Political unrest is causing British holidaymakers to switch away from the "Costa del Kasbah" destinations of Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey, it has been revealed.

Instead, UK tourists are taking more trips to traditional favourites such as France, Italy and Spain, according to an analysis of nearly five million holidays by the Co-operative Travel company.

Bookings are 30% down to Egypt, 16% down to Tunisia and 11% down to Turkey, while Morocco, where bookings started the year strongly, has seen a 53% dip in recent weeks.

In contrast, France is up 31%, Italy up 15%, Spain has risen by 11% and Portugal is up 7%.

Co-operative Travel said cost as well as security concerns were a factor in choice of destination for Britons.

The company's managing director Mike Greenacre said: "The cost factor is best highlighted by the numbers of people switching between Turkey and Greece.

"Turkey hasn't experienced the problems faced by the other METT (Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey) destinations, but seems to be suffering because people are comparing average prices to Greece, which is seen as offering a very similar type of holiday."

He went on: "In recent weeks we've seen prices tumble for certain destinations as operators look to fill excess capacity. For example, people booking now for a summer holiday in Turkey are paying an average of £567 per person, which is 12% less than earlier in the season. This is a huge saving; a reduction of £312 for a family of four."

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces signed a management contract with JK Hotels, a private Moroccan company, to operate Taj Palace Marrakech.

The hotel is set to launch in autumn 2011. The opening will increase Taj’s international portfolio to 17 hotels, including the Taj Cape Town, which opened in 2010. The Marrakech property has 161 guestrooms, including 25 Grand Suites and one Royal Suite. The hotel is designed to offer top-tier luxury, with panoramic views of the Atlas Mountains and palm gardens of the lush Palmeraie district.

American designer Stuart Church, known as an Orientalist, is responsible for the interiors and architectural design, which reflects the ornate traditional styles of Morocco. The rooms take on a diverse style, drawing inspiration from the aristocratic Berber Kasbahs of Morocco, as well as from Ottoman architecture, and other Oriental and Indian influences.

Taj Palace Marrakech will feature several restaurants and bars serving a range of cuisine from Moroccan specialties to the flavors of Mediterranean and Asian cuisine. The hotel will also have a 40,000-square-feet Jiva Grande Spa, with 14 treatment rooms for Ayurveda and other India and African-inspired treatments, two large hammams and a state-of-the-art fitness center with Technogym equipment.

Both Arab and African, Marrakech is the heartbeat of Morocco, where palaces and monuments sit alongside Gnaoua drums pulsing constantly from the Jemaah el Fna Square -- one of the most lively marketplaces in the world. The hotel will be located at the foothills of the majestic Atlas Mountains, where guests can explore Moroccan villages, different cultures and the scenic valleys. Marrakech is easily accessible from all major international locations and Taj Palace Marrakech is located just 30 minutes from the international airport.

Established in 1903, Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces is one of Asia's largest hotel groups of hotels, comprising 92 hotels in 53 locations across India with an additional 17 international hotels in the Maldives, Malaysia, Australia, the U.K., the U.S., Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Africa and the Middle East.

RAF jets were among Nato forces which struck a command and control centre where Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi sometimes lives.

The alliance said the dictator was not a target and there was no way of knowing whether he was there at the time of the raid.
RAF Typhoons were among the aircraft that used precision guided weapons in Libya to bring down guard towers along the walls of the Bab Al Aziziyah complex in the centre of Tripoli in the early hours.
The Chief of Defence Staff's spokesman, Major General John Lorimer, said: "For decades, Colonel Gaddafi has hidden from the Libyan people behind these walls, spreading terror and crushing opposition.
"The massive compound has not just been his home but is also a major military barracks and headquarters and lies at the heart of his network of secret police and intelligence agencies.
"Last night's action sends a powerful message to the regime's leadership and to those involved in delivering Colonel Gaddafi's attacks on civilians that they are no longer hidden away from the Libyan people behind high walls."

 

Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi is shuttling between Tripoli’s hospitals to elude nighttime raids by NATO jets

Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi is shuttling between Tripoli’s hospitals to elude nighttime raids by NATO jets, a European government official said.
Qaddafi is moving between the hospitals because he knows North Atlantic Treaty Organization aircraft won’t bomb them, the official said, citing intelligence on the ground. He declined to be named because the information is not in the public domain.
Senior commanders in Qaddafi’s forces have also stopped using mobile phones because of concerns that their conversations are being intercepted by French, British and U.S. intelligence, limiting the regime’s top ranks from communicating effectively, the official said. The intelligence has been gleaned over the past week, he said.
Allied forces have intensified their attacks on the Qaddafi regime this week, and President Barack Obama and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron vowed yesterday to step up the pressure on him. NATO said May 20 its increased air campaign in support of anti-Qaddafi rebels has “effectively” pushed the Libyan leader into hiding. British ministers have given approval in principle to deploy Apache attack helicopters, a U.K. official said today.

UK clears attack helicopters to join Libya campaign

Britain has said its helicopters can fly sorties over Libya as it seeks to raise the pressure on Muammar Gaddafi to step aside, British officials said on Thursday.

French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet said on Monday that Britain would start deploying attack helicopters in Libya along with France as part of NATO's operation there.

However, Britain had not confirmed that until now. British ministers gave clearance in principle for the use of Apache helicopters on Thursday and NATO could now call on them.

Gaddafi, in power for 41 years, was "on the run" and spending each night in a different hospital to try to shield himself from NATO bombings, British diplomatic sources said.

