WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama returned to Washington in the early hours of Wednesday after an eight-day European tour and a surprise visit to Iraq.He stepped off Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, outside the US capital, shortly after it touched down at around 1:29 am (0629 GMT). Wearing a long coat, he crossed the tarmac to a waiting helicopter.Obama's first major trip abroad as president -- he earlier made a day trip to Ottawa -- saw him attend a Group of 20 summit on the global economic crisis in London and the 60th anniversary NATO summit in France and Germany. He also went to the Czech Republic for an EU-US summit and major speech on nuclear disarmament, before proceeding to Turkey -- where he said his father's Islamic faith and a childhood in Indonesia made him a different kind of president -- and then unexpectedly to Iraq.
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