Al-Qaida says it has picked Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahri to succeed Osama bin Laden as head of the terror network.
Al-Qaida posted the announcement on an Islamist website. The group vowed to immediately continue its pursuit of jihad, or holy war, against the United States and Israel and called them "apostate invaders." Al-Qaida said it would continue its fight "until all the invading armies leave the land of Islam."
Zawahri, a surgeon who turns 60 next week, had been bin Laden's long-time deputy. Terrorism experts often consider him to be al-Qaida's main strategist and operational organizer. Many analysts assumed he would take over al-Qaida's leadership after U.S. commandos raided bin Laden's Pakistani hideout last month and killed him.
Zawahri is believed to be operating from somewhere in the mountainous region near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. An American counter-terrorism official, John Brennan, said this week that the U.S. is hunting him.
Zawahri comes from an upper middle class family of doctors and scholars, but became involved in radical Islam as a teenager. While earning a medical degree, he helped form the Egyptian Islamic Jihad militant group.
After bin Laden was killed, Zawahri lauded the mastermind of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. Zawahri said that bin Laden "went to his God as a martyr."
Zawahri continued al-Qaida's steady condemnation of the West. He also has criticized Arab states al-Qaida considers to be godless and too closely allied with the U.S. He pledged allegiance to the leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Omar, and described him as the "Emir of Believers."
In a recording, he contended that NATO's aerial attacks on troops loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi are designed for a Western takeover of the country's oil wealth.
But he also praised his fellow Egyptians for overthrowing President Hosni Mubarak, and voiced support for the Syrian uprising against the authoritarian rule of President Bashar al-Assad.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
A court sentenced Indonesian radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir on Thursday to 15 years in prison for his role in setting up and financing a terrorist training camp.
The white-robed preacher showed little reaction to the sentence, which came at the end of a six-month trial.
Around 3,000 Indonesian security forces were on guard around the Jakarta courthouse for the verdict and sentencing, which took several hours to read. Hundreds of Bashir's supporters packed the courtroom and watched outside on television monitors.
Bashir said as he was brought to the courtroom earlier Thursday that the trial shows Indonesian authorities have made an enemy of Islam. He also repeated his claim that the charges against him were fabricated by the United States and Australia to silence his preaching.
Prosecutors had demanded a life sentence for Bashir, who was convicted of helping to fund and organize a terrorist training camp discovered last year in remote Aceh province. Documents found at the camp indicate the group was plotting to assassinate President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and attack Western targets in the capital.
The cleric denies that he financed terrorist activity, but his fiery preaching has long inspired the nation's most radical Islamists. He is considered the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, which is blamed for terrorist attacks including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.
Bashir spent more than two years in prison on charges related to the Bali attacks before his conviction was overturned.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
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NATO fighter jets have bombed the area near Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's Tripoli compound in a pre-dawn raid Thursday.
A series of thunderous booms rocked the capital city and a column of smoke could be seen rising from near Gadhafi's Bab-al-Aziziya compound.
It was not immediately clear what had been hit and there was no word on casualties.
NATO warplanes have repeatedly targeted the area near the compound. Nightly rallies are held there in support of Gadhafi's more than four-decade reign.
Earlier, on Wednesday, forces loyal to the Libyan leader bombarded rebel positions in the Western Mountains region.
Rebels, meanwhile, made advances from the port city of Misrata toward Zlitan, about 135 kilometers east of Tripoli.
Also Wednesday, the head of the AU's committee on Libya, Mauritania's Hamady Ould Hamady, told the U.N. Security Council a cease-fire linked to a political solution is needed to end the "indescribable suffering" of Libyan civilians.
In London, British Prime Minister David Cameron insisted his country could sustain its operations in Libya. He spoke prior to a meeting with the head of NATO, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, on the alliance's operation in Libya.
Earlier this week, the head of Britain's Royal Navy warned his British fleet might not be able to sustain the scale of its operations off the Libyan coast in the long term, without cutbacks elsewhere.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
Hundreds of Syrians fled the northern city of Maarat al-Numan Wednesday ahead of a feared military assault, as Turkey's prime minister pushed President Bashar al-Assad to end a crackdown against a widening anti-government uprising.
Witnesses and activists in Maarat al-Numan say Syrian troops intermittently shelled areas near the city and raided nearby villages, making arrests.
Major General Riad Haddad, head of the Syrian military's political department, said Wednesday that tanks surrounding the city had not "yet" entered - suggesting they were readying an operation. Syrian forces remain in control of the nearby flashpoint town of Jisr al-Shughour after pushing into it on Sunday.
General Haddad confirmed witness accounts that army units have also surrounded the eastern town of al-Boukamal near the Iraqi border, where clashes have broken out between protesters and pro-Assad loyalists.
The area borders Iraq's Sunni heartland and the two sides are linked by numerous family ties and trade routes. Forces also entered nearby Deir al-Zour, one of Syria's largest cities, where protests continued.
Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan held crisis talks Wednesday with an envoy of Syria's president in Ankara. Hassan Turkmani met for almost three hours with Mr. Erdogan, who has expressed impatience over Syria's repressive tactics and slowness to reform, as well as anger over a growing humanitarian crisis.
No statements came out of the meeting.
The number of Syrians who have fled the violence and crossed the Turkish border in the past week has swelled to 8,500.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu toured an area near the frontier Wednesday, stopping at the border fence to greet displaced people on the Syrian side. Davutoglu also spoke with wounded refugees lying on beds in Turkish camps.
Syria is urging people who fled to Turkey to escape the crackdown in Jisr al-Shughour to return home. Information Minister Adnan Mahmoud said electricity, water and communications had been restored to the city and that the area was safe.