They provided no evidence and it was not possible to obtain independent corroboration for the allegation. Reporters in Tripoli have seen Libyan civilians gathered at government facilities, declaring their willingness to defend Gaddafi.

 

Libyan rebels clash with Sudanese mercenaries

- Libyan rebels clashed Wednesday with Sudanese mercenaries fighting for Moammar Gadhafi near the border with Sudan, as President Barack Obama predicted the Libyan leader would be forced to step down if NATO keeps up its military campaign with the U.S. playing a key role.
Speaking at a news conference in London, Obama said the U.S.-led NATO coalition was engaged in "a slow, steady process...

 

Syrian site reportedly bombed by Israel in 2007 was "very likely" to have been a nuclear reactor,

Syrian site reportedly bombed by Israel in 2007 was "very likely" to have been a nuclear reactor, the UN atomic agency said in a report that could pave the way for Damascus to be referred to the UN Security Council next month.

The confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) threw independent weight behind U.S. allegations that Syria was secretly building a reactor at the Dair Alzour site in the desert, possibly with military aims.

It was obtained by Reuters on Tuesday, a day after the European Union imposed sanctions on Syrian President Bashar Assad and other senior officials, raising pressure on his government to end weeks of violence against protesters.

Syrian activists say more than 1,000 civilians have been killed in a crackdown on demonstrators opposing Assad's rule.

The West has become increasingly frustrated over what is seen as Syria's stonewalling of an IAEA probe into Dair Alzour, which U.S. intelligence reports said was a nascent North Korean-designed reactor intended to make bomb fuel.

Syria, an ally of Iran, denies harboring a nuclear weapons program and says the IAEA should focus on Israel instead because of its undeclared nuclear arsenal.

" ... the agency assesses that it was very likely that the building destroyed at Dair Alzour site was a nuclear reactor which should have been declared to the agency," the IAEA said.

The report suggested it may have been a gas-cooled graphite moderated reactor -- a model found also in North Korea, whose nuclear weapons ambitions have drawn punitive UN measures.

The Vienna-based UN body had previously said there were indications nuclear activity may have taken place at the site.

The United States and its European allies are expected to seize on the report's finding to push for a decision by the IAEA's 35-nation board, meeting on June 6-10, to report the Syrian nuclear issue to the UN Security Council.

Syria under pressure

"The report provides the IAEA's conclusion that Syria was constructing a covert nuclear reactor, and we believe that reactor was designed to produce plutonium for possible use in nuclear weapons," a Western diplomat said.

But some non-Western envoys have expressed skepticism about any such step by the IAEA board, saying that whatever Syria did at Dair Alzour it was now in the past.

The board has the power to refer countries to the Security Council if they are judged to have violated IAEA rules -- designed to make sure atom technology is not diverted for military aims -- by carrying out secret nuclear work.

It reported Iran to the Security Council in 2006 over its failure to dispel suspicions that it was trying to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran has since been hit with four rounds of UN sanctions over its refusal to curb sensitive nuclear work.

Saying Dair Alzour was a military, non-nuclear site, Syria has for nearly three years refused to allow UN inspectors to revisit the site, after a one-off inspection in 2008.

"The agency regrets that Syria has not cooperated since June 2008 in connection with the unresolved issues related to the Dair Alzour site," the IAEA report said.

Western diplomats say Syria's rejections of repeated requests for follow-up access risk undermining the IAEA and the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that underpins its work to prevent the spread of atom bombs, if nothing is done.

"It was a long time coming but I think it is a positive step," Paul Brannan, a senior analyst of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), said about the IAEA's report.

U.S. invites Libyan rebel council to open D.C. office

A top envoy from the U.S. State Department announced Tuesday that Libya’s rebel government would open an office in Washington, the latest indication that the United States views the rebels as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.

Hours earlier, the Libyan capital of Tripoli shook with at least 15 massive explosions, as NATO launched its largest airstrike to date on the heart of Moammar Gaddafi’s regime. The overnight bombings appeared concentrated on Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli. NATO said in a statement that it had struck a vehicle storage facility adjacent to the compound.

“This facility is known to have been active ... resupplying the regime forces that have been conducting attacks against innocent civilians,” NATO said.

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said NATO had targeted the headquarters of the military reserves, killing at least three people and injuring dozens. He said the casualties would have been higher except that the government had emptied the headquarters, expecting that it would be hit. Still, he said, “we’ve never had such an injured number of people.”

Gaddafi was still alive, Ibrahim said.

Flashes lighted up the Tripoli sky near the compound, followed by explosions and shock waves that shook windows at a hotel a mile away. Antiaircraft gunfire punctuated the quiet between the strikes, and an acrid smell filled the air.

 

Egypt's ousted President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons are to be tried over the deaths of anti-government protesters

Egypt's ousted President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons are to be tried over the deaths of anti-government protesters, judicial officials say.

Mr Mubarak, who was ousted in February, is being detained at a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

He and his wife also face allegations of illegally acquiring wealth while they were in power for 30 years.

The couple's two sons, Alaa and Gamal, are being held in Cairo's Tora prison and also face fraud charges.

The three men have been charged with "premeditated murder of some participants in the peaceful protests of the 25 January revolution," the country's state news agency reported the prosecutor general as saying.

More than 800 people died in the weeks-long crackdown that preceded Mr Mubarak's departure.

The charges come after renewed calls for protests on Friday to demand the trial of the Mubarak family as well as the lifting of emergency law.


