Iran's hardline president has started blogging, recounting childhood memories, the country's Islamic Revolution and Tehran's war with Iraq in his first entry.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Web log also requests that readers participate in an online poll asking if they think the United States and Israel are "pulling the trigger for another world war."
State-run television announced the blog's launch on Sunday, urging the public to send written messages to the president through the blog's website www.Ahmadinejad.Ir.
The blog is an unusual move by the conservative president, whose government has censored Internet sites it deems inappropriate and cracked down on bloggers who have posted anti-government messages since he was elected a year ago.
Many of the clerics who support Ahmadinejad also have shunned the use of advance technology, though other hard-liners have sent cell phone campaign messages to the public in the past.
But Keivan Mehrgan, a Tehran-based blogger, said Ahmadinejad's blog - which is translated into English, French and Arabic - is nothing more than a publicity stunt.
"It's nothing but for publicity. Why Ahmadinejad used to have nothing to do with Internet and even talked against journalists and bloggers before he became president," Mehrgan said.
{{/usCountry}}"It's nothing but for publicity. Why Ahmadinejad used to have nothing to do with Internet and even talked against journalists and bloggers before he became president," Mehrgan said.
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