An Associated Press reporter on a government-organized trip to Jisr al-Shughour was shown a mass grave there Wednesday, an attempt to bolster official claims that "armed gunmen" last week killed 120 security personnel.
But residents and soldiers who have deserted said those killed were civilians and security forces who had mutinied, refusing to shoot protesters and joining anti-government demonstrators.
In Geneva, the United Nations' top human rights official called for a thorough investigation into allegations of widespread abuses in Syria during the government's crackdown on dissent.
High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay also renewed her call Wednesday for Syria to grant access for a U.N. fact-finding mission. Her office has released a report citing allegations against Syrian forces that include an excessive use of force against civilians, arbitrary detentions and torture.
It says the most "egregious" allegations concern the use of live ammunition against civilians.
Rights activists say 1,300 civilians and 340 security force members have been killed since the protests against Mr. Assad's government began in mid-March. About 10,000 people have been detained. Some infornation for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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Several hundred gunmen attacked the Yemeni town of Houta on Wednesday and briefly seized control of parts of the southern town as they fought with security forces.
The armed group, which is suspected of including al-Qaida members, launched the attack before dawn. Witnesses and medics say two police officers were killed and at least three wounded in the fighting.
The attack raises concerns of increased violence from militant groups nationwide in the wake of anti-government protests and the absence of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Militants seized two other southern cities in May.
President Saleh is recuperating in Saudi Arabia from injuries sustained in a bomb attack on his presidential compound earlier this month. Yemen's state-run SABA news agency says the president stated that his health was improving on Wednesday as he spoke by phone to Saudi government officials.
On Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of Yemenis rallied in major cities throughout the country, demanding that Saleh step down. Protesters called for a transitional council that excludes members of the current government.
In the capital, Sana'a, a huge crowd swelled outside the home of Yemen's acting leader, Vice President Abd al-Rab Mansur Hadi - a day after Yemen's political opposition held talks with him on a possible transition plan.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP.
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Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi bombarded rebel positions in the Western Mountains region Wednesday, after rebels made advances toward the capital, Tripoli.
Rebels say Libyan forces fired Grad rockets at towns in the region, but they have not confirmed casualties from these attacks.
Rebels have made advances from the port city of Misrata toward Zlitan, about 135 kilometers east of Tripoli. Fighting lulled Wednesday as rebels held their positions.
The Associated Press reports that rebels say NATO has instructed them to stay away ahead of expected bombing in nearby Dafniya.
Meanwhile, the African Union has called for an immediate "humanitarian pause" in Libya. The head of the AU's committee on Libya, Mauritania's Hamady Ould Hamady, told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that a cease-fire linked to a political solution is needed to end the "indescribable suffering" of Libyan civilians.
The representative of the 53-nation African group emphasized that all Libyans should agree to a political solution that meets their democratic goals and respects their human rights.
In Britain, the chief of NATO will discuss the alliance's operation in Libya with British leaders in London. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Cameron insisted that Britain could sustain its operations in Libya, saying "time is on our side."
Earlier this week, the head of Britain's Royal Navy warned that his British fleet might not be able to sustain the scale of its operations off the Libyan coast in the long term without cutbacks elsewhere.
NATO airstrikes rocked Tripoli, late Tuesday after a brief layoff. Witnesses say they heard loud explosions and saw plumes of smoke over the city center. Libyan state media say the bombings hit civilian sites, and there were reports of casualties.
NATO has been carrying out airstrikes on command centers and forces loyal to the Libyan leader since March.
In Tunisia, the official news agency TAP says 27 Libyan soldiers arrived in country's port of Ketf Tuesday after fleeing fighting. It is unclear from the report whether the soldiers have defected.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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Talks on the future of a divided Sudan have been disrupted by the latest escalation of hostilities in the country's Southern Kordofan state. An urgent African Union-United Nations mission is heading Thursday to Southern Kordofan in an attempt to broker a ceasefire.
Former South African President and chief AU Mediator Thabo Mbeki, along with U.N. Special Envoy to Sudan Haile Menkerios will lead the hastily-arranged mission. The initiative is aimed at stopping more than a week of clashes between north Sudan army troops and fighters aligned with the south's Sudan People's Liberation Army [SPLA].
Top southern official Yasir Arman tells VOA he will accompany the mission for talks with Abdul Aziz, who commands SPLA forces in the north.
"President Mbeki and Haile Menkerios, the representative of the secretary general, together with the SPLM north leaders will be going to meet commander Abdul Aziz and we will discuss matters related to security and political arrangements in the two areas and in the North in general," said Arman.
The South Kordofan fighting disrupted a fourth day of north-south talks in Addis Ababa on the future of the disputed Abyei border region. The sides are said to be close to a deal calling for the demilitarization of Abyei and deployment of a U.N.-mandated peacekeeping force.
Ethiopia reportedly is ready to send 1,500 peacekeepers to patrol the border, and the U.N. Security Council is said to be standing by to authorize the force once a deal is reached.
Diplomats and Southern Sudanese negotiators warned Wednesday, though, that the talks could collapse over the surge of violence in South Kordofan that has displaced an estimated 60,000 people.
A statement issued Wednesday by the U.N. humanitarian affairs office told of a "growing sense of panic" among some of the displaced populations who find themselves trapped by the ongoing violence and ethnic fault lines.
Deng Alor, minister of regional cooperation in the South Sudan government, said the reported aerial bombardments and killings of the past few days have infuriated SPLA forces in the north to the point where they may refuse the Mbeki-Menkerios ceasefire appeal.
