U.S. President Barack Obama says he ordered the raid against al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden after deciding that the risks were outweighed by the possibility of "finally getting our man."
Mr. Obama said during a broadcast interview on CBS's 60 Minutes Sunday that his number one concern was for the commandos, and that he did not lose sleep over the possibility that bin Laden might be killed. The president said the raid was "the longest 40 minutes" of his life, with the possible exception of when his daughter Sasha became sick with meningitis when she was three months old.
Mr. Obama said anyone who questions whether the terrorist leader did not deserve his fate "needs to have their head examined."
He said it remains unclear whether Pakistan's government was aware of bin Laden's presence in the country. He said it was clear bin Laden had "some sort of support network" inside Pakistan to be able to live in such a large compound for five to six years. But he did not accuse Pakistani officials of harboring the world's most sought-after terrorist.
In another broadcast interview earlier Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, a senior U.S. administration official said that despite bin Laden's death, the terrorist threat from al-Qaida continues.
National Security Advisor Tom Donilon said the United States can not consider al-Qaida to be "strategically defeated." But he described removing bin Laden as a "really important milestone" in taking down the terrorist organization.
Donilon said the extent of the materials seized from bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, during the overnight raid by U.S. forces amounted to the largest cache of terrorist intelligence ever gathered, what he described as a "treasure trove" of data.
On Saturday, the U.S. released several videos seized by U.S. forces when they raided bin Laden's Pakistani hideout and killed him. An intelligence official told reporters the videos, computer drives and other materials showed that bin Laden was "far from a figurehead," but was an active player in al-Qaida's operation.
Bin Laden seemed particularly concerned about how he presented himself to the world. One video showed bin Laden intently watching television newscasts about himself.
In that video, his unkempt beard was streaked gray. But in another, he had apparently dyed his beard black and neatly trimmed it for the filming of a propaganda video.
U.S. officials have been searching through seized items in hopes of learning what plans al-Qaida had for future attacks and where other al-Qaida officials are living.
Security Advisor Donilon says deputy al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was not anywhere near bin Laden when he was killed. The search for him continues.
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The United States says it wants to question three wives of Osama bin Laden who have been in Pakistani custody since May 2, when U.S. special forces raided a Pakistani compound where they were hiding with the al-Qaida leader.
U.S. National Security Adviser Tom Donilon on Sunday said Pakistani authorities must provide Washington with intelligence gathered from the hideout and access to the three wives of bin Laden, who was killed in the raid.
Pakistani security personnel took over the compound in Abbottabad shortly after the end of the covert U.S. operation, and detained the three women and several of bin Laden's children. He had been in hiding since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, for which al-Qaida claimed responsibility.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is due to brief his nation's parliament about the raid on Monday. His government has said it had no prior knowledge of bin Laden's whereabouts and will not accept any more U.S. military incursions without Islamabad's approval.
In Washington, Pakistan's Ambassador Husain Haqqani told TV news shows that Islamabad is conducting its own investigations into how bin Laden lived undetected in the country for years. If officials discover proof of incompetence, Haqqani promised, "Heads will roll." He said there will be "zero tolerance" if "complicity" is discovered.
Pakistani authorities have identified one of the wives as Amal Ahmed Abdullfattah, a Yemeni national who was shot in the leg during the raid and received medical treatment for her wounds. U.S. officials say she made a threatening move against the Navy SEALs conducting the operation.
Pakistani security officials say Abdullfattah told interrogators that she and bin Laden had lived in the compound for five years and never left the building. She said that prior to living at the site, they had lived for two and a-half years in the nearby village of Chak Shah Mohammad.
Journalists flocked to the village Saturday, asking residents if they knew where bin Laden had lived. Many villagers were puzzled by the media presence and said they had never seen the terrorist leader.
Pakistani authorities say they want to repatriate bin Laden's family members to their countries of origin, including Saudi Arabia and Yemen. But it is not clear if those countries will accept the women and children.
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Thousands of Coptic Christians protesting Egypt's latest round of deadly sectarian violence are calling for the removal of the country's top military ruler, and are vowing not to leave a sit-in outside the state television building in Cairo.