Hosni Mubarak and his sons Gamal and Alaa are accused of planning the killing of protesters in the revolution that began on 25 January. The aim, according to the accusation was to kill some and to intimidate others.

The former president is accused of accepting gifts, including a palace and four villas at the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. He is also accused of conspiring with businessman Hussein Salem, who has also been charged, to sell gas cheaply to Israel and thus defraud the Egyptian government of many millions of dollars.

According to one report, a medical team is now visiting Mr Mubarak at the hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh to see if he is well enough to travel to Cairo - either to be moved to hospital in the capital or into the prison where his two sons are already being held.

Egypt's military-led administration appears to be responding to public pressure to bring the former first family to trial, says the BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo.

Ryanair called for restrictions on airlines to be lifted after it claimed to have flown a plane safely though the thickest part of the volcanic ash cloud.

The airline said it strongly objected to the disruption under orders from the Irish Aviation Authority which saw flights cancelled at Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
Ryanair said it had completed a one-hour ''verification flight'' up to 41,000ft in Scottish airspace this morning.
The aircraft took off from Glasgow Prestwick, flew to Inverness, on to Aberdeen and down to Edinburgh.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for the airline said: ''There was no visible volcanic ash cloud or any other presence of volcanic ash and the post-flight inspection revealed no evidence of volcanic ash on the airframe, wings or engines.
''The absence of any volcanic ash in the atmosphere supports Ryanair's stated view that there is no safety threat to aircraft in this mythical 'red zone', which is another misguided invention by the UK Met Office and the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority).

 

The chief of Libya’s oil ministry fled to Tunisia over the weekend,

The chief of Libya’s oil ministry fled to Tunisia over the weekend, the Tunisian interior ministry said Tuesday, in a high-level defection that appeared to further isolate the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

Shukri Ghanem at a news conference in early March.
The minister, Shukri Ghanem, the chairman of Libya’s National Oil Corporation and a former prime minister, arrived in Tunisia on Saturday, according to Néji Zairi, a spokesman for the Tunisian Interior Ministry.

In Tripoli, Moussa Ibrahim, the chief government spokesman, said that Mr. Ghanem had been in Tunisia “on official business,” and that the government had lost touch with him since he left the capital over the weekend.

But Mr. Ibrahim added that the government’s struggle against a rebel uprising “doesn’t depend on individuals, even if they are high-ranking officials,” appearing to suggest that the Qaddafi government knew that Mr. Ghanem had defected. Moussa Koussa, who was the foreign minister, defected in March. .

NATO airstrikes, meanwhile, continued to pound targets around the capital. News agencies also reported rockets landing across the Libyan border in southern Tunisia, near a desert area where Qaddafi forces and rebels have clashed.

There have been growing signs that the air strikes are wearing down the government’s ability to fight. With no air defenses, Tripoli has resorted to a propaganda campaign asserting that NATO has killed thousands of innocent civilians.

But that campaign has faltered, with the government’s tours of the sites of airstrikes in Tripoli failing to show convincingly that there have been any significant numbers of civilian casualties.

That failure has fed a growing sense of frustration among officials, who have seemed determined to convey that NATO is engaged, not in a campaign to degrade the Qaddafi government’s fighting ability, but in willful brutality against ordinary Libyans.

On Monday, officials tied to the Qaddafi government threatened to post “human shields” at telecommunications sites under threat of NATO bombing, borrowing a page from Saddam Hussein’s old playbook.

The statement followed warnings from Britain’s top general, who was quoted as saying that NATO would have to broaden its bombing campaign to include infrastructure targets in Libya to prevent Colonel Qaddafi from “clinging to power.”

Barely 36 hours after The Sunday Telegraph in London published its interview with Gen. Sir David Richards, Britain’s chief of the defense staff, foreign reporters in Tripoli were summoned to a news conference at which Libyan telecommunication officials announced that they would deploy human shields.

The use of human shields was a major feature of Iraq’s response to Western threats of military force after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Mr. Hussein had Western businessmen taken to oil installations and other potential targets around Baghdad, but most were released under diplomatic pressure before the brief war that ousted the Iraqis from Kuwait in 1991.

The most explicit warning that human shields could be used in Libya came from Mohammed Almaremi, the chief of one of Libya’s two cellphone companies, both controlled by Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, Colonel Qaddafi’s son and, until the rebel uprising, his expected political heir.

Mr. Almaremi said that 20,000 employees of Libyana, one of the companies, would disperse to telecommunications sites along with 20,000 members of their families, to remain there as long as the bombing continued.

“We will be human shields to face any aggression,” he said.

Mohammed ben Ayad, head of the Libyan telecommunications authority, said NATO attacks had already destroyed large parts of the country’s telecommunications network, disrupting hospitals, schools and other civilian enterprises.

Mr. Ayad said the network, one of the most advanced in the Arab world, had already suffered more than $1 billion in damage from NATO raids. In a PowerPoint display, he pinpointed areas that had taken the heaviest hits, including several in and near Surt, Colonel Qaddafi’s hometown, on the Mediterranean coast.

“From now on, employees and their families will act as human armor to protect these locations,” one slide said in English.

Some of the anger that Qaddafi loyalists have directed at the West since NATO began its airstrikes in March has drawn on a belief that Colonel Qaddafi made major efforts to prove himself a friend of the West in the past decade. He abandoned Libya’s programs to develop nuclear and chemical weapons, and opened the country to a rush of Western investment in oil, telecommunications and other sectors.

