Hafiz Saeed, the leader of a Pakistan-based group blamed for the 2008 attacks on Mumbai, has demanded proof after the US announced a $10m bounty on his head. In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Saeed said the US move was prompted by the fact that he had been organising rallies against the re-opening of supply lines through Pakistan to NATO forces in Afghanistan. "We are not hiding in caves for bounties to be set on finding us," Saeed sai... Continue reading

Western and Arab nations in Istanbul sought to exert more pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad [Reuters] The leader of the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) has urged the international community to take serious action to halt the government's deadly crackdown on an anti-government uprising at a meeting of the so-called "Friends of Syria" group in Turkey. In an impassioned plea on Sunday at the opening of the meeting in Istanbul, B... Continue reading

Malian military leaders, facing pressure from regional powers and a rebellion in the north that has led to the capture of key towns, have announced they will return the country to constitutional order.Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from the capital Bamako, said the coup leaders promised to put in place a "sort of national dialogue" to help the transition from military to civilian rule.The announcement on Sunday was made by Captian Amado... Continue reading

Mullah Dowran, a regional Taliban commander in eastern Afghanistan, has told Al Jazeera that the organisation is now targeting Afghan security forces. "We announced we would forgive them many times. We showed them leniency many times in the fight. We tried to make American targets the priority, but the damage created by Afghan forces has become more and more every day. Now they are our priority," Dowran said. The Taliban are not only targeting ... Continue reading

Clashes have broken out between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces at the Qalandiya checkpoint on the outskirts of Jerusalem amid 'Land Day' demonstrations. At least 121 people have been injured in clashes at the checkpoint, mostly from tear gas, according to medical sources and Al Jazeera's correspondents in Qalandiya. Four medical workers were reported to have been shot with rubber coated bullets and one car was set ablaze. A... Continue reading

Spain's government is set to announce details of new budget cuts intended to reassure Europe that it will not need a bailout. "Spain is going to stop being a problem, especially for the Spanish people but also for the European Union," Luis de Guindos, the economy minister, said as he entered an informal meeting of eurozone colleagues in Copenhagen on Friday. In Madrid, the Spanish cabinet prepared to approve a draft 2012 budget expected to incl... Continue reading

Sarkozy said authorities had some "extremely precise questions to ask a certain number of people". [AFP] French police have arrested 19 people in dawn raids across a number of cities in what President Nicolas Sarkozy described as a crackdown on "radical Islam". Several of the arrests on Friday occured in the southwestern city of Toulouse, where an al-Qaeda inspired gunman carried out a series of attacks earlier this month that left seven people ... Continue reading

Mauritius President Anerood Jugnauth has announced his resignation and plan to join the opposition, after falling out with Navinchandra Ramgoolam, the Indian Ocean island nation's prime minister. "I'm not in agreement with the philosophy of the government and the way the country is run," he told journalists on Friday, adding that his resignation would take effect on Saturday. "When I'm not in agreement, I quit," he said. Jugnauth will be replac... Continue reading

The European Union and United Nations Security Council have joined the AU in calling for an end to the clashes [Reuters] Officials from Sudan and South Sudan are set to meet in the Ethiopian capital on Thursday in a bid by the African Union (AU) to end ongoing clashes and prevent an all-out war between the two neighbours. The pan-African body on Wednesday said it was deeply concerned by an "escalating security situation" on the border between Su... Continue reading

The latest findings renew doubt about the Fukushima Daiichi plant's stability [Reuters] One of Japan's crippled nuclear reactors still has fatally high radiation levels and much less water to cool it than officials had estimated, according to an internal examination that renews doubts about the plant's stability. A tool equipped with a tiny video camera, a thermometer, a dosimeter and a water gauge was used to assess damage inside the containmen... Continue reading

Annan, a former UN secretary-general, has suggested a six-point plan to end the violence in Syria [AFP] Arab League foreign ministers meeting in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, have reached a draft resolution on Syria, which calls for action on a UN-backed peace plan formulated by former UN chief Kofi Annan. Speaking at the summit on Wednesday, Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi foreign minister, said "the Syrian crisis is not exclusively an Arab one, it aff... Continue reading

Iraqi-born cleric Mullah Krekar said Norway will "pay a heavy price" if he is deported back to Iraq [Reuters] A Norwegian court has sentenced Mullah Krekar, the founder of a radical Iraqi Kurdish Islamist group, to five years in jail for issuing death threats against a former government minister and others. The 55-year-old mullah, whose real name is Najmeddine Faraj Ahmad and who has lived in Norway since 1991, founded the Ansar al-Islam group. ... Continue reading

Barack Obama, the US president and Chinese President Hu Jintao are holding talks expected to focus on US frustrations with China's slow progress in pushing North Korea to comply with international obligations. In brief remarks ahead of the bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in the South Korean capital Seoul on Monday, Obama said he was looking forward to a frank and constructive meeting. "Obviously of great import... Continue reading

  At least two people were killed and eight soldiers wounded after mortar rounds fired by Somalia's radical Islamist group al-Shabab toward the presidential palace landed on a nearby camp for the internally displaced, witnesses and officials have said. Paddy Ankunda, spokesman for the African Union force known as AMISOM, said some mortars hit a camp for Somalis displaced by war and famine about 300 metres from the presidential palace. Is... Continue reading

  At least two people were killed and eight soldiers wounded after mortar rounds fired by Somalia's radical Islamist group al-Shabab toward the presidential palace landed on a nearby camp for the internally displaced, witnesses and officials have said. Paddy Ankunda, spokesman for the African Union force known as AMISOM, said some mortars hit a camp for Somalis displaced by war and famine about 300 metres from the presidential palace. Ismail Nur,... Continue reading

Ilker Basbug, Turkey's former army chief, has gone on trial on charges of leading a terrorist group accused of plotting to overthrow the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister. Basbug raised a clenched fist and waved to supporters as the trial opened at the Silivri high security prison complex in Istanbul on Monday. Basbug, chief of staff from 2008 to 2010, is accused of being a leader of a shadowy network dubbed "Ergenekon", be... Continue reading

There have been nation-wide protests against the US drone attacks in tribal regions of Pakistan [Reuters] Pakistani legislators have resumed debate on revising the rules of relationship with the US, about four months after 24 of its soldiers were killed in an American air raid along the Afghan border. Monday’s session of parliamentarians would consider whether to allow NATO supply routes via Pakistan, which have been blocked since the deadly att... Continue reading