Friday, October 23, 2009 HUA HIN: Thailand is implementing a security lockdown for the meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)with observers warning it cannot afford a repeat of chaotic scenes that saw two previous meetings cancelled.The nation is mobilising an 18,000-strong security force and invoking a harsh internal security act to prevent protests in the resort town of Hua Hin.The summit, which will begin today starts Friday, was originally due to be held in Pattaya in April but was cancelled because of chaotic anti-government protests in support of ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.A summit between the 10 ASEAN nations will be following by a meeting with partners China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.With closer economic ties on the agenda in the wake of the global economic crisis, all invited delegations have confirmed they will attend.Thailand will symbolically hand over chairmanship of ASEAN to Vietnam on Sunday but officially will continue to hold the reins until the end of the year.ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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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