The net was closing on Colonel Gaddafi yesterday as Nato was urged to intensify its bombing campaign while prosecutors prepared to hunt him down for war crimes.

General Sir David Richards, the head of the Armed Forces, said the international coalition must be allowed to attack a wider range of targets and ‘tighten the vice’ on Gaddafi.

The general spoke as it was reported that the dictator was using children as human shields by building a playground on top of a command bunker in his capital, Tripoli.A carousel in the playground built above one of Col Gaddafi's bunkers in Tripoli

Pressure was also growing on him  as it emerged an international warrant for his arrest could be issued as early as today.

I'm in a place where you can't get me: Gaddafi taunts the West in defiant audio recording
Prosecutors want the International Criminal Court to release warrants for the capture of three Libyan leaders – including Gaddafi – over the murder, torture and brutal repression of anti-government forces. Judges in The Hague will study 74 pages of evidence, including testimony from Gaddafi’s own officials on the atrocities committed by his regime.
Gaddafi could be tried for war crimes

An arrest warrant would complicate any plans for him to go into exile. Instead, he would be forced to choose one of two options: fight to the end, or go into hiding.

The Nato alliance has been  bombing Libya for almost two months under a UN mandate authorising the use of force to protect civilians.

There are growing fears the conflict could become mired in a stalemate if the coalition is only allowed to attack targets posing a direct threat to the population, such as tanks and artillery. 

Gen Richards, the Chief of the Defence Staff, insisted Gaddafi himself was not a target – but it would be ‘within the rules’ if he was killed in a strike on a command and control centre.

‘We now have to tighten the vice to demonstrate to Gaddafi that the game is up and he must go,’ he said. ‘If we do not up the ante now there is a risk that the conflict could result in Gaddafi clinging to power.

‘At present, Nato is not attacking infrastructure targets in Libya. But if we want to increase the pressure on Gaddafi’s regime then we need to give serious consideration to increasing the range of targets.’

Last night the coalition was investigating Libyan state media reports that up to 11 clerics had been killed in a bombing raid on the eastern oil town of Brega.

In the last week alone, Nato has destroyed 149 military buildings, 24 ammunition dumps and 20 armoured vehicles.

Defence Secretary Liam Fox told the BBC1’s Politics Show: ‘It’s acceptable to destroy the tanks and military vehicles of Gaddafi if they’re directly threatening the civilian population.

‘It’s legitimate to degrade the command and control and intelligence networks of the regime which are used to control those forces.’

However, the pressure mounting against Gaddafi risked being eased by Baroness Amos, the former Labour minister who is now the UN’s humanitarian chief.

Demanding a halt in the conflict to help civilians, she told Radio 4’s The World This Weekend: ‘They are the ones who are bearing the brunt of this fighting.’

Tunisian security forces on Sunday arrested two people suspected of being members of al Qaeda

Tunisian security forces on Sunday arrested two people suspected of being members of al Qaeda near the Libyan border who were carrying an explosives belt, several bombs and led authorities to a weapons stash in the mountains.

The men, thought to be members of al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM), were arrested near Ramada in the south of the country, a security source told Reuters.

Arab and Western officials have warned al Qaeda could be exploiting the Libyan conflict to acquire weapons and smuggle them into other countries.

The men were carrying Afghan identity papers and were of Libyan and Algerian origin, the source told Reuters, adding that they were also connected to two men arrested in Tunisia last week.

One of the men threw an explosive device at officers trying to arrest them but it failed to detonate, the source said.

The Interior Ministry confirmed two men had been arrested but did not give details of who they might be working for.

Interrogations of the men led to the discovery of a weapons depot hidden in mountains in the south of Tunisia, the ministry said in a statement. The stash included Kalashikov rifles, a crude bomb and munitions, it said.

Libyan state TV broadcast a recorded audio message from leader Muammar Gaddafi Friday evening in which he says he is still alive

Libyan state TV broadcast a recorded audio message from leader Muammar Gaddafi Friday evening in which he says he is still alive after claims earlier in the day he may have been hurt in NATO airstrikes.

The broadcast also came after the Libyan government accused NATO bombing of killing more people in the oil town of Brega.

Gaddafi called the Western countries "cowards" in his minute-long message.

"You could kill my body but could not kill my soul which lives in the hearts of millions," Gaddafi said.

He also said a NATO airstrike Thursday that targeted his Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli killed "three innocent journalist-civilians."

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said earlier Friday Gaddafi may have been hurt in NATO air raid and fled Tripoli, but this was later denied by a Libyan government spokesman.

Frattini said Tripoli's bishop had said Gaddafi was "probably wounded" but Italy had "no credible information" about Gaddafi's whereabouts and health conditions, according to the Italy-based ANSA news agency.

"International pressure has likely provoked the decision by Gaddafi to seek refuge in a safe place," the foreign minister told reporters.

Shortly after the report, Libyan government spokesperson Musa Ibrahim denied Gaddafi was hurt, according to Al-Arabiya TV.

He said these reports were made only to weaken the morale of the Libyan people.

Rumors that Gaddafi was dead have been circulating since his youngest son, Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, and three of his grandchildren were killed in a NATO bombing almost two weeks ago.

Gaddafi made his first TV appearance since that attack on Wednesday. The video footage showed him meeting with several tribal leaders, which was seen as the Libyan government's attempt to dispel the rumors.

Libya's state TV also reported Friday at least 16 people were killed in a NATO air strike at Brega, a key oil town in the eastern part of the country, which is still reportedly controlled by pro-Gaddafi forces. The television said the air raid targeted a guest house in the city.

