S.Korean activists protest visit by Israel's Peres
(AFP) 17 hours ago
SEOUL Protesters denouncing Israeli President Shimon Peres as a "killer" rallied Thursday in the South Korean capital as Peres held talks with his counterpart Lee Myung-Bak.
Some 50 activists gathered outside the Israeli embassy to protest at last week's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. Some defaced an Israeli flag with palm prints stained in the colour of blood.
Four busloads of riot police were on standby, but there were no clashes.
The visit has become controversial since Israel's raid that killed nine Turkish activists and sparked worldwide condemnation.
Israeli reports said Peres's visit to South Korea was downgraded from a "state" to "working" visit. The second leg of his Asian trip, to Vietnam, was postponed.
South Korea's foreign ministry denied the visit's status had been downgraded, saying it was always scheduled as a working trip.
A ceremony originally planned for Wednesday at the prestigious Korea University to award Peres an honorary doctorate was cancelled.
Peres's office said the Israeli delegation had cancelled his participation in the planned ceremony more than a week ago, due to a scheduling conflict.
"We are here to denounce the Lee Myung-Bak government for welcoming the internationally criticised president," priest Choi Hun-Kook said beside a banner reading "Shimon Peres the Killer".
"Lift the siege on Gaza immediately," read another banner held by Choi and his colleagues.
The Israeli delegation included chiefs of leading Israeli companies in the security, infrastructure, communication, high-tech and water industries.
Peres and his delegation Wednesday toured the country's top scientific university, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.
Israel imposed a blockade of Gaza in 2006 after the capture of one of its soldiers and tightened it the following year when the Islamist Hamas movement seized power on the narrow strip.
Israel says the blockade is necessary to contain Hamas, which is sworn to the destruction of the Jewish state, and to prevent the smuggling of weapons. Critics slam it as "collective punishment" of Gaza's 1.5 million residents.
Lee and Peres, at their 45-minute meeting, did not discuss the attack on the flotilla, according to a Seoul presidential spokesman.
"Both of our countries have a responsibility to make efforts for the co-prosperity of mankind through peace and stability," Lee was quoted as telling Peres.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g8F2PfmL_qGkWEQLZ7k2MTu1wnUg