Vice President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, presented the Special Mention Award to Mr. Francesco de Leo at the 1st International Competition for Journalists of the Mediterranean held in Bari, Italy on 31st May, 2009.

Mr. De Leo from the Italian Il Riformista daily, participated in the International Politics Section with an exclusive interview with the only female Ayatollah of Iran. An occasion for intercultural and interreligious dialogue as a means of mutual understanding.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean offered its patronage to the Event alongside that of the Italian President of the Republic, amongst others. PAM President Rudy Salles, in a message to the organizers, stated that the Assembly is the expression of the will of the citizens it represents and fully supports initiatives meant to give further space and freedom to the flow of information in the region. The Competition, he said, is an excellent occasion to draw closer the citizens to those representing them. In this sense, PAM feels to be directly involved as an institution of inter-parliamentary diplomacy in the Mediterranean, where all littoral states are represented on an equal footing. It is also an occasion, Hon. Salles concluded, to create further synergies among information professionals, civil society and national and supranational institutions.