The NATO-led alliance, responding to the civilian deaths, said in a statement released in Brussels on Saturday it attacked a military command and control center, 750 km southeast of the capital.

Also on Friday, Libyan rebels held a meeting attended by delegates from 15 cities around the country, a move seen as an attempt to scuttle regional support for Gaddafi.

The 15 cities includes both those captured by the opposition and those still in the hands of pro-Gaddafi forces, including Sirte, the hometown of Gaddafi.

Besides courting domestic support, the rebels' National Transitional Council (NTC) is also seeking additional international recognition.

NTC chief diplomat Mahmoud Gibril, who is now in the United States, met with U.S. National Security Adviser Tom Donilon at the White House Friday.

Donilon said Washington viewed the NTC as a legitimate and credible interlocutor of the Libyan people and reiterated U.S. President Barack Obama's call for Gaddafi to leave immediately, the White House said in a statement.

The White House also said Donilon and Gibril discussed how the United States and the coalition could provide additional support to the NTC, according to the statement.

However, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Friday he did not anticipate formal U.S. recognition of the NTC as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people after the meeting.

"The question of recognition is one of many policy issues still under review, and we're continuing to assess the capabilities of the NTC as we deepen our engagement with the opposition," he told reporters at the White House.

He said the White House was discussing with Congress access to blocked Libyan government assets in the United States, valued at some 30 billion U.S. dollars, for humanitarian purposes in Libya.

Russia also supports release of the assets for humanitarian aid, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexei Sazonov told a news briefing Friday.

Sazonov said such humanitarian aids should not be politically motivated and should cover all of the nation's population.

He said these actions should be approved by the UN Security Council and international organizations such as UN High Commissioner for Refugees should monitor the use of these aids.

Hillary Clinton even kept hubby in the dark over 'Osama operation'

Former US President Bill Clinton has claimed that he was kept in the dark by his wife, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, about the raid on Osama bin Laden's Abbottabad compound in Pakistan.

Clinton said that he was not aware of the months of planning related to bin Laden's search, and that he was shocked like any other American when he heard the news of the al-Qaida leader being killed by US Navy SEALs.

"When Hillary got on the Armed Services Committee, which is right after she became a senator, I made up my mind that as long as she was there -- and then she became secretary of state -- I would never take a security briefing unless asked to do so by the president for a specific reason," the New York Post quoted Clinton, as saying.

"And you will be proud that I, like all Americans, knew nothing about the bin Laden operation, which had been debated in the administration in a tiny number of hands for months, until the president called and told me," he added.

He also said that he tried calling Hillary twice on the day of the 'big operation', but was told 'She's at the White House and can't talk to you'.

Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's wife, Suzanne, was in intensive care Saturday after state television reported she had suffered a heart attack following her remand in custody in a corruption probe.

Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's wife, Suzanne, was in intensive care Saturday after state television reported she had suffered a heart attack following her remand in custody in a corruption probe.
"Suzanne Thabet has been moved to the intensive care unit at Sharm el-Sheikh hospital after suffering a heart attack," the television reported, referring to the Red Sea resort where she and and her husband moved after being forced from power in February.
Mohammed Fathallah, who heads the hospital, said in a statement handed to reporters that Mrs Mubarak had suffered a "suspected heart attack and a sharp increase in blood pressure ... She will be kept under observation."
He later told the state-run MENA news agency that the former first lady had briefly lost consciousness on hearing she had been detained and that preliminary tests show that "her condition is stable."
The news came hours after the Illicit Gains Authority ordered Suzanne Mubarak's detention for 15 days on charges of illegal acquisition of wealth.
Preparations had been underway to move her from Sharm el-Sheikh hospital, where she was staying with her husband, to Qanater women's prison outside Cairo, the provincial security director for sotu Sinai province, Mohamed al-Khatib, told MENA.
She will be taken to Cairo by plane "due to the danger of transporting her by road," he said.
The state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper reported on Saturday that the former first lady has been placed under medical observation for 24 hours before any decision is made to move her.
She was interrogated in a hospital waiting room, close to where her husband has been in custody since April 13 when he also reportedly suffered a heart attack during questioning.
It was the first detention order for Mrs Mubarak, who had been questioned with her husband on Thursday night by the illicit gains department.
The former first couple are accused of having abused their position to enrich themselves illegally.
Crowds of people in Cairo's Tahrir Square broke out into cheers and women ululated when news of the first lady's detention broke.
The half-Welsh Suzanne was seen as the driving force behind plans to have her son Gamal take over the presidency from his father, a highly unpopular prospect in Egypt.
The authority also remanded Mubarak in custody for a further 15 days on Friday, after the three-hour interrogation.
He has also been questioned by the state prosecutor on several other charges, including ordering the shooting of anti-regime protesters. His detention has been repeatedly extended.
During the questioning, Mubarak and his wife agreed to reveal details of their bank accounts both inside and outside Egypt, MENA said.
The former president was quizzed about a villa he owns in Sharm el-Sheikh worth 36 million Egyptian pounds (about $6 million) "without counting the cost of the swimming pool," MENA said.
He was also asked about having personal control of the $145-million bank account of the Alexandria Library.
The former first lady was interrogated about a luxury villa she owns in Cairo, as well as 20 million pounds (about $3.3 million) held in a bank account, MENA said.
Mubarak, his wife, his two sons Alaa and Gamal and their wives were banned from travel and their assets ordered frozen by general prosecutor Abdel Magid Mahmud shortly after the former strongman was overthrown in February.
The two sons, along with dozens of officials and businessmen associated with the former regime, are being held in Cairo's notorious Tora prison which housed political dissidents during the Mubarak era.
Before the popular uprising which ousted Mubarak, Gamal, who was close to business executives and held a top post in Egypt's ruling party, was regarded as the political heir to Mubarak, while Alaa concentrated on business.
The wives of Alaa and Gamal, Heidi Rasekh and Khadiga al-Gammal, have also been questioned over Mubarak's wealth.
Earlier this month, Switzerland said it had frozen 410 million francs ($463 million) in funds linked to Mubarak and his associates.
Mubarak's 30-year grip on power was brought to an end on February 11 following 18 straight days of mass protests.
The military council which then took power has vowed to bring to justice all those accused of abuses and launched a sweeping probe into corruption.