"They are asking for a ceasefire, we are saying no, there are political issues that need to be addressed first, before you come and discuss ceasefire, even before ceasefire and security arrangements there are issues connected with the SPLA in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, their integration into the Sudanese Army," said Alor. "These things must precede the ceasefire."
South Kordofan will be north of the border when the south breaks away from Khartoum's rule on July 9. It contains most of the oil reserves that will be under Khartoum's control, though nearly three quarters of Sudan's oil reserves are in the south.
But much of the region's population remain sympathetic to the southern rebels who fought for independence from Khartoum. An estimated 40,000 SPLA soldiers are based there. Alor said the fate of those soldiers must take precedence over a ceasefire.
"It's unfortunate people are dying, but it's a situation created by [Sudanese President] Bashir," said Alor. "Bashir wanted to disarm 40,000 troops. He asked us to disarm them, more than 40,000 from Blue Nile, and hand them over to him. We told him there is no way we can disarm more than 40,000 troops."
U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged the Khartoum government to cease its military actions immediately. In a sign of growing U.S. concern about the South Kordofan violence, the president broadcast a message urging both sides to "live up to their responsibilities" to avoid a return to civil war.
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The Obama administration is defending the legality of its military mission in Libya. White House officials have sent lawmakers a report saying Congress does not need to approve the continuing operation in Libya because U.S. troops there are in a support role.
The administration has sent a 30+ page report to Congress. It rebuts objections from some lawmakers in both parties that continued U.S. involvement in the Libya mission, without a vote in Congress, violates the War Powers Resolution.
The act, passed in 1973, says military action is not expected to last more than 60 days unless Congress has either declared war, authorized the use of force, or extended the deadline. The resolution gives the president another 30 days to withdraw forces.
President Barack Obama notified Congress about the use of force on March 20, and some lawmakers say his legal authorization to have forces in Libya expires on June 20.
Shortly before the report was released Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters it would answer lawmakers' questions about the administration's actions.
"It will also include within it a legal analysis that explains our position that the president has acted in a manner that is consistent with the War Powers Resolution," said Carney. "And we believe that the support for the overall mission, the support for the goal of protecting Libyan civilians and holding Colonel Gadhafi accountable will continue."
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican John Boehner, has warned that President Obama will be violating the resolution if the president does not seek authorization for the Libya mission from Congress this week.
While the administration has held numerous meetings with lawmakers since the operation began, Speaker Boehner has said those do not satisfy the letter or spirit of the law.
Boehner had called in 1995 for the repeal of the War Powers Resolution.
Without mentioning Boehner by name, White House spokesman Jay Carney said some lawmakers who earlier called for the act to be overturned are now demanding that the president obey it.
"The material that has been written and testified to about this could fill this room, over the years," he said. "I would point out that there have been some expressions on the [Capitol] Hill about this issue that are inconsistent with expressions in the past about the constitutionality of the War Powers Resolution, and I think that, if nothing else, testifies to the fact that there is a lot of debate about it."
Mr. Obama's government also faces a lawsuit filed by 10 bipartisan members of Congress, led by anti-war Democrat Dennis Kucinich, which asserts that the administration does not have Congress' approval to continue the Libya mission.
A senior administration official said Wednesday the White House is not debating the resolution's constitutionality.
But the official said the United States is not engaged in what the law would consider hostilities. He said there has been no exchange of fire with hostile forces, no American troops on the ground, and little chance that the fighting will escalate.
Carney and other officials have said NATO and U.S. troops have successfully protected civilians from attacks by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's government forces, fulfilling United Nations Security Council resolution 1973.
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Pakistani intelligence officials say U.S. missile strikes have killed at least 15 militants in Pakistan's northwest tribal region.
Two of Wednesday's drone strikes hit a militant compound and a vehicle near Wana, the main town in the South Waziristan tribal area, along the Afghan border.
Officials say those killed are believed to have been allied with militant commander Maulvi Nazir, whose fighters are said to cross the border to attack U.S. and NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan.
Later on Wednesday, a third suspected U.S. drone strike hit neighboring North Waziristan, killing at least five suspected militants. The tribal area is a known sanctuary for Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants.
The United States has stepped up drone attacks since U.S. special forces killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden on May 2 in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.
U.S. officials have never publicly acknowledged the use of drones inside Pakistan, but have privately confirmed the strikes to various news outlets.
Pakistani leaders protest the attacks as a violation of the country's sovereignty, but Pakistani intelligence is believed to provide the U.S. information for the strikes.
U.S. officials say the missile strikes have severely weakened al-Qaida's leadership.
Separately, Pakistani officials say armed men in Baluchistan have set fire to two NATO trucks carrying oil to neighboring Afghanistan. No one was injured. The attackers were not captured.
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The United States Wednesday acknowledged "challenges" in relations with Pakistan after a report that the government there has arrested informants who helped U.S. intelligence find Osama bin Laden. But the Obama administration says security cooperation with Pakistan remains in both countries' best interests.
The New York Times report about the arrest of CIA informants in the bin Laden case has spurred Congressional calls for closer scrutiny of U.S. aid to Pakistan.
But U.S. spokesmen are stressing the continued value of engagement with, and aid to, Pakistan, and saying the Obama administration is committed to working through what they term challenges in the relationship.
The New York Times quoted U.S. officials as saying Pakistan has arrested informants, including a Pakistani army major, who fed the CIA information that led to the May 2 U.S. military raid near Islamabad that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
Pakistan has denied that any army officer had been detained but said there have been arrests after the raid and that those held are under investigation.
