Wednesday, October 21, 2009 SEOUL: Senior military officials from South Korea and the United States on Wednesday kicked off their annual security talks, which are expected to focus on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) issues and the alliance between the two nations, local media reported. The Military Committee Meeting (MCM), which brought South Korean Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lee Sang-eui and his US counterpart, Adm. Michael Mullen together, came as a prelude to the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) due on Thursday in Seoul between the two nations' defence ministers. A senior South Korean defence official told local media on condition of anonymity that the two sides will share the latest assessment of the DPRK's military activities and discuss practical measures to strengthen their alliance to deal with the DPRK's threat. However, local media expected that the US side will likely urge Seoul to support its operations in war-torn Afghanistan during the meeting. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said while en route to Japan that he was "prepared to discuss a broad range of needs in Afghanistan" when he meets his South Korean counterpart, Kim Tae-young. A Pentagon official also said recently that South Korea has an "obligation" to play a bigger role in the US-led operations in Afghanistan. US Defence Department spokesman Geoff Morrell said Sunday while accompanying Defence Secretary Robert Gates on trips to South Korea, Japan and Slovakia, that financial aid is what Afghanistan needs most currently and South Korea and Japan have the means to help develop the country.
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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