Libyan state television has broadcast an audio message from Moammar Gadhafi

Libyan state television has broadcast an audio message from Moammar Gadhafi in which the Libyan leader assures his people that he is alive and in a place where NATO bombs could not reach him.

Mr. Gadhafi's message was broadcast late Friday after Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said there were unconfirmed reports that the Libyan leader is "probably" wounded after weeks of NATO air strikes in the country.

Frattini told reporters that he received word from the Catholic bishop in Tripoli, Giovanni Martinelli, that Mr. Gadhafi was likely wounded and has fled the city.  

A Libyan government spokesman called that report "nonsense."

NATO air strikes have hit a number of Libyan military and command control positions in Tripoli, including Mr. Gadhafi's compound. The Libyan leader reportedly escaped one recent attack that Libyan authorities say targeted him. NATO has denied targeting the Libyan leader.

In Washington Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama met with visiting NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen to discuss the coalition's operations in Libya.

Separately, a delegation from Libya's opposition Transitional National Council met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg. The TNC's Minister of Finance and Oil Ali Tarhouni said after the meeting that the opposition leadership appreciates the U.S. assistance, but wants political recognition and access to frozen assets of the Gadhafi government.

Mr. Obama's national security adviser Tom Donilon is scheduled to meet with the visiting delegation later Friday.

The Libyan opposition is seeking more sophisticated weaponry and basic supplies, such as food, medicine and fuel.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court says he will seek arrest warrants next week for three people considered responsible for crimes against humanity in Libya.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo did not reveal the names of the suspects in his statement Friday, but the Libyan leader is expected to top the list. Those charged will face accusations of murder and persecution.

The ICC prosecutor said investigators have collected "extensive and solid evidence" after 30 missions to 11 countries, more than 50 interviews and the review of videos and photographs that show "widespread and systematic attacks" against Libya's civilian population by the country's security forces.

Since February, Colonel Gadhafi's forces have carried out a brutal crackdown against anti-government demonstrators.

NATO is enforcing a U.N. Security Council resolution to protect civilians and enforce a no-fly zone and an arms embargo on Libya. There were reports of more coalition air strikes Friday. It is unclear if there were any casualties.

Eman Obeidy, the Libyan woman who entered the international spotlight after claiming Moammar Kadafi's militiamen gang raped her in March, apparently fled to Tunisia this week.

Obeidy told CNN that she crossed the border from Tripoli Thursday with the help of a defecting military officer in a military car.

The car was stopped several times at checkpoints, Obeidy said, but when the officer showed his permit, they were allowed to pass. She entered Tunisia through the Dahibah border crossing using a refugee document, she said.

Obeidy rose to fame after bursting into Tripoli's Rixos Hotel on March 26 to tell international reporters that she had been held for two days, beaten and raped by 15 men after being seized at a checkpoint east of Tripoli.

She was dragged away from the hotel, and previously told CNN that was she interrogated for three days by men who threw food and poured water on her.

Activists and Facebook pages sprang up in her defense.

She told CNN the trip this week from Tripoli was "very tiring." European diplomats drove her from the border to Tunis where they were sheltering her Sunday, diplomatic sources told CNN.

In an interview with CNN last month, Obeidy had requested that she be allowed to clear her name, bring her abusers to justice and return to the eastern city of Tobruk to be rejoin her family.

"I usually get harassed when I have to show my identification card to government officials somewhere and they find out who I am and that I have put complaints forward against Kadafi's people," she said. "They humiliate me to the point where other people gather around and start saying that it is shameful to treat a Libyan woman that way."

Apparently, she had not been able to return home before fleeing, according to CNN.

Desperate tyrant Colonel ­Gaddafi used crop-spraying planes to bomb rebel-held port Misrata yesterday.

He ordered the light ­aircraft on the night raid after 70 per cent of his land ­armoury was destroyed by allied strikes.

The small planes ­destroyed eight oil storage tanks – wiping out three months’ fuel supply.

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Rebel spokesman Ahmed Hassan said: “We cannot extinguish the fire because we do not have the right tools. The city will face a major problem. Those were the only source of fuel.”

RAF Tornados hit back by destroying Frog-7 ­rocket launchers and 40 canisters for Scud missiles in ­Gaddafi’s home town of Sirte.

Defence Secretary Liam Fox said: “These weapons could have been used to kill innocent Libyans.”

Meanwhile, Italy’s Foreign Ministry denied reports that it had agreed to arm the Libyan rebels.

A rescue ship evacuated about 800 migrants, journalists and wounded Libyans from Misrata port

A rescue ship evacuated about 800 migrants, journalists and wounded Libyans from Misrata port in heavy shelling, but was forced to depart in haste and leave hundreds of desperate civilians behind.