Administration spokesmen declined comment on the reported arrests. However at a Washington policy forum, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said, without elaboration, that Pakistan had done "more than" arrest the informants, while lamenting leaks from a closed Senate intelligence briefing that apparently spurred the Times report.
At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney said U.S. relations with Pakistan are "complicated," but that anti-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan is vital to American interests.
State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner, meanwhile, said the parade of high-level U.S. visitors to Pakistan since the May 2 raid underlines the commitment of the two countries to "work through" their problems.
"I think we've been up-front about challenges in the relationship. But we've also been consistent in saying that Pakistan and the U.S. need each other," he said. "We need to work through these challenges, because it's in both of our long term, and short term frankly, interests to do so."
There were bipartisan expressions of concern from U.S. Congress members Wednesday about the New York Times report and earlier accounts of leaks of U.S.-provided intelligence by the Pakistani security apparatus that foiled raids on militant bomb factories along the Pakistani-Afghan border.
Senator Graham called the intelligence incidents "a dynamic" that is undermining Congressional support for Pakistani aid, and which must stop.
"After bin Laden, if you're listening in Pakistan, it is almost impossible for an American politician to continue to help Pakistan," he said. "The American people are so sour on this relationship. And having said that, as hard as I've been today on Pakistan, the worst thing we could do is abandon them. As long as there's some hope, I think we need to stay engaged."
At a Senate hearing, Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy called Pakistan only a "putative ally." He asked witnesses including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the military Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Admiral Mike Mullen how long the United States should go on supporting governments that "lie to us."
Mullen, among top U.S. officials to visit Islamabad in recent weeks, said Congressional criticism of Pakistan is valid but said walking away from the relationship will only harm U.S. interests.
"I don't push back on the challenge associated with it. Some of the criticism is more than warranted," he said. "Nobody's worked that harder than me, very frankly, with the [Pakistani] leadership. And it's a conscious decision I think that we have to make. And if we walk away from it, it's my view it'll be a much more dangerous place a decade from now, and we'll be back."
The New York Times said the CIA gave Pakistan low marks on counter-terrorism cooperation at last week's closed Senate briefing.
But a spokeswoman for CIA director Leon Panetta said he had "productive" meetings last week in Islamabad on issues raised following the bin Laden raid, and that the U.S.-Pakistan partnership is crucial.
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Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou says he will form a new government Thursday and immediately ask for a vote of confidence in parliament, after coalition talks with the opposition fell apart.
Papandreou made his announcement on television Wednesday following a day of violent protests against plans for more spending cuts and tax hikes.
The prime minister did not specify exactly how he will reshuffle his Cabinet. But he said he plans to continue along the same road, calling it his duty.
While thousands of Greeks marched in Athens and Thessaloniki, the prime minister and opposition conservatives failed to agree on a new coalition government.
Papandreou said a consensus on his economic plans is needed for Greece to get the next vital installment of a $160 billion loan from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
But many in the opposition and some in his own Socialist Party oppose his package of billions of dollars in spending cuts along with higher taxes and selling off many state-own assets.
Ordinary Greeks are also livid that they are being asked to make more sacrifices.
Wednesday's protest in Athens' Syntagma Square turned violent when riot police fired tear gas at thousands of demonstrators who threw stones and fire bombs. At least 40 people were injured. Some protesters tried to form a human chain around parliament to prevent debate on the austerity program. Police set up barricades to allow lawmakers to enter the building. At least 16 people were arrested.
Major labor unions also staged a general strike Wednesday, crippling Greece's public transit, media and state-run hospitals.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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Senior U.S. diplomats are in Jerusalem to try to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that collapsed last year.
U.S. and Israeli officials confirmed the visit by Dennis Ross and David Hale Wednesday. It is the first time the pair has visited the region since U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell resigned last month after failing to renew negotiations between the two sides.
The U.S. State Department says the two envoys held meetings with Israeli officials Wednesday as part of the "ongoing U.S. effort to get the parties back to the negotiating table." Hale will meet with Palestinian officials Thursday in Ramallah.
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians stalled last September, partly due to Palestinian objections to Israeli settlement construction on land they want as part of a future state.
Israeli government officials announced plans last month to build about 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem, on land that Israel annexed after the 1967 war.
Last week, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Paris would move ahead with efforts to organize a Mideast peace conference in coming weeks despite reservations expressed by the U.S. and Israel.
Juppe told reporters at the United Nations headquarters in New York that France is still working on the initiative and expects "positive developments" in the next few weeks.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a cool response to the French plan, saying any new gathering must be linked to a willingness by the parties to resume talks.
Juppe said the conference could be critical to forestalling a crisis at the U.N. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he intends to seek recognition of Palestinian statehood at the U.N. General Assembly meeting in September, a move that both Israel and the U.S. say will only inflame tensions.
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Syria has rejected criticism from the Arab League about the crackdown on unrest in the member nation, and other league members are said to be at odds whether to suspend Damascus from the grouping.
Syria's envoy to the Arab League says the criticism of his country was unbalanced and shows an ignorance of what he called the "foreign plots" behind the unrest.
Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa this week said the league was angry about the situation in Syria, but he would not confirm a report that some members were seeking to suspend Syria's membership.
"We are following the situation in Syria with a lot of concern and there are a lot of consultations, phone calls from many Arab officials on this issue, but we have not received any official request for an urgent meeting - so far," Moussa said.
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Syria has reason to be wary of a suspension. In March, the league isolated Libya, then made the key recommendation for a U.N.-backed no-fly zone over the country. Though the Arab League quickly regretted the move, arguing NATO overstepped its mandate, the league remains an important regional voice in international decisions.
