Monday, September 07, 2009 BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday said she would "deeply regret" if any civilian lives were lost in a recent NATO air strike in Afghanistan, which was ordered by a German military commander. "If there were civilian casualties, I would deeply regret that," said Merkel before meeting in Berlin with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. She called for a "quick, complete and open" inquiry by NATO into Friday's raid on northern Kunduz province. Merkel reassured the around 4,000-strong German troops in increasingly violent northern Afghanistan, who she said were serving "in difficult conditions", that their country was "standing behind them". The NATO-led force in Afghanistan denied Sunday that its investigators had already wrapped up their inquiry and had reached a definitive death toll. Mohammad Omar, governor of Kunduz province, said by telephone Sunday that six civilians, including a child, were among a total of 54 people killed in the air strike, which targeted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban.
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...
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