The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency says the compound in Pakistan where Osama bin Laden was killed by American commandos on Monday was an active command and control center for al-Qaida, and that bin Laden was not just a strategic or inspirational leader for the terrorist group. A senior intelligence official made the comments at a briefing at the Pentagon Saturday, during which he also released five video clips of bin Laden that were captured during the raid.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, says the material gathered by the assault team amounts to the largest trove of information ever captured from a senior terrorist leader. He says there is so much material that officials are still cataloguing it.
The official says the material is already providing what he called "some golden nuggets" of information and "important insights" into al-Qaida's operations. He would not provide specifics, but he said the information indicates that bin Laden was involved in generating ideas for terrorist attacks on the United States and around the world, provided tactical and operational guidance, and directed daily operations. He says bin Laden was not only a figurehead or strategist, as some people had thought.
In a written statement, the CIA director, Leon Panetta, said that "further confirms how important it was to go after bin Laden."
The official who spoke on condition of anonymity said bin Laden continued to have a particular interest in attacks on transportation facilities and other types of infrastructure, the type of targets al-Qaida has hit in the past. He says bin Laden managed to run his organization through couriers, like the one who unwittingly led U.S. investigators to the compound, which had no telephone or Internet service.
One of the released video files, apparently shot during an unguarded moment, shows a gray-bearded bin Laden watching television. He is wearing a black knitted cap and has a brown blanket over his shoulders. He gestures to the camera operator to focus on the television, where he is selecting various channels that are broadcasting some news about himself. The CIA deleted the audio from the video clips.
Another clip is a message to the United States, which the intelligence official says includes familiar criticism of U.S. policy and the capitalist economic system. In that clip, the beard is black, indicating, the official says, that bin Laden had dyed it to maintain his public image. The official says bin Laden's beard was gray when he was killed. The official says that video was recorded late last year, but there are no dates on the other excerpts. The three other clips show rehearsals or outtakes from video messages.
The senior U.S. intelligence official says the team also took digital and paper copies of personal correspondence to and from bin Laden. He said such videos and documents would not likely be in the possession of anyone other than bin Laden himself.
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The official also provided some details about the formal identification of bin Laden's body after he was killed by the commandos. He says sophisticated facial recognition software provided a 95-percent match from photos of bin Laden. And he reported that two separate analyses of DNA from the body matched the genetic profile gathered from several known bin Laden family members, with what he called only a one in 11.8 quadrillion chance of error. In the American system, a quadrillion is a million billion.
The official says a U.S. government team will take some time to go through all the material, looking particularly for information about al-Qaida members, plans and finances. In addition, he says the team is looking for links to other terrorist groups around the world and any information about possible efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction. He says some of the information is being shared with other countries, but he would not say which ones.
The official also said the CIA believes it is significant that in acknowledging bin Laden's death, al-Qaida did not name a successor. He says that would appear to add credibility to the view that the number-two al-Qaida leader, Ayman Zawahiri, is not popular with all segments of the movement. The American intelligence official described Zawahiri as a controlling, micro-manager who is not charismatic, like bin Laden was.
The official called the nearly 10-year effort to find bin Laden perhaps "the greatest intelligence success..of a generation." He said it was based on years of relentless, precision work on the U.S. intelligence community's top priority.
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Following the U.S. commando raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden earlier this week in Abbottabad, Pakistan officials have begun a security crackdown there.
Police and military units are blocking off streets, setting up ID checkpoints and making arrests in Abbottabad, the city where Osama bin Laden and his family were hiding in a walled compound apparently built for maximum privacy.
Police there are going door-to-door in neighborhoods to confirm the identities of city residents, in an apparent attempt to find any elements of bin Laden's support network that might exist.
Before the covert U.S. raid which killed Bin Laden, Abbottabad was considered one of the safest cities in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, where there have been numerous militant attacks. The city is a garrison town, home to the country's military academy and a favored destination for military retirees.
Now, however, some residents fear the night-time raid that killed bin Laden could bring more violence to the town. A man, who gave his name as Tariq, says he and his family no longer feel safe.
Tariq says they are very scared, especially at night. He says he fears there could be another attack.