Yet only back in January, the 22-member group seemed to teeter on the brink of irrelevance. Headquartered just steps from Cairo's Tahrir Square - the focal point of Egypt's uprising, in spirit the league was far removed from the change demanded there. To the protesters in Egypt and across the region, the men inside the headquarter's marble halls represented exactly the stagnant, corrupt governments they rejected.
Egyptian columnist Fahmy Howeidi says a key to the disconnect can be seen in the group's official name - the League of Arab States, with no claim to represent the Arab people, especially those rising up in protest.
"They didn't talk about what happened in Bahrain. So you can imagine as long as the Arab League is representing the Arab governments and the Arab leaders, they will deal with all changes in the area in a very cautious way and indirect messages either positive or negative," said Howeidi.
That hesitancy has opened the door for potential rivals. The Gulf Cooperation Council has been active in league-member Yemen, mediating a still-unsigned transition deal between the opposition and the government.
Mounzer Sleiman is the director of the Washington-based Center for American and Arab Studies.
"There is a sign that maybe the GCC countries could expand their influence to be a kind of unofficial replacement of the Arab League and they will control the Arab official position," Sleiman said. "Of course, Saudi Arabia would like to play, utilizing its 'money influence' because they do not have political influence or military power to project in the region."
Syria offers a particular challenge for the Gulf-based GCC, and indeed for the Arab League. The country has a strong backer in Iran, rare among members of both alliances. Sleiman believes some figures in Saudi Arabia would like to see the current Syrian government not removed but weakened to a point it would seek help from the GCC, and in particular Riyadh. That's a scenario that could further undermine the Arab League. But Secretary General Moussa is upbeat about the group and the region's future.
"We are doing a lot. We are in the midst of those events and we believe and I believe that the change will be the order of the day," Moussa said. "This region and the Arab world is undergoing a major movement towards the future and the item is change, modernization. There will be no U turns on this."
He may have a rosier perspective than others in the group. He is leaving his post soon, and plans to run for president of Egypt - along with Tunisia the only countries to have fulfilled the immediate promise of the Arab Spring.
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The chief of NATO will discuss the alliance's operation in Libya with British leaders Wednesday, after NATO hit several targets in resumed airstrikes on the Libyan capital hours earlier.
Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague in London.
Earlier this week, the head of Britain's Royal Navy warned that his British fleet might not be able to sustain the scale of its operations off the Libyan coast in the long term without cutbacks elsewhere.
NATO airstrikes rocked the Libyan capital, Tripoli, late Tuesday after a brief layoff. Witnesses say they heard loud explosions in the center of Tripoli and saw plumes of smoke.
Libyan state media say the bombings hit civilian sites, and there were reports of casualties.
The Libyan capital and its surrounding areas have been the target of regular NATO airstrikes since the alliance started its military operation in Libya in March. Libyan rebels are trying to advance on Tripoli, as the coalition carries out attacks on forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
In recent days, rebels have advanced from the port city of Misrata toward Tripoli, breaking a government siege. Several rebel units have pushed the front lines west from Misrata to the outskirts of Zlitan, a neighboring town held by Gadhafi's forces.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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In defying the recently signed "Kampala Accord" and refusing to step down, Somali Prime Minister Mohammed Abdullahi Mohamed is riding an unprecedented wave of popular support in the war-torn country.
During the past week, thousands of Somalis have taken to the streets around the country, risking arrest by government forces to protest the recently-signed Kampala Accord.
The accord - mediated by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on June 9 - was meant to break the political deadlock between President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Speaker of Parliament Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden and establish a road map for national elections as well as a new constitution.
But on Somalia's streets, protesters are condemning a key provision of the deal cut by the two political rivals in Kampala: the resignation of Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed.
According to Rashid Abdi, a Somalia analyst for the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, the resignation of the prime minister was a key component in bringing the speaker of parliament to the table.
"This is a prime minister who was brought in by largely [President] Sharif and [Speaker] Sharif Hassan, was skeptical from the beginning, and found that the cabinet was largely drawn up without his input, and so there was no way in which he could have gotten the support of parliament for many of their programs without parliamentary support. So there was a feeling that unless you had a new prime minister who enjoys the support of the speaker, then you would not see this stability within the TFG," noted Abdi.
Mohamed has served as Somalia's prime minister for a little more than seven months, but in that time he has received praise from local and international observers for his straightforward approach and his desire to rise above Somalia's clan-based politics. Upon taking office, he trimmed down the Somali cabinet from 39 members to 18, appointing mainly technocrats and eschewing the clan-balancing formula used in previous administrations.
Abdi says it is no surprise the prime minister has seen such a show of support from Somalia's people. "This is a prime minister that probably has surprised many. He has achieved a few things. We have to be modest about these things in Somalia. He has not achieved a lot, but he has been much more energetic and much more proactive, I think, than the last prime minister," he said.
Since 2007, Somalia's U.N.-backed Transitional Federal Government has been battling al-Qaida-linked Islamist insurgent's al-Shabab for control of southern and central Somalia. The militant group has captured much of the region, including large parts of the capital, Mogadishu. But during the tenure of the current prime minister, the TFG has managed a small but significant rollback of Shabab forces in the Gedo and Dobley regions.
Government troops, supported by the African Union peacekeeping force AMISOM, have also closed in on Mogadishu's Bakara Market, seen as al-Shabab's stronghold in the city. Mohamed has also focused on improving the quality of life in Mogadishu.
According to Senior Advisor Abdirahman Omar Osman, the prime minister's emphasis on issues such as road repair, reopening public schools and the regular payment of soldiers and civil servants has given him unprecedented support among Somalia's people.
