The Hague/Beirut - A UN tribunal on Wednesday ordered the immediate release of four former Lebanese generals detained for four years without charge in connection with the 2005 assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

Daniel Fransen, the pre-trial judge of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), announced the decision in The Hague, where the court is based.

The Hague

The Hague - The United States' special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, held talks with Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Akhunzadeh at a conference on Afghanistan in The Hague on Tuesday.

"During the course of the conference today, our special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, had a brief and cordial exchange with the head of the Iranian delegation," US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in The Hague.

The Hague - Iran on Tuesday was set to offer a cautious welcome to the United States' new strategy for Afghanistan by telling a conference in The Hague that it was "fully prepared" to help the country's reconstruction and to fight drug trafficking.

The Hague  - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Afghan President Hamid Karzai were on Monday due to arrive in the Netherlands ahead of an international conference Tuesday to discuss the future of war-torn Afghanistan.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende was due to welcome the two at a special reception in The Hague. He was also scheduled to hold talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton before delivering his opening speech at the conference on Tuesday.