Other Abbottabad residents, who are not used this type of heavy security are unhappy. A university student, who gave his name as Saif, says the checkpoints cause problems.
"We are facing a an awful lot of problems but the most one is that the security checks," he said. "I think it is for the betterment of course but the rest, you know, the movement is very hard these days. The checkpoints, the ID cards, etcetera whether you live in that particular area or not."
Journalists in the town report they are not being allowed to approach the compound. Several have been warned that they may soon be expelled from the town entirely.
Meanwhile, Pakistani authorities say that for the moment it is too early to say what will happen to the property where bin Laden was killed.
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Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi pounded oil tanks in the besieged city of Misrata Saturday, setting off gigantic fires that poured black smoke into the air.
Witnesses say pro-Gadhafi forces used helicopters and rockets to attack fuel storage tanks in the rebel-held port city, causing them to explode and burn. Rebel sources say the explosions have wiped out fuel reserves needed to withstand the lengthy siege of Misrata, which is the last city in western Libya under rebel control.
Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim told journalists Friday in the capital Tripoli that government forces would not stop trying to close Misrata's port, accusing the rebels of using it to "bring arms to the city and evacuate some criminals."
Also in Tripoli, a tribal organization loyal to the government called for a general amnesty, but continued to call for the "liberation" of rebel-held territory. Rebel leaders, for their part, claimed that Colonel Gadhafi is "giving out money to encourage rebel fighters to change sides."
Pro-Gadhafi forces continued to shell areas along the Tunisian border. Witnesses say a number of shells fell inside Tunisia. Libyan government forces are besieging the towns of Zintan, Nalout and Yfran in the mostly Berber mountainous plateau near the border.
In the main rebel-held city of Benghazi, in eastern Libya, the head of the opposition Transitional National Council, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, repeated his plea to Western and Arab states to help the rebels with modern weapons to help them combat pro-Gadhafi forces.
He says the rebels are capable of ground combat if they receive just a small amount of modern weapons, which would even the playing field. He stresses that weapons are the only major issue, since the allies are providing enough help from the air.
Meanwhile, the Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat quoted a government source in Tripoli as saying that "matters appear to be moving towards the opening of a political dialogue to resolve the crisis." The paper said a rebel source in Benghazi confirmed the possibility of opening a dialogue. Rebel spokesmen, however, have long insisted that Colonel Gadhafi step down first.
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Protests in Yemen
Elsewhere, protests continued for another day in towns and cities across Yemen, as the mostly young protesters kept up their demands for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.
Opposition leader Saleh Mohsen told journalists that the street protests, rather than a stalled Gulf Cooperation Council plan, will ultimately bring about Saleh's resignation.
He says that the revolution in the streets and squares, driven by the many people who have stood steadfastly night and day for three months, will ultimately bring about the fall of the regime.
Deputy Information Minister Abdou Jundy, an ally of Saleh, told Al Jazeera TV Saturday that the president still supports the GCC plan. He refused, however, to indicate if Saleh is ready to step down, which is the main condition of the plan.
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Rights activists say Syrian troops have killed three women marching in a demonstration outside the coastal city of Banias, a day after violence during a "day of defiance" by anti-government protesters left at least 31 people dead.
Activists told news agencies that electricity and communications were cut in Banias before the troops entered the city from three directions, heading to Sunni Muslim areas and avoiding those neighborhoods where residents from the country's ruling Alawite minority live.
Syrian security forces also entered the city in mid-April as well. It has been a center of anti-government protests and it is also the home to one of Syria's two oil refineries.
The move comes after tens of thousands of protesters shouting anti-government slogans and calling for freedom participated in demonstrations Friday in several major towns and cities, including Banias.
Syria's state news agency said Saturday that the Interior Ministry said a "subversive group" terrorized citizens and attacked property Friday in Hama governate, injuring 25 police officers.
Bashar al-Assad's government has portrayed its crackdown on protesters as trying to quell violence perpetrated by armed gangs and infiltrators.
Human rights groups say more than 600 protesters have been killed and thousands more arrested since the anti-government demonstrations began on March 15. Most foreign media have been banned from the country, so independent verification of reports has been difficult.