"This is a historic moment in Mogadishu and around the world. People are supporting government. The first time that we have seen, people are happy with the current prime minister, he is the most popular in this history, time," stated Osman.
The prime minister initially offered his resignation in order to help break the deadlock between President Ahmed and Speaker Aden, but the outpouring of public support has changed his position since returning from Kampala.
With the people on his side, it appears Mohamed is seeking to remain in office until the expiration of the government's mandate next August.
"He believes the right way is through the institutions and the (Kampala) accord to be presented to the parliament - the parliament to debate and discuss it. He also wants the parliament to consider the public concern and the public outcry," Osman said. "Our hope is that the parliament will consider all those points and debate it and will allow all institutions to continue their work for the next 12 months."
Somalia's Council of Ministers has expressed its support for the prime minister, but Mohamed's move could come at a cost. Should the Somali parliament approve his request to stay, it may derail international attempts to reconcile Speaker Aden with the president and move the country towards the fulfillment of its international mandate.
But the parliament may have no choice. Somalia's police are already being condemned for their crackdown on protesters, who are determined to march in support of Prime Minister Mohamed.
The Kampala Accord was envisioned as a deal to move the Somali government out of its transitional state and into a period of legitimate and functional democracy. It has been 20 years since the last functioning government administered Somalia, and if the deal falls through, it may be many more years until the next.
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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says African businesswomen need more access to credit.
As African economies work to attract more outside investment and expand cross-border trade, Clinton said there should be more of an effort to help the continent's businesswomen.
"No country can thrive when half its people are left behind," she said. "And the evidence is so persuasive. Small- and medium-sized enterprises run by women are major drivers of economic growth."
Benefitting children
During her trip to Africa this week, Clinton told business and government leaders that when women prosper financially, the benefits carry over to improvements in children's health and education.
"Women are holding up half the economy already," said the secretary of state. "Let's give them the opportunities to bring along all the rest of us with their hard work and their success. Because when a women prospers, she reinvests those earnings in her family and the positive ripple effects cross an entire community."
The Obama administration is spending $2 million this year and next to help fund the Zambia-based African Women's Entrepreneurship Program to help businesswomen connect with potential partners.
Creating opportunity
Clinton said breaking down barriers for African women means changing the environment in which they do business.
"In too many places, it is still too difficult for a woman to start a businesses," she said. "Cultural traditions may discourage her from handling money or managing employees. Complex regulations may make it hard for her to buy land or keep land or get a loan. She has to balance the needs of her own family and somehow overcome all of these barriers."
The African Development Bank says there is $19 billion in unmet demand for financing from women entrepreneurs - missed opportunities for both financial institutions and local economies hungry for the jobs that small- and medium-sized businesses create.
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Two South African legal groups have launched a court application to challenge, on constitutional grounds, a decision by President Jacob Zuma to extend the term of the country's chief justice.
The South African constitution limits constitutional court judges to a 12-year term of office and requires an act of parliament to change this. However, last week President Zuma announced he would extend the tenure of Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo by five years, through August 2016. Zuma relied on a section of the law that governs the remuneration of judges to do so.
Since then constitutional experts have argued the president does not have the legal right to extend the judicial terms of office, and that the law governing remuneration of judges is unconstitutional in that respect.
The president has countered that Chief Justice Ngcobo is an excellent chief justice and that the country continues to need his services.
Raylene Keightley is director at the Center for Applied Legal Studies, one of the two groups, along with the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution, challenging Mr. Zuma's decision. She says that in the interests of judicial independence, the president should never have the power to extend a chief justice's term.
"So even if the president's intentions were good, or were they to be bad, and we don't suggest that in this case, it does illustrate why the executive should not have the power to extend, and why the constitution expressly states that," she said.
The president's announcement has also caused a flood of speculation about the reasons for his decision. In 2008, as a regular judge of the constitutional court, Justice Ngcobo authored the single dissenting opinion in a case in which the court ruled that corruption charges against Zuma should stand. Keightley says that even though there has never been any question about the chief justice's integrity as a judge, this kind of speculation can affect the standing of the country's highest court.
"But it may potentially undermine the administration of justice, if these uncertainties and these kinds of discussions are allowed to prevail, and for that reason we think it is important, even where we have by all accounts a good chief justice, it is important to challenge the underlying legislation that allows this process of appointment, to ensure that the administration of justice is preserved and is in line with the constitution," said Keightley.
There is a growing sentiment among South Africans that President Zuma's administration too easily overlooks constitutional principles or attaches too little importance to them. Keightley says this is why it is so important for civil society organizations to use the courts or other means to ensure government decisions pass the test of the constitution.
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has urged Central Asian nations to create a new world order that ends the domination of what he called the "enslavers and colonizers of the past" - a reference to Western powers.
Ahmadinejad was speaking Wednesday at the opening of a regional summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the Kazakh capital, Astana. Addressing the summit as an observer, he said all of the participating nations have a history of avoiding conflicts and together can bring peace to the world.
The SCO is a regional security and economic forum whose members include China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Several nations participate as observers, including Iran, India, Pakistan and Mongolia.
The Iranian president used much of his summit speech to blame unnamed Western countries for global instability. After the summit, Russia says President Dmitry Medvedev urged Mr. Ahmadinejad to take a "more constructive approach" in resolving a dispute with six world powers about the Iranian nuclear program.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Mr. Medvedev also called on the Iranian president to improve the transparency of his contacts with the United Nations nuclear agency. The Russian president made the appeals in a three-way meeting with Ahmadinejad and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Six major powers, Russia, China, the United States, Britain, France and Germany, have been trying to persuade Iran to stop sensitive nuclear work in return for diplomatic incentives, but the talks have been stalled for months.
