Tuesday, December 08, 2009 LONDON: The British death toll in Afghanistan this year reached 100 on Monday as another soldier was killed in the violence-scarred country, but London insisted the increasingly unpopular fight is not in vain. The soldier, from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, was killed by small arms fire in Nad-e Ali in the troubled southern Helmand Province, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement. His death brings to 237 the total number of British troops who have died in Afghanistan since operations began in October 2001. At least 205 were killed as a result of hostile action.Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in a statement that every loss was a "real and personal tragedy", adding that British troops had to complete their mission. "We will never forget those who have died fighting for our country and we must also honour their memory. That means staying the course, doing what is right for Britain, and seeing this mission through," he said.
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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