By late Sunday, demonstrators were demanding that Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi step down and that the arsonists who burned two Coptic churches be brought to justice. Protesters also want to make it a crime to instigate religious violence. Earlier in the day, fighting broke out when Muslim youths attacked the protesters.
State media have reported that 12 people were killed and more than 220 wounded during two days of sectarian clashes that began late Saturday in the poverty-stricken Cairo slum of Imbaba. Medical sources said 65 of the injured were shot.
Witnesses say a group of about 500 conservative Salafist Muslims converged on a Coptic church in response to rumors that a Christian woman was being held there to prevent her from converting to Islam. Other reports said the crowd believed the woman had already converted and was being prevented from marrying a Muslim man.
Egypt's civilian leaders have promised a swift response to the clashes, including more security at houses of worship and a new ban on demonstrations outside churches and mosques. Military leaders said Sunday that 190 people detained in connection with the violence will face trial in a military court.
Hundreds of heavily armed riot police deployed to Imbaba Sunday, stationing military vehicles near churches and blocking access to the Church of St. Mina, where the fighting began.
Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf canceled a tour of neighboring Gulf states and called an emergency Cabinet meeting in response to the clashes.
Reports say members of the crowd began throwing firebombs and stones, setting some nearby buildings aflame. Security forces fired shots in the air and used tear gas to separate the two sides.
Members of Egypt's extreme Salafi movement have been blamed for other recent attacks on Christians that have met with little interference from the country's military rulers.
Interfaith relationships are a source of tension in Egypt, where Coptic Christians comprise about 10 percent of the country's population of 80 million.
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Syrian security forces have escalated their military crackdown, killing 14 people, including a young boy, in the central city of Homs, detaining more than 200 others in the coastal city of Banias, and sweeping into several southern towns.
Human rights groups say tanks and troops stormed three Homs districts overnight Sunday (Bab Sebaa, Bab Amro and Tal al-Sour). The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the areas have been under total siege since then.
The detentions in Banias, including the arrest of a 10-year-old child, come a day after troops killed six people in the sealed-off city. Witnesses say at least 25 tanks are patrolling the town of about 50,000 people to quell anti-government protests. Banias, which has one of Syria's two oil refineries, is predominantly Sunni Muslim but also is home to many Alawites - the Shi'ite sect of President Bashar al-Assad's family and many senior officials.
As in other towns, witnesses say authorities have cut water, electricity and communications in both Homs and Banias.
Also Sunday, the state-run SANA news agency said an "armed gang" ambushed a bus near Homs and shot dead 10 civilian workers returning from Lebanon. Authorities routinely characterize those involved in the rebellion against Mr. Assad's government as "armed terrorist groups."
Judicial authorities also charged a leading opposition figure who suffers from cancer with violating a ban on protests. Riad Seif, a former lawmaker and an outspoken critic of the regime, has been detained since Friday.
Elsewhere Sunday, residents in the southern towns of Tafas, Dael and Ibtaa said they heard gunfire as Syrian forces swept in to make arrests.
The flashpoint city of Daraa was the first target of the government's military crackdown. The military said Thursday it had "carried out its mission in detaining terrorists" in Daraa and restored calm in the city. However, residents said tanks, troops and snipers still were restricting their movement.
Rights groups say at least 600 people have been killed in Syria's crackdown on nationwide anti-government unrest. They say as many as 8,000 people are either missing or detained.
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Afghan officials said Sunday government troops backed by NATO forces were close to eliminating a cell of Taliban fighters who launched attacks on government buildings in the southern city of Kandahar a day earlier.
The officials said Afghan soldiers surrounded several insurgents holed up in a building near the local headquarters of Afghanistan's intelligence agency and that almost all of the buildings attacked by the Taliban had been cleared.
At least 20 Taliban fighters were killed in Saturday's assault, including eight suicide bombers who blew themselves up. The assailants killed four people and wounded more than 40 others. Four insurgents were captured.
