International leaders condemn attacks

Michael Weissenstein, Associated Press, Cairo, Egypt | Fri, 02/04/2011 10:12 AM | World

International leaders condemned the violent targeting of the reporters, photographers and film crews who have brought searing images of Egyptian protests to the world.

In Berlin, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the "intimidation and restrictions" being placed on journalists and human rights groups in Cairo.

"Let me absolutely clear: this is outrageous and totally unacceptable," he said after meeting Germany's president, Christian Wulff. "It must stop now."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also condemned the attacks and said the Egyptian government "must demonstrate its willingness to ensure journalists' ability to report on these events to the people of Egypt and to the world."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs denounced reports of "systematic targeting" of journalists in Egypt. The State Department described it as a "concerted campaign to intimidate."

"I think we need to be clear that the world is watching the actions that are taking place right now in Egypt," Gibbs said.

SKorea vows retaliation if North attacks again

Hyung-Jin Kim, The Associated Press, Seoul, South Korea | Mon, 12/27/2010 11:47 AM | World

South Korea's president vowed a relentless retaliation against North Korea if provoked again, saying Monday he is not afraid of a war with the communist North.

The two Koreas have ramped up their rhetoric since North Korea shelled front-line Yeonpyeong Island near the tense western sea border last month, killing four South Koreans. Both sides accuse each other of provoking first.

On Monday, President Lee Myung-bak used much of his regular address to vow to get tougher with any new provocation by North Korea.

"We have now been awakened to the realization that war can be prevented and peace assured only when such provocations are met with a strong response," Lee said. "Fear of war is never helpful in preventing war."

He said South Korea's military "must respond relentlessly when they come under attack."

South Korea has staged a series of military drills - including one on Yeonpyeong Island on Dec. 20 - in a show of force against the North. The South was to begin routine naval firing exercises starting Monday but not on Yeonpyeong and other border islands, according to the Defense Ministry.

North Korea, for its part, has also kept up rhetoric around last Friday's 19th anniversary of leader Kim Jong Il's appointment as the North's supreme military commander. Kim's military chief threatened last week to launch a "sacred" nuclear war against the South.

On Friday, North Korean soldiers appeared on a state TV program and bragged of participating in the artillery barrage on Yeonpyeong - the country's first attacks on a civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean War.

The two Koreas are still technicallyat war because their 1950s conflict ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. In recent years, several bloody naval skirmishes occurred near their disputed western sea border - drawn by the U.N. at the close of the Korean War.