MANILA (AFP) – Asia’s annual security summit opened in sombre mood Thursday, overshadowed by the plight of 21 South Korean hostages threatened with execution by their Taliban captors in Afghanistan.

South Korea and the United States agreed not to use force to free 21 Korean hostages in Afghanistan on Tuesday, but Afghan troops warned villagers of a possible offensive in the area where the captives are.

One of Egypt’s most prominent secular opposition parties received two serious blows on Tuesday when a court declined to free its ailing leader Ayman Nur on health grounds and handed his job to a rival.

Egypt has increased security at its international airport in response to threats of an Al Qaida strike.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has announced a proposed $13 billion military aid deal with Egypt and a $30 billion military package for Israel.

The smuggling of weapons, ammunition and drugs through tunnels from Egypt into the Gaza Strip has dropped significantly since the Islamist movement Hamas took control in June, Egyptian military officials said.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates will ask Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to help more with U.S. efforts in Iraq and discuss a big arms deal for Washington’s Gulf ally.

“Acceptăm Shari’a  legea lui Dumnezeu….dacă cineva consumă alcool în public, chiar dacă  Consiliul Natiunilor Unite sau Charta Natiunilor Unite spune ca acela nu trebuie pedepsit, noi îl vom pedepsi. AcÅ£iunile ÅŸi  politica noastră sunt în concordanţă cu voinÅ£a lui Dumnezeu, aÅŸa cum este ea conÅ£inută în Qu’ran.

A 15-year-old Egyptian boy died on Tuesday of gunshot wounds sustained during anti-government protests between Sinai Bedouin and Egyptian police a day earlier near the border with the Gaza Strip, his father said.

A civilian grand jury is investigating the deaths of two detainees at a U.S. jail in Afghanistan nearly 5 years ago, according to current and former service members who said they’ve testified.