<img title="Image: http://www.myvivvo.com/thumbnail.php?file=art.seoul.ap_807847640.jpg&amp;size=article_medium" src="http://www.myvivvo.com/thumbnail.php?file=art.seoul.ap_807847640.jpg&amp;size=article_medium" alt="South Korea Arab states to form group">
										
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								<span>South Korea and states in the Middle East and Africa are 
meeting to prepare for the launch of a new organization aimed at seeking
 closer ties.<br><br>South Korea and governments, corporations and 
organizations from 22 governments or authorities met Monday at a 
conference in Seoul aimed at establishing the Korea-Arab Society.<br><br>Attending
 the opening ceremony of the conference was President Omar el-Bashir of 
Sudan. Among other members of the group are Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Algeria,
 Somalia, Syria and Mauritania.<br><br>South Korea says that the move to
 form the group resulted from an agreement to "expand and intensify" 
existing areas of cooperation.<br><br>Resource-poor South Korea is heavily dependent on oil imports and has been intensifying what it calls energy diplomacy.</span>
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