The Red Star One conducted the International Organization for Migration's sixth sea rescue mission from the battlefield city after being held up for five days by shelling and mines.

"IOM team leader on the boat Othman Belbeisi reported that hundreds of Libyan civilians had also tried to board the ship in desperation to get out of Misrata. But with a limited capacity, the ramp of the boat had to be pulled up so that the ship could pull away from the dock in safety," the IOM said in a statement.

The ship took some 700 migrants, about 20 journalists and up to 50 wounded Libyan civilians and their families from Misrata, the last major city in western Libya under rebel control, under constant siege by troops loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi.

"Heavy shelling of Misrata in addition to mines having been laid had prevented the IOM boat from docking for five days," the statement said. NATO minesweepers had searched the approaches of the harbor for days to clear mines.

When the ship finally docked on Wednesday morning after waiting offshore since Saturday, shelling and shooting in the port vicinity had already forced at least 1,000 migrants who had been waiting at the harbor for the ship to flee, the IOM said.

The organization, which has previously evacuated about 6,000 people from Misrata, said that this time it had less than an hour to try to evacuate as many people as possible.

"We did our best and took everyone we could in a very short time, including Libyan women and children whose relatives had been wounded," said Belbeisi.

IOM spokeswoman Jemini Pandya said: "Stranded migrants, war-wounded and their families have to be the priority for us for evacuation."

American forces were led to Osama bin Laden by his most trusted courier, a Kuwaiti-born man named Sheikh Abu Ahmed.

The shadowy figure was identified after Al Qaeda commanders held at Guantanamo Bay admitted they knew him - and that he had connections to Bin Laden.But the confessions were only the start of an extraordinary manhunt which stretched from to downtown Peshawar and finally ended in a deadly shootout at the Al Qaeda commander's luxury compound. For many years, Ahmed was only known by his 'nom de guerre', Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti.
The first indications about his significance came from CIA detainees shortly after the 9/11 terror attacks.
They identified him as one of Bin Laden's couriers, an aide the terror chief trusted with his life.
But details were scant and agents quickly found the trail went cold.
It was not until 2004, when top Al Qaeda operative Hassan Ghul was captured in Iraq, that the CIA made any progress.
Ghul told the CIA that al-Kuwaiti was a courier and that he was close to Faraj al-Libi, who replaced Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as Al Qaeda's operational commander.Then the U.S. captuted al-Libi.Under CIA interrogation, al-Libi admitted that when he was promoted to succeed Mohammed, he received the word through a courier.
But he made up a name for the courier and denied knowing al-Kuwaiti, a denial that was so adamant and unbelievable that the CIA took it as a lie.Finally, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed himself admitted that he knew the courier. Held at Guantanmo Bay, he had been waterboarded 183 times without identifiying Ahmed.
It was only later under conventional interrogation techniques that he admitted he knew him - though he still did not surrender a full name or where the courier could be found.The CIA were now convinced that if they found Abu Ahmed they would find Bin Laden.
They flooded the field with agents, scouring Pakistan and Afghanistan for the merest whisper of Ahmed's whereabouts.
His family, still in the Arabian Gulf, were traced, their communications monitored and it was from this surveillance that the CIA finally got his full name and an idea of his location.When Ahmed was finally tracked down, he was driving a white Suzuki in Peshawar, a frontier town with a high population of Al Qaeda sympathisers.CIA agents followed him to a compound in the northeast Pakistani town of Abbottabad, where al-Libi had once lived. It had 18ft high walls, barbed wire, and no telephone or internet connections.Without confirmation and with little to go on, the CIA became convinced they had finally found the world's most wanted.By February this year they were ready to act. They initially considered bombing the site to smithereens - but Barack Obama rejected the plan as there would be no proof Bin Laden was dead.
And then there were additional complications.America's strained relationship with Pakistan was plunged into fresh turmoil by the arrest of Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor who had shot dead two Pakistanis in January.U.S. officials feared that he would be killed if Bin Laden was executed. A tense few weeks ensued until Davis's release on March 16.Then there was the matter of WikiLeaks. Just weeks before Sunday night's raid, the whistleblower website had published a tranche of new secret documents. These made reference to named ‘couriers’ carrying Bin Laden’s message to his followers, and also to Abbottabad as a possible Al Qaeda bolthole.There was a real risk that Bin Laden would flee once again, thwarting U.S. attempts to capture or kill himIn the early hours of May 1,  two dozen members of the Navy's elite SEAL Team Six went in.Bin Laden was shot twice, once through the head. His daughter, 12, watched him die.
The squad left the compound with a trove of computers and files.Three others also died - a woman who is said to have been used as a human shield and Ahmed's brother among them.Ahmed himself, Bin Laden's closest lieutenant, who had finally given him away, was also killed.Today, it emerged that there were 17-18 people in the compound at the time of the attack and the Navy Seals cans took away one person still alive who could be a Bin Laden sonThose who survived the attack included a wife, a daughter and eight to nine other children who did not belong to Bin Laden. They were tied up taken away by the troops.U.S. officials believe that Bin Laden had lived within the blacked-out for up to six years. He had been living in Afghanistan before a 2001 U.S. invasion helped topple its Taliban regime.
'Well I think the latest information is that he was in this compound for the past five or six years and he had virtually no interaction with others outside that compound. But yet he seemed to be very active inside the compound,' White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan said.