Authorities say most of the assailants were among hundreds who escaped from the city's main Sarposa prison last month through a tunnel dug by fighters on the outside.
Also Sunday, U.S. Army General David Petraeus, leading military operations in Afghanistan said in an interview with the Associated Press news agency that the killing of Osama bin Laden may weaken al-Qaida's influence on the Afghan Taliban.
But Petraeus also warned that Afghanistan is still a potential refuge for international terror groups like al-Qaida. He stressed that bin Laden's death did not spell the end of the NATO battle in Afghanistan.
In another development, the Afghan government has accused the Taliban of recruiting Pakistani children to carry out suicide bombings in Afghanistan. Afghan authorities say they recently detained four Pakistani boys who crossed into Afghanistan and confessed to being trained in suicide attacks by Taliban militants.
The Taliban denied the allegation and accused the Afghan security forces of recruiting underage boys into their ranks.
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Russian authorities say four rebels and one police officer have been killed in two clashes in Russia's north Caucasus region.
Officials say the officer and three rebels were killed early Sunday when authorities raided a suspected rebel camp in a wooded area in the province of Dagestan. Russia's main investigating agency, the Investigative Committee, says three local policemen were also wounded during the operation.
In a separate incident, Russian security services say one militant was killed and several others detained in the southern city of Astrakhan.
Authorities say they foiled plans by the men to carry out terrorist attacks on Monday's Victory Day holiday, which commemorates the end of European fighting in World War II.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
The prime ministers of Cambodia and Thailand exchanged heated words over their border conflict at the ASEAN summit and Burma received an endorsement in principle to head the organization in 2014, despite its poor human-rights record.
Since February, nearly 30 people have been killed and thousands displaced in both Thailand and Cambodia because of ongoing military clashes between the two countries over a border area near a historic temple.
Sunday, the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia held separate news conferences after trading accusations earlier at the ASEAN Summit about which country is responsible for the conflict.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said it was Cambodia that began this conflict by stationing troops in the disputed area in violation of a bilateral agreement both signed in 2000, and he says they have prolonged the conflict by trying to get international organizations involved.
"But the problems that have occurred in recent times I think demonstrate the determination of Cambodia to internationalize the issue," Vejjajiva said.
He says Thailand and Cambodia should resolve the conflict without the intervention of the United Nations or the International Court of Justice, and while Thailand agreed Friday to allow in Indonesian observers to the conflict area, he says, that agreement should be linked to the removal of both Cambodian and Thai troops from the disputed region as well.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thailand must formally agree to allow in Indonesian observers before further negotiations could continue. He also rejected Thailand's demand Cambodia withdraw its military from the conflict area.
He says the withdrawal of Cambodia armed forces from their territory is not acceptable.
At the end of a two day ASEAN Summit in Jakarta that was supposed to be about trade and economic development in the region, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met with the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia to try to resolve the border conflict between them.
He said he offered to get everyone to agree to create a package of solutions, so both sides can agree to the same timeline.
The Thai and Cambodian prime ministers agreed to extend the foreign ministers' time in Jakarta to further discuss these issues. Both will meet Monday with ASEAN Chairman and Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa.
Other ASEAN leaders expressed frustration the armed dispute between members was threatening the organization's credibility and taking away from achievements made at the summit on regional economic integration.
ASEAN Leaders also approved in principle Burma's request to take over the organization chair in 2014. President Yudhoyono said ASEAN's approval of Burma's request is contingent on that country making continued democratic progress.
Human-rights groups voiced objections to Burma's bid. Military led Burma is under Western sanctions for serial human-rights abuses.
In 2005 Burma was pressured to give up the leadership of ASEAN after the United States and the European Union threatened to boycott the organization. ASEAN groups Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, Philippines and Burma.
Other issues discussed at the summit include food and energy security, territorial disputes in the South China Sea, human trafficking, and East Timor's membership bid.
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Iraqi officials say the accused mastermind of an attack on a Baghdad church last year triggered a prison uprising Sunday where he and at least 16 others were killed.
Authorities say Huthaifa al-Battawi wrestled a gun from a security guard, killed him and then freed fellow inmates in Iraq's Interior Ministry jail complex before guards gunned him down as he tried to flee.