Despite international condemnation of the crackdown, Syria appears to be moving ahead with its candidacy for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Nadim Houry, director of Human Rights Watch's Beirut office, says it would be outrageous for the Human Rights Council to have Syria as one of its members, especially after it suspended Libya.
"It is a disgrace for Syria, but it is also a real problem for the institution of the Human Rights Council," said Houry. "Because what would be the signal that they are sending? That on the one hand the Human Rights Council meets like they did last week, calls for an international investigation into Syria, condemns Syria's practices, and then somehow welcome it to the club. That just does not add up."
The U.N. General Assembly will vote on May 20. Currently Syria's candidacy is unopposed.
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The Taliban launched a series of coordinated deadly attacks Saturday in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. At least two people were killed and 20 others were wounded in the fighting.
Taliban militants began their assault at midday with an attack on the Kandahar governor's compound
The militants used small arms fire, rocket propelled grenades, and suicide bombers and struck at locations throughout the city.
Afghan authorities say targets included a building belonging to the intelligence service, a foreign special forces base and Afghan police checkpoints.
The attacks caused widespread panic across the city.
Kandahar shopkeeper Ali Khan says when heavy fighting and explosions broke out he and other shopkeepers closed their shops to prevent any looting.
NATO authorities say coalition forces supported the Afghan forces by providing perimeter security. They also say the Afghans prevented three car bombs from exploding.
Last week the Taliban announced it was launching the start of its annual spring offensive, which sees an increased number of attacks.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack, saying the Taliban and al-Qaida were using the violence to hide their weakness following Osama bin Laden's death at the hands of U.S. special forces in Pakistan.
The attacks in Kandahar city followed a Taliban statement on Friday, saying the killing of bin Laden would give a boost to the insurgency. However a Taliban spokesman said Saturday's assault was not a revenge attack.
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Leaders of the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations began a two day summit in Jakarta Saturday. The organization has made progress in creating an economic trading block, but still faces great challenges in finding common ground on political and security matters.
All the ASEAN heads of state, with the exception of Singapore, are participating in the Jakarta summit. Singapore's prime minister stayed at home to await the results of the election there.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened the summit and endorsed ASEAN's recent efforts to mediate peace between two member states, Thailand and Cambodia, that have been fighting since February.
The two countries moved closer to ending an ongoing border conflict Friday, when both sides agreed in principle to accept 15 Indonesian observers in the conflict zone. Thai and Cambodia troops have been exchanging gun and artillery fire in a dispute over an area surrounding an ancient Hindu Khmer Temple that both countries claim.
President Yudhoyono also cited the challenges the region faces, such as soaring food and energy prices, the threat of terrorism and natural disasters that frequently strike in southeast Asia. He said ASEAN needs to become a more coherent and effective force to respond to these threats and maintain peace and stability in the region
The goal of the summit is to continue progress in making ASEAN an effective regional community with binding rules governing economic trade and political and security cooperation.
There has been strong support by all the leaders to create a unified economic trading block. Since 2010, ASEAN members have adhered to a free trade agreement with China, even though there have been some calls to modify the agreement to protect local industries from cheap Chinese imports.
But ASEAN members have been reluctant to enforce its own charter on issues of democracy development, protecting human rights and maintaining regional peace and security.
Carl Thayer is a southeast Asia political analyst with the University of New South Wales in Australia. While he credits Indonesia for its mediation efforts in the Thai-Cambodia conflict, he says ASEAN's inability to impose sanctions on member states that violate the organization's charter continues to limit its effectiveness.
And he says when it comes to mutual security issues, it is hard to see progress other than talk about humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and improving border protection.
"At the moment we have meetings and meeting of officials and have firmed up the defense side by moving it from informal to formal, but there has been no [not] anything done jointly by ASEAN in the defense and security spheres. It is all bilateral, trilateral," said Thayer.
He says while ASEAN's plan for economic integration is on track, when it comes to political and defense issues, the organization is still in the talking stage.
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Nigerian police say attackers killed 16 people in a mostly Christian village late Friday.
The attackers also set fire to more than one dozen homes in the village in Bauchi state.
Nigeria has a history of deadly clashes between Muslim and Christians.
Last month, riots broke out in the predominantly Muslim north after incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the south, won reelection.