In private talks ahead of the summit Tuesday, Chinese President Hu Jintao also urged Ahmadinejad to resume the six-nation talks, saying Iranian steps to establish trust and promote dialogue would be in the interest not only of Iran but of the Middle East as a whole.
Western powers accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian energy program. Lavrov says Ahmadinejad told his Russian counterpart that Iran has no intention of becoming nuclear-armed.
During Wednesday's summit, Russia appeared to win support from other SCO members for its criticism of U.S. plans for a missile defense shield in Europe. In a declaration, the bloc said the "unilateral and unlimited" build-up of missile defense systems by one state or narrow group of states could "damage" global security.
The declaration did not mention any nation specifically. The United States has said its proposed European missile defense shield is meant to protect the region from potential attack by Iranian missiles. But Russia fears the system will weaken its nuclear deterrent.
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The European Union has voiced its "profound dissatisfaction" with Russia for keeping in place a ban on vegetable imports from Europe due to the deadly E. coli outbreak in Germany.
EU officials said Wednesday the Russian ban is disproportionate and now unjustified, since the source of E. coli contamination has been found - a localized problem around the city of Hamburg in northern Germany.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said last week his government would lift the ban as soon as the EU provides documents certifying the vegetables are safe. But experts from both sides have yet to agree on what sort of certification Russia will accept.
Vegetable farmers across Europe say they have suffered immense damages due to the outbreak, which has killed at least 38 people and sickened more than 3,200 others. All but one of the deaths and most of the infections have occurred in Germany.
Death of the first child killed by the E. coli outbreak was reported on Tuesday. However, German public health officials say the number of new infections has dropped significantly in the last week.
German authorities have identified vegetable sprouts grown by an organic farm in northern Germany as the source of the E. coli. Health officials initially had blamed cucumbers and other vegetables from Spain for the deadly outbreak, then shifted responsibility to other European countries.
The market for European produce plummeted as a result, and produce costing millions of dollars was left to rot in fields and warehouses.
E. coli symptoms include somach cramps, diarrhea, fever and vomiting. Severe infections can result in a form of kidney failure that is fatal.
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A new report from The World Bank predicts that China's renminbi will join the U.S dollar and the euro as dominant international currencies sometime in the next 10 to 15 years. Some economists say is a major realignment in the global economic order, with developing countries playing a more dominant role.
The World Bank reportMultipolarity: The New Global Economy focuses on the growing economic power and influence of leading emerging markets that include China, India, Brazil, South Korea, Russia and Indonesia and several other developing countries.
Half of economic growth
Mansoor Dailami, a senior economist at the World Bank says by 2025 those countries could account for about one half of all global economic growth.
Dailami says a major indicator of the country's future economic growth is the number of companies that invest and do business abroad. He says between 1997 and 2010 the bank identified 10,000 companies from developing countries involved in cross-border transactions.
"That you see more and more companies from India, from China, from Indonesia, from South Africa, from Brazil, from Mexico, these companies are venturing outside in terms of the production, in terms of the investment, in terms of their financing. In short these companies are becoming multinationals," Dailami explained.
Prominent role
Of the emerging economies, he says China is posed to play the most prominent role in setting global economic policies. Dailami says China is already taking steps to make the renminbi a dominant international currency like the U.S. dollar and the euro.
"It's a way of China diversifying its huge amount of foreign exchange risk. Right now China as I say is the second largest economy, the largest exports in the world, but China borrows and lends in a foreign currency, not its own currency," Dailami said.
Reserves
He says China holds $3 trillion in currency reserves and as the dollar continues to drop in value, so too does the value of China's reserves. Establishing the renminbi as an international currency that reflects China's strong economic position, could protect it and other countries from fluctuations in the stagnant economies of Europe and America.
The renminbi is not presently an international currency in part because China does not allow it to be converted at free market rates.
But Dailami says Beijing is moving in that direction by increasingly using renminbi in international transactions and by allowing an off shore market in Hong Kong to issue bonds and banks loans in Chinese currency.
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Troops from northern and southern Sudan have reportedly clashed in the disputed Abyei region, as talks to ease tensions between the sides continue in Ethiopia.
A southern army spokesman, Philip Aguer, says the sides exchanged fire Wednesday on the Bahr al-Arab River, also known as the Kiir River, when northern troops tried to cross a bridge.
Aguer said there were casualties but did not say whether anyone was killed.
There was no immediate comment from north Sudan officials.
The African Union is hosting talks in Addis Ababa designed to end violence along Sudan's north-south border as the south gets set to declare independence next month.
The AU said Monday the sides had agreed in principle to demilitarize Abyei, which the north occupied last month. But VOA's Peter Heinlein, who is present at the talks, reports that deal appears to be unraveling.
Meanwhile, officials say a joint U.N.-African Union mission will head to Sudan's Southern Kordofan state Thursday in an effort to bring a halt to heavy fighting there.
The U.N. humanitarian affairs office says fighting between the northern army and local pro-southern fighters in Southern Kordofan has displaced 60,000 people.
VOA's Heinlein reports the mission to Southern Kordofan will be led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki, who heads a high-level AU panel on Sudan, and the U.N. secretary-general's special representative to Sudan, Haile Menkerios.
U.S. President Barack Obama has called on the north Sudanese government to stop what he called its "campaign of intimidation" along the north-south border.
In an audio message aired by VOA late Tuesday, Mr. Obama said the leaders of both north and south Sudan must live up to their responsibilities and agree to end the violence. If they flout their obligations, Mr. Obama said they will face international pressure and isolation and will be held accountable for their actions.