At least 10 other prisoners and six security officers died in the melee, including the head of counter-terrorism for eastern Baghdad, Muaeid Mohammed Saleh.
Officials say the prisoners seized several weapons before entering Saleh's office and killing him. Guards regained control of the prison after killing inmates who were trying to escape.
Al-Battawi was an al-Qaida militant accused of plotting the October 31 attack on Baghdad's Our Lady of Salvation church. At least 46 worshippers and seven security guards died in that incident.
The militants killed one of the priests at point-blank range and then held more than 100 worshippers hostage until Iraqi forces stormed the church and ended the siege.
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Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi are intensifying their shelling of towns in the country's western mountains, where support for anti-Gadhafi rebels is high.
On Saturday, Libyan government forces shelled four large oil tanks in Misrata, destroying the city's only source of fuel. The blaze spread to other tanks as firefighters battled the flames in vain.
Misrata is the last city in western Libya under rebel control. The port city has been under siege by government forces for more than two months.
On Friday, Libya sharply criticized an international plan to send millions of dollars in assistance to rebels and civilians.
Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said that Libya is "one sovereign state." He said the planned use of the funds amounted to "piracy on the high seas."
Amnesty International said Friday that forces loyal to the Libyan leader may have committed war crimes in the besieged city of Misrata.
The rights group released a report saying Gadhafi's forces have "unlawfully" killed civilians in indiscriminate attacks using heavy artillery, rockets, cluster bombs and sniper fire.
Also, France announced plans Friday to expel 14 Libyan diplomats, a day after Britain ordered two Libyan officials to leave.
The French Foreign Ministry said the diplomats, who back Gadhafi, had been given 48 hours to leave France.
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Italian authorities say they have rescued hundreds of migrants from Libya after their boat was damaged sending some overboard in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of southern Italy.
Officials say the boat ran aground early Sunday as it approached the island of Lampedusa after a problem with its steering mechanism. Officials say coast guard crews were able to rescue all the migrants and take control of the boat steering it to shore.
Reports put the estimated number of passengers on the boat between 400 and 500, and say the group includes women and children, including some from sub-Saharan Africa.
Thousands of migrants are fleeing unrest in Tunisia and Libya to travel by boat to Lampedusa, one of the closest points of Italian soil to Africa. Local reports say at least 1500 migrants from Libya arrived in Lampedusa over the last 24 hours.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh has been sworn in for a third term, in a ceremony attended by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted for war crimes.
The International Criminal Court indicted Bashir in 2009 for alleged war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region. An ICC arrest warrant calls for any member country he visits to arrest him.
Bashir's visit to Djibouti's capital marks the third time he has visited an ICC member country without the threat of detention.
The Sudanese president has also attended events in ICC member states Kenya and Chad without being arrested. Each visit has been criticized by human rights groups.
Other dignitaries who attended Guelleh's swearing-in ceremony include Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
Guelleh won a third term during a presidential election last month in which he easily defeated his lone challenger.
Some people protested a change in Djibouti's constitution earlier this year that allowed Guelleh to seek another term. He has led the small east African nation since 1999.
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Bloody sectarian clashes erupted overnight after a crowd of Islamic extremists massed in front of a Coptic Christian church in the Cairo suburb of Imbaba, claiming that a woman who had allegedly converted to Islam was being held inside the church. Twelve people were killed and dozens wounded in the violence, while two churches were also set ablaze.
Egyptian authorities have imposed a curfew in the Cairo district of Imbaba, the scene of a vicious sectarian battle between Muslim extremists and Coptic Christians trying to defend their neighborhood.
It was not clear which side began shooting, although both Christians and Muslims accused "thugs" from outside the neighborhood of igniting the conflict. Dozens of mostly young men threw stones and petrol bombs at each other, while others traded gunshots. Two churches were torched during the melee and a nearby apartment building, housing Christians, was gutted.
