Thursday, August 27, 2009 WASHINGTON: The United States has deplored the terrorist attack in Kandahar and expressed confidence that such acts would not deter Afghanistan's progress. "We deplore these acts of violence. We know that there was a great loss of life in the bombings, and our sympathies go out to the victims' families," the State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters yesterday."We do not think that Afghanistan will be deterred from the path that it's on towards developing into a democratic society and a prosperous economy," Kelly said.Responding to a question, the spokesman said Afghanistan is a high priority for the Obama administration. Its aim is to help people of Afghanistan build its democratic process, and help it become an economically viable and prosperous society."We want to try and enable the Afghan Government to take responsibility not only for its reconstruction, but also for its own security," he said, adding "so we have a number of programs in place to help train them, to help them be able to take on a lot of these responsibilities."About the ongoing electoral process in Afghanistan, Kelly said the US wants to "remain impartial" with regard to the candidates, including the incumbent President Hamid Karzai, who are contesting in the general elections.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
Comments