Statement by President Obama:
Both north and south Sudan claim ownership of Abyei. The dispute there and in Southern Kordofan has raised fears of a renewed war in Sudan as the south prepares to declare independence July 9.
North and south Sudan fought a 21-year war that ended with a 2005 peace deal. The south voted overwhelmingly to split from the north in a referendum in January.
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Pakistani Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas Wednesday rejected the story that first appeared in the New York Times. But another official admits there have been arrests in connection to the May 2 raid on bin Laden's hideout in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.
Military spokesman Brigadier General Syed Azmat Ali tells VOA several people have been detained though he refused to clarify the charges against them. The New York Times said Wednesday that a Pakistani army major was one of five people detained by Pakistan's spy agency. The U.S. newspaper said he had recorded the license plate numbers of cars visiting bin Laden's house and gave that information to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
It said the other four detainees had also worked as U.S. informants.
U.S. officials told the newspaper CIA Director Leon Panetta asked about the detained informants during meetings with military and intelligence officials in Pakistan last week. The fate of the detainees is not clear.
A CIA spokeswoman said the agency has a strong relationship with its Pakistani counterparts and works through issues when they arise.
Still, the detentions have sparked anger in Washington.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina Wednesday questioned Pakistan's willingness and ability to fight terrorists. He also told reporters that it is "almost impossible for an American politician to continue to help Pakistan."
Relations between Washington and Islamabad have been tense since commandos raided bin Laden's hideout near Islamabad and killed the al-Qaida leader.
Some members of Congress have threatened to withdraw the close to $4 billion in annual U.S. aid to Pakistan.
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In Greece, two major unions went on strike and tens of thousands of people took to the streets on Wednesday. It is a public protest against government plans to toughen the country's austerity measures and save the country from financial ruin.
More than 20,000 people took to the streets of Athens, and in Thessaloniki in northern Greece, another estimated 20,000.
They were protesting against government plans to raise taxes and cut spending.
The demonstrations were mostly peaceful, but in the capital, at the Syntagma Square outside parliament, riot police fired tear gas at a group of protestors who were armed with petrol bombs.
Inside parliament, lawmakers debated the controversial new austerity package worth around $40 billion that is causing major public discontent.
One young Greek told reporters that something has to be done to reverse the government plans.
She says at 25 years old, she does not know what will happen to her future. She says she is very angry about the situation.
But the Greek government is struggling to come up with a way to balance the country's spiraling debt problems.
Loans to Greece from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund are conditional upon this new austerity package. And Greece is dependent on its creditors. If the EU and the IMF do not deliver on a rescue package, Greece will have to default on its debts -- a situation that would have repercussions across the European Union.
But European governments have their own problems to worry about, not least tax-paying voters who are not happy about bailing out the Greek economy.
Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners in London, says EU nations have to pull together to keep the Greek economy afloat.
"If the European Central Bank cannot help the ailing situation of certain members, then what is the point of having the euro?" asked Wheeldon. "This situation and that of other countries who have run into trouble, or may yet run into trouble, has to be dealt with in a concerted manner by the government of the rest."
Part of Wednesday's action was organized by two Greek unions who went on a 24-hour strike and organized public marches. Similar events have turned violent in the past; just last month, three clerks died after their bank was hit with firebombs.
And it is not just public protest that the leading Socialist Party has to worry about. On Tuesday, a government deputy defected, narrowing the government's majority in parliament.
Wheeldon says it is a volatile situation, but Greece and the European Union will get through it.
"We will get through [this] crisis. If Greece is to default, or does default, which it probably will at some point, it's not going to bring the euro down and it's certainly not going to bring the EU down," Wheeldon said.
The Greek austerity package is to be voted on later this month.
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Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, says his country is still struggling with the debilitating effects of the global economic crisis, but expects Russia's economy to fully recover by next year. Putin presented his views on the economy, labor and social rights at the 100th session of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Conference. He is the first head of the Russian government to address the ILO Conference.
Putin, says Russia has managed to retrieve about two-thirds of its lost economy. But, he acknowledges his country has not yet reached pre-crisis levels and has much to do before the economy fully recovers.
Putin says he expects this to happen by next year. He added that Russia currently is working on post-crisis development strategies.
"We have put forth an ambitious goal in the next decade to make Russia one of the five largest economies of the world," Putin said. "And, as for GDP per capita, to increase this figure from $19,700 to more than $35,000 per capita, per person. But, to do this, we need to increase the productivity two times …and in non-raw material, high-tech sphere three or four fold."
For the economy to move ahead, Prime Minister Putin says it is critical to eliminate inefficient jobs. He says his government plans to create 25 million high tech, highly paid modern jobs and to modernize and streamline existing jobs over the next 10 to 15 years.
He admits the scale of this enterprise is huge and daunting. He notes 70 million people work in Russia. That means every third job in the nation has to be modernized.
Putin says Russia will not shirk its social responsibilities. He says it is essential to protect the poorest and most vulnerable members of society in the drive to improve the business environment and to increase profits.
"We will not retreat from our social commitments," added Putin. "We will not increase the already existing 40-hour working week. We will not compromise on safety and environmental standards. In dynamic and economic growth innovations and modernizations are not important themselves. They need to create new opportunities for people, to increase salaries …and improve the quality of life."
The Russian prime minister says people should be the focus and the center of this development strategy. He says their fundamental rights and freedoms must not be violated in the search for economic growth.
He says one of the basic lessons drawn from the global economic crisis is the responsibilities States have in protecting the rights and the welfare of their citizens. Putin calls this a social mission and appeals to all States, businesses, international, political and financial organizations to live up to these responsibilities.
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