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Saudi King Abdullah has held talks with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus on the eve of a joint mission to Lebanon aimed at containing political tensions there.
The two leaders will travel to Beirut today as part of a flurry of diplomatic efforts to contain a potentially explosive situation in Lebanon and fears of a new sectarian conflict. Assad's visit will be his first since the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri after which relations between Damascus and Beirut took a sharp downturn.

Four Iraqi soldiers and two civilians were killed and 34 people wounded in bomb attacks in northern and Central Iraq .
Three soldiers died and 12 were wounded when an insurgent detonated a car bomb near an army base in Al-Sharqat In Fallujah one soldier was killed and five people including three soldiers were wounded by a bomb blast near an army checkpoint.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has expressed outrage at the leaking of ninety thousand classified military documents on the war in Afghanistan.
Addressing a news conference in Washington, he said the leakage is a massive breach of security which could endanger the lives of US troops and their allies. In Afghanistan, three Afghan troops have been killed and two injured in a landmine explosion in Uruzgan province. Meanwhile, an American soldier kidnapped from Logar province was killed by his captors.

President Obama has reiterated to start withdrawing US troops in Afghanistan from next year.
In an interview, he said efforts would be made to bring about stability in Afghanistan and creating suitable conditions for the withdrawal of troops.

In Occupied Kashmir restrictions by the authorities continued to scuttle protests and demonstrations, call for which had been given by the forum patronized by Syed Ali Gilani.
The call was intended to convey to the world that the Kashmiris’ struggle was aimed at Pressurising India to give up its illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir. Indian police prevented people for coming to the streets in Srinagar, Sopore, Baramulla, Badgam and Islamabad towns. Despite restrictions pro-liberation demonstrations were held in Bandipore, Hajin, Sumbal, Handwara and Samboora. Indian troops fired bullets and teargas shells to disperse protesters. Shops, markets, banks, educational institutions and post offices remained closed and transport was off the road. The lawyers in Srinagar, staging protest sit-in, said their boycott of court proceedings would continue till the release of bar leaders, Mian Abdul Qayoom and Ghulam Nabi Shaheen. The APHC Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and other Hurriyet Leaders including, Syed Ali Gilani and Agha Syed Hassan al-Moosvi in their statements expressed grief and sorrow over the plane crash in Islamabad, yesterday. The hurriyet leaders expressed solidarity with the families of those killed in the accident. In Washington a two–day 11th peace conference on the resolution of Kashmir dispute started today expressing hope that Kashmir specific dialogue between Pakistan and India involving people of Jammu and Kashmir would soon be resumed. Those who spoke included ambassador Hussain Haqani, Mushahid Hussain, Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, Professor Angana Chatterji, Ved Behseen, Dr. Maleeha Lodhi and Dr Atiya Inayatullah. And in New York the united nations headquarters in a statement said that the secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon had expressed concern over the situation in Occupied Kashmir, where 17 people, lost their lives last month. The secretary general asked Pakistan and India to make renewed efforts to address outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir.

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