Military police intervened to stop the fighting, as firemen worked to extinguish the blazes at the Mar Mena and Holy Virgin churches. Egypt's Supreme Military Council later announced that 190 people allegedly involved in the violence had been arrested. Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, who canceled a trip to the Persian Gulf, chaired an urgent Cabinet session.
Justice Minister Abdel Aziz Al Gindy told journalists after the meeting the government was taking decisive steps to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control.
He said sectarian strife is putting the country in peril and the government is trying to save it from what he calls a conspiracy. He added that authorities will use an iron hand against anyone who provokes violence and police will be deployed in sensitive areas of the country. He insisted the law will be used to protect freedom of worship and to protect houses of worship from attack.
Top Muslim and Christian leaders condemned the bloodshed and pleaded for calm. The Sheikh of Al-Azhar University, Ahmed Tayeb, called for an urgent meeting of Christian and Muslim religious leaders in an effort to find a formula to contain the crisis.
Sheikh Haitham Islam of Al-Azhar's Fatwa Committee blamed "trouble-makers" from the deposed regime of former President Hosni Mubarak of trying to create a crisis.
He said he was calling for the creation of popular committees to discuss the violence and to try to avoid civil strife, along the lines of what is taking place in Libya, Yemen, or Syria. He went on to accuse elements of the former government of trying to stir up violence in the country.
Coptic Bishop Theodosius of Giza insists there is no conflict between Muslims and Christians in the area where the violence occurred, accusing outside forces of provoking troubles.
Christian attorney Naguib Gobrail, who heads the Egyptian Human Rights Forum, complained on Egyptian TV that authorities are not taking strong enough measures to stop attacks against Christians.
A small group of Coptic Christians demonstrated in front of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, urging American intervention to protect Christians in Egypt.
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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 3-story home in the garrison town of Abbottabad. The commandos also seized what U.S. officials described Saturday as the largest terrorism data collection ever.
The intelligence official briefing reporters said 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.
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 blanket, holding a remote control, flipping among channels that apparently were showing live coverage of himself.
In that video, his unkempt beard was streaked gray. But in another, he had 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 U.S. released the videos without audio.
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.
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The Obama administration says material recovered from Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan show the terrorist leader was concerned about the image he projected to the world, and that he remained active in al-Qaida operations nearly 10 years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
More than a week after the death of Osama bin Laden, the Obama administration is making initial comments on what has been described as a "treasure trove" of data acquired from computer hard drives and other equipment seized at the bin Laden hideout.
"Still looking at it at this point. The size is quite notable," said Tom Donilon, national security advisor of the president, who spoke on Fox News Sunday. "It is the largest cache of intelligence information gotten from a senior terrorist that we know of. It will need to be translated, it will need to be assessed. And we are in the process of doing that."
Donilon says recently released videos in which bin Laden appears to be rehearsing statements, watching television newscasts about himself, and seemingly having dyed his beard provide insights into the deceased terrorist leader.
"I think it shows an attention to his own image, and an attention to the propaganda aspects of the al-Qaida operation," said Donilon.
The national security advisor declined to comment on any specific intelligence gleaned from the seized material to date, or whether it might lead to the discovery of other al-Qaida figures or terrorist plots. But he did say the material reveals bin Laden was very much involved in the terrorist network.
"Osama bin Laden was not just a symbolic leader of al Qaida," said Donilon. "In fact, he had operational and strategic roles he was playing. And that is clear in the information we have been able to see to date."
Donilon said among the first people President Barack Obama contacted after the successful Special Forces operation in Pakistan was former President George W. Bush.
Also appearing on Fox News Sunday was former Vice President Dick Cheney, who congratulated Obama on killing Osama bin Laden. But Cheney bemoaned the Obama administration's stated policy of not employing water boarding to pry information from terror suspects.
"I think a lot of the techniques that we had used to keep the country safe for seven years [under President Bush] are no longer available," said Cheney. "It is not clear to me today if we still have an interrogation program that we could put somebody through should we capture a high-value detainee that had crucial information."
CIA Director Leon Panetta has said some of the intelligence that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden came from detainees who were subject to so-called "enhanced interrogation".