'And we know that he had released videos and audios. We know that he was in contact with some senior al Qaeda officials,' Brennan added.

'So what we're trying to do now is to understand what he has been involved in over the past several years, exploit whatever information we were able to get at the compound and take that information and continue our efforts to destroy al Qaeda.'

Osama bin Laden was buried at sea from the deck of a U.S. aircraft carrier because there was "no land alternative," a senior Department of Defense official said Monday.

Osama bin Laden was buried at sea from the deck of a U.S. aircraft carrier because there was "no land alternative," a senior Department of Defense official said Monday.
"When there is no land alternative, Islamic law dictates that the body be buried within 24 hours, and that was the basis," the official said.
Another defense official said says there was no country willing or able to accept the body for burial, and U.S. forces "took pains to observe Muslim law."
The religious rites were conducted on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson in the Arabian Sea, with the ceremony starting at 1:10 a.m. and finishing at 2:10 a.m. ET.
"The body was washed and placed in a white sheet. A military official read prepared remarks, which were then translated into Arabic by a native speaker. The body of Osama bin Laden was placed on a flat board, which was then tipped up, and allowed to slide into the sea," the second official said.

The al-Qa'ida leader Osama bin Laden has been killed in a firefight with US forces in Pakistan

The al-Qa'ida leader Osama bin Laden has been killed in a firefight with US forces in Pakistan, President Barack Obama announced today.

The killing ending a nearly 10-year worldwide hunt for the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Justice has been done," Obama said in a hastily called, late-night White House speech revealing the death of the elusive head of the militant Islamic group behind a series of bloody attacks in cities across the world.

His death, confirmed by officials in Pakistan, was a huge symbolic blow to al Qaeda, which has been beaten back but is still a threat in many countries.

It prompted jubilant flag-waving celebrations in Washington and New York. It was the biggest national security victory for Obama since he took office in early 2009 and could give him a political boost as he seeks re-election in 2012.

The Italian and British embassies in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, have been attacked

The Italian and British embassies in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, have been attacked in apparent retaliation for a NATO missile strike that reportedly killed leader Moammar Gadhafi's youngest son and three young grandchildren.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague Sunday condemned the embassy attacks and said his government is expelling the Libyan ambassador to Britain. He said attacks on diplomatic missions breach the Vienna Convention.

Italy confirmed its embassy was among several in Tripoli damaged by vandals and accused Mr. Gadhafi's government of failing to take measures to protect foreign missions. Most western allies evacuated their embassy staff from Tripoli several weeks ago.

Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said 29-year-old Saif al-Arab Gadhafi and three of his children were killed late Saturday during what Ibrahim called a direct attempt to assassinate the Libyan leader.

Ibrahim says Mr. Gadhafi and his wife were in their son's home at the time, but were not hurt. He said several other people at the home were injured.

Reporters were taken to the site of the home, where they saw extensive damage.

British Prime Minister David Cameron - without confirming fatalities - said Sunday that coalition targeting policy is in line with a U.N. mandate to prevent "a loss of civilian life." Mr. Cameron said NATO forces are targeting Libya's command and control units, as well as military hardware, and not specific people.

NATO Saturday rejected an offer from Mr. Gadhafi for negotiations to end the conflict in his country, saying it was without merit.

Other airstrikes in recent days have hit buildings while Mr. Gadhafi was nearby.

Libya says NATO air forces bombed a site near the national broadcast offices early Saturday while the Libyan leader was inside delivering an address to the nation. Last week, a NATO airstrike in Tripoli destroyed a building in the complex where Mr. Gadhafi lives.

The Libyan ambassador to the UK has been expelled following attacks on British embassy premises in Tripoli,

The Libyan ambassador to the UK has been expelled following attacks on British embassy premises in Tripoli, Foreign Secretary William Hague said.

He said Omar Jelban was "persona non grata" had been given 24 hours to leave the country.

Foreign missions of other nations in Libya's capital have also been targeted by crowds angry at reports a son of Col Gaddafi had died in a Nato air strike.

The UK currently has no diplomats in the Libyan capital.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi survived a NATO airstrike on Saturday night that killed his youngest son Saif al-Arab and three of his grandchildren

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi survived a NATO airstrike on Saturday night that killed his youngest son Saif al-Arab and three of his grandchildren, a Libyan government spokesman said.

Mussa Ibrahim said Saif al-Arab was a civilian and a student who had studied in Germany. He was 29 years old.

Libyan officials took journalists to the house, which had been hit by at least three missiles. The roof had completely caved in in some areas, leaving strings of reinforcing steel hanging down among chunks of concrete.

A table football machine stood outside in the garden of the house, which was in a wealthy residential area of Tripoli.

Nato air strike in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, has killed the son of the Libyan leader, Colonel Gaddafi,

a government spokesman has said.

Colonel Gaddafi himself was in the large residential villa which was hit by the strike, the spokesman added, but he was unharmed.

His son Saif al-Arab was killed, as well as three of his grandsons.

Journalists say the building was extensively damaged and one unexploded bomb remains at the site.

Saif al-Arab was the youngest of Col Gaddafi's sons, with a lower profile than his brother Saif al-Islam.

He had been studying in Germany and returned to Libya recently.

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said the villa was attacked "with full power."

"The attack resulted in the martyrdom of brother Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, 29 years old, and three of the leader's grandchildren," he said.

"The leader with his wife was there in the house with other friends and relatives, the leader himself is in good health, he wasn't harmed."

"This was a direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country," the spokesman added.