Supporters of his challenger in the race, Muhammadu Buhari, attacked churches, homes, and a police station, sparking counterattacks by Christians.
Media reports say more than 100 people were killed in the violence, though officials have declined to give a death toll for fear of prompting more attacks.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
A prosecutor in Ivory Coast's government says officials have for the first time questioned former President Laurent Gbagbo about alleged rights abuses committed while he was in power.
Prosecutor Simplice Kouadio Koffi told reporters that Gbagbo was questioned Saturday despite the absence of his lawyers.
Gbagbo's team of French lawyers flew into Abidjan Friday, but were not allowed to enter the country. Ivorian officials say did not have valid visas.
Koffi said judicial officials will question Gbagbo's wife, Simon, on Sunday. Simone Gbagbo was a key figure in her husband's government.
Gbagbo was arrested last month for refusing to step down after losing a November election. His refusal to cede power sparked a violent power struggle between loyalists of Gbagbo and supporters of President Alassane Ouattara who won the election.
The political unrest killed hundreds and displaced about 1 million people.
Ouattara took power last month, after his supporters captured the defiant Gbagbo in his Abidjan home with the help of United Nations and French forces. Ouattara was sworn into office Friday inside the presidential palace.
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Tensions are high in Albania as voters prepare to cast ballots in local elections Sunday, following an election season that has been marred by violence.
The latest incident took place Thursday. Police say a car bomb exploded near the northern town of Kukes, damaging the vehicle of a Socialist opposition candidate running in Sunday's election. Investigators say no one was seriously wounded in the incident.
In January, anti-government riots left four people dead and many others injured.
The Balkan country has become deeply polarized between the governing Democratic Party and the opposition Socialists. The unrest is affecting the country's efforts to become part of the European Union. The EU has required Albania to fight corruption and organized crime, improve its human rights record and carry out extensive public reforms before it can be considered for EU membership.
Voters will choose mayors, heads of local governments and council members in Sunday's polling.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
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Ecuadorians are voting Saturday on a reform package critics say could give President Rafael Correa too much power.
The referendum contains 10 questions, which range from a bullfighting ban to an increase in executive branch control on appointing judges.
The referendum also includes a measure that would set up a panel to regulate media content and hold individual journalists responsible for any violations. Some say the move is aimed at silencing dissent. Another press-related reform would bar media companies from other commercial interests.
Opposition leaders say Correa is using the referendum to increase his power.
Polls suggest the leftist president's popularity could help deliver the votes needed to pass the referendum.
President Correa has headed Ecuador since 2007. He is an ally of other leftist Latin American leaders, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivia's Evo Morales.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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Thousands of U.S. residents are evacuating their homes along the Mississippi River as flooding in some communities has reached levels not seen in more than 80 years.
Authorities in the large southern city of Memphis, Tennessee are going door to door at homes in low-lying areas threatened by the flooding and handing out flyers in English and Spanish urging residents to evacuate.
On Friday, floodwaters topped the city's 1927 record level and are expected to crest at more than four meters above flood stage next Wednesday.
A week ago, violent tornadoes devastated numerous southern U.S. cities and killed more than 300 people, with the worst destruction several hundred kilometers to the east of the flooding. The new, slow-moving natural disaster is occurring along North America's largest river system that extends more than 3,700 kilometers from the northern part of the United States to the Gulf of Mexico on the southern perimeter of the country.
The flooding along the Mississippi, and the Ohio River that feeds into it, has already forced residents to evacuate their homes in six states. Authorities say the Mississippi's flooding, heightened by overflowing tributaries, is sweeping south. But the worst flooding may not reach the state of Louisiana for three weeks before the rising waters empty into the Gulf of Mexico.
The governor of Louisiana says a decision on opening a spillway to divert some of the water could come as early as Thursday.
The Army Corps of Engineers is considering opening another spillway north of the city of New Orleans, which was inundated with floods after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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U.S. President Barack Obama has renewed his call for pursuing clean energy sources, like biofuels and natural gas, to break the U.S. dependence on foreign oil while growing the economy.
Delivering his weekly address from a hybrid technology plant in the state of Indiana, Obama says in the short term, domestic oil production is growing, reaching its highest level last year since 2003.
