BEIJING, September 15, SPA -- About 40 military officers from Iraq and Afghanistan are learning mine-clearing techniques in China. It is the first known time China has offered suchtraining. Although the training is taking place at a militaryfacility in the eastern city of Nanjing, China isportraying the course as a kind of civilian humanitarianassistance, the official Xinhua News Agency said in a briefreport Tuesday. The course «showed that the Chinese government attachedgreat importance to friendly cooperative relations withAfghanistan and Iraq,» Xinhua said, citing China's ForeignMinistry. «It also showed the positive attitude of the Chinesegovernment to assist the two countries' economic recoveryand social reconstruction,» the report said.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/700467