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Egypt's military rulers said Sunday they plan to try 190 people detained in connection with sectarian violence that killed 10 people in a Cairo suburb.
The announcement that those arrested would face a military trial came after an emergency Cabinet meeting earlier in the day to discuss the events of the previous day and night.
Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf canceled a tour of neighboring Gulf states and called the meeting in response to Saturday's clashes between Christians and Muslims. In addition to the 10 dead, Egypt's official news agency, MENA, said 186 people were injured.
Witnesses say Muslims converged on a Coptic church Saturday in the Cairo district of Imbaba, in response to rumors a Christian woman was being held there to prevent her from converting to Islam. Other reports said the crowd believed the woman had already converted but was being prevented from marrying a Muslim man.
Reports say members of the crowd began throwing firebombs and stones, setting some nearby buildings aflame. Security forces deployed to the scene fired shots in the air and used tear gas to separate the two sides.
Interfaith relationships are a source of tension in Egypt, where Coptic Christians comprise about 10 percent of the country's population of 80 million.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi is meeting senior officials in the United Arab Emirates Sunday, amid growing tensions between Iran and Gulf nations due to the unrest in Bahrain.
Iran, which is predominantly Shi'ite, has heavily criticized efforts by Bahrain's Sunni leaders to quell the uprising by mostly Shi'ite protesters. The small Gulf nation has imposed martial law and invited troops from mainly Sunni-led neighboring states to help restrain the unrest.
Details from Salehi's talks Sunday have not been released.
Last week, the Iranian foreign minister visited Qatar and Oman, two of the six-nations in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that also includes the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Officials from the GCC will hold talks Tuesday in Saudi Arabia. The group strongly denounced Iran during their last meeting.
Bahraini officials have said 24 people died in the unrest, and the government has arrested hundreds in the aftermath of the protests.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
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A meeting Sunday in Indonesia between the prime ministers of Cambodia and Thailand on the sidelines of a southeast Asia regional summit has not produced an agreement to end the two countries' ongoing border dispute.
The talk was mediated by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on the final day of a two-day summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Repeated outbreaks of fighting along the Cambodia and Thailand border have claimed more than 20 lives this year. Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes on both sides of the border.
The dispute centers around control of ancient temples claimed by both nations.
On Friday, Indonesia's foreign minister, Marty Natalegwa, announced Cambodia and Thailand have agreed to accept Indonesian monitors on the border to help prevent further military clashes. However, Cambodia harshly criticized a request by Thailand to first remove troops from Cambodia's side of the border.
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Tokyo's main electric power company is preparing to send workers inside a crippled nuclear reactor to begin rebuilding the unit's cooling system. Power company officials say a ventilation system has lowered radiation levels in the reactor building damaged in March by a massive earthquake and tsunami.
The Tokyo Electric Power company is to open the doors on the Fukushima Daiichi Reactor 1 containment vessel, the thick concrete shell around the reactor core.
Its air has been so radioactive, a worker could be exposed only five hours before exceeding a safe limit. But an air filtration system installed Thursday has brought radiation down to a high, but more acceptable, level.
Workers are scheduled to enter it as early as Monday.
Once inside, staff will be checking pipes, valves and machinery to see what needs to be repaired so the reactor's self-cooling system can be put back in use.
Its failure has forced emergency crews to dump thousands of tons of water on the reactor to keep it cool, but that has created a large amount of radioactive waste water. The reactor cooling system re-circulates water, so its return would simplify recovery operations.
Opening the airlock doors will result in the release of some radioactive radiation, but Tokyo Electric said it will not be at a level that will cause concern to anyone beyond the 20-kilometers exclusion zone around the plant.
Goshi Hosono, a Japanese Government spokesman, says the Japanese government has notified nearby countries of the plans to release radioactive air, but it concurs that there will be no impact on the environment.
In a related matter, Tokyo Electric reported a sharp rise in temperature at the nearby Reactor 3. It was at 202 degrees Celcius early Sunday, up 40 degrees in less than a day, but still less than the normal operating temperature. Tokyo Electric plans to monitor the reactor closely.
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