But the president says in the long term, the U.S. should be investing in clean energy technology and securing the jobs it will generate.
Obama says that he supports the nation living within its means in these difficult fiscal times, but says he refuses to cut investments in clean energy that will help the United States out-compete and out-innovate other countries.
In this week's Republican address, Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown praised the recent military raid on Osama Bin Laden's compound that resulted in the al-Qaida leader's death.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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The United States has released several videos seized by U.S. forces from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's Pakistani hideout that show him watching himself on television and rehearsing to make statements to the world.
U.S. Navy Seals killed the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. in a predawn raid last Monday on bin Laden's mansion in the garrison town of Abbottabad. Before leaving, the commandos seized what U.S. officials described Saturday as the largest terrorism data collection ever.
The intelligence official briefing reporters said that the videos, computer drives and other materials showed that bin Laden was "far from a figurehead, he was an active player" in al-Qaida's operation. Under ground rules with reporters, the official's name could not be divulged.
Bin Laden seemed particularly concerned about how he presented himself to the world.
One video showed bin Laden intently watching television newscasts about himself. He was sitting on the floor, wrapped in a brown blanket, holding a remote control, flipping back and forth between channels that apparently were showing live coverage of himself. He watched it on an old, small television set on top of a desk, with a tangle of wires leading to a nearby control box.
In that video, his unkempt beard was streaked gray.
But in another, he has apparently dyed his beard black and neatly trimmed it for the filming of a propaganda video, one titled "Message to the American People," that was believed to have been recorded last October or November. The videos the U.S. selected to release did not contain any audio.
The intelligence official briefing reporters said that U.S. officials who have examined bin Laden's DNA samples have determined there is only a one in 1.8 quadrillion chance that the man the Navy Seals killed is not bin Laden.
U.S. officials have been searching through seized items in hopes of learning of what plans al-Qaida had for future attacks and where other al-Qaida officials are living.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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Somalia's al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab is vowing to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden.
A spokesman for the Islamist rebels said Saturday that the al-Qaida leader's death will not hurt al-Shabab's fight.
Al-Shabab has been trying to overthrow the United Nations-backed transitional government in Somalia and impose a harshly conservative form of Islamic law across the country. The group controls large sections of southern and central Somalia and parts of the capital, Mogadishu.
Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed told VOA Somali service on Monday that his government welcomes bin Laden's killing but is bracing for possible retaliation.
Hundreds of Somalis marched through Mogadishu Wednesday to celebrate bin Laden's death and call for an end to terrorism and violence by al-Shabab.
Somali officials have expressed hope that the killing of bin Laden will diminish al-Qaida's ability to support the Somali militant group. Hundreds of al-Qaida fighters are believed to be helping the insurgents.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.
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Iraqi officials say gunmen killed five people during a robbery of a money exchange office in the central city of Baquba on Saturday.
Authorities say the attackers shot people in the office and got away with a large amount of money.
Investigators say as security forces arrived, a car bomb exploded, wounding some police and civilians.
A security official said earlier that the robbers' actions had killed six people and wounded 10.
Iraqi authorities have blamed similar attacks on militant groups like al-Qaida seeking money to fund their activities.
There has been an upsurge of violence in Iraq in recent weeks, with bombings and the assassination of government workers and security force leaders.
On Thursday, a suicide car bomber killed more than 20 people in Hilla, a mostly Shi'ite city south of Baghdad. The attacker rammed a vehicle into a police station entrance as officers were changing shifts.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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Indonesian officials say a passenger plane has crashed into the sea in the country's east, killing all of the 27 people believed to be on board.
The plane crashed Saturday in the eastern province of West Papua. Officials said it had been trying to land in the town of Kaimana amid heavy rain and limited visibility.
Rescuers said they recovered 15 bodies from the plane, which was operated by the state-owned Merpati Nusantara Airlines.
The French news agency, AFP, quoted a navy officer involved in the search as saying the remaining passengers were trapped in the wreckage.
Authorities told media outlets it appeared there were no survivors.
The vast Indonesian archipelago relies heavily on air transport and has one of Asia's worst air safety records.
Merpati is one of a number of Indonesian airlines the European Union has banned from operating in European airspace.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
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