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The mastermind of the worst terrorist attacks on American soil is dead, U.S. President Barack Obama announced late Sunday night, almost 10 years after the attacks that killed about 3,000 people.

Osama bin Laden - the founder and leader of al Qaeda - was killed by U.S. forces Sunday in a mansion in Abbottabad, north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, along with other family members, a senior U.S. official told CNN.

In an address to the nation Sunday night, Obama called bin Laden's death "the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al Qaeda."

Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan," Obama said. "A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body."

A congressional source familiar with the operation confirmed that bin Laden was shot in the head. Read more..

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Filed under: General

Yemeni anti-government protesters hold a picture of President Ali Abdullah Saleh depicting him as a pirate during a demonstration calling for his ouster in Sanaa.

Yemen's embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh has accepted a deal brokered by neighboring Persian Gulf nations to step down, Yemeni officials said Saturday.

Both Saleh and the Yemeni opposition have agreed to the deal in principle. But Saleh has yet to sign the agreement, which stipulates he leave office within 30 days and provides complete immunity for him and those who served in his regime, said a senior foreign ministry official, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Mohammed Albasha, spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy in Washington, said the opposition has to accept the final deal before Saleh will sign.

The agreement also calls for a unity government to be formed within seven days. Read more...

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Filed under: Protests •Yemen

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the West is seeking destruction and a reinforcement of their evil dominance in the region.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed the West for unrest bubbling throughout the Middle East and North Africa in a speech Monday on Iran's National Army Day.

"They are trying to foment discord in the region. They are trying to cause destruction and provoke wars between nations and governments in order to sell their weapons," Ahmadinejad said in a speech translated into English by state-run Press TV. "They are seeking destruction and a reinforcement of their evil dominance in the region."

The Iranian president's accusations come as NATO planes are enforcing a U.N.-approved no-fly zone over Libya and also are launching airstrikes on Libyan government troops as opposition forces battle them.

Ahmadinejad also warned of what he said are Western efforts to trigger sectarian strife between Shia and Sunni Muslims, while calling for cooperation between nations in the region.

Unrest has spread across parts of the Middle East and North Africa since January when popular uprisings began in Tunisia and Egypt, which eventually unseated the governments there. The political unease has spread in varying degrees to more than a dozen other nations.

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Filed under: Iran

Vittorio Arrigoni at the port in Gaza City celebrating the arrival of the ship Dignity that departed from Cyprus to protest against the Israeli sanctions. A Salafist group of radical Islamists killed the Italian activist after kidnapping him in Gaza Getty Images AFP.

An Italian humanitarian activist and journalist who was kidnapped in Gaza has been found dead and one person is in custody, the Hamas Interior Ministry said Friday in a statement.

Police investigating the case learned where 36-year-old Vittorio Arrigoni was being held and went to the location, where they found the body, the statement said.

An autopsy revealed that he had been killed hours before police entered the location, it said.
Medical sources said his body was taken to Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

The grisly outcome came hours after a video was posted on YouTube showing a man identified by his colleagues as Arrigoni. A black blindfold covered his eyes; his right cheek appeared red as though it had been hit; his hands appeared to be bound behind his back. A hand belonging to someone outside of the view of the lens appeared to be grasping his hair on the back and pointing the captive's head toward the camera. Read more...

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Filed under: Gaza •Hamas •Palestinians

File photo of Alaa, left, and Gamal Mubarak, sons of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, attending a football match on January 31, 2010..

Prosecutors have ordered that former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and two of his sons be held in detention for 15 days as they are investigated, state TV reported Wednesday.

"The general prosecutor decided to hold Gamal and Alaa Mubarak for 15 days for investigation in charges of killing of protesters in Tahrir Square," Nile TV reported.

The square was a popular gathering spot for those opposed to the Mubarak government.
The Nile TV report did not say why the elder Mubarak was being held.

The developments came a day after the former president was admitted to a hospital after complaining to his doctor that he felt unwell, according to a spokesman for the Egyptian military.

A military source said Mubarak's condition was stable, not critical, and that his wife and elder son were with him.

Egyptian state television reported Mubarak suffered a heart attack during questioning over possible corruption charges.

Justice Minister Mohammed Abdul Aziz Al-Gindi said the prosecutor's office had started its investigation of the former president, the official Egyptian news agency reported. Read more...

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Filed under: Libya

Ahmed Mansoor was taken from his home in Dubai on Friday his wife says. Mansoor has called for poltical reform in the UAE.

A blogger and political activist who has called for reform in the United Arab Emirates has not been heard from since he was taken from his Dubai apartment Friday, his wife said.

About 10 men, including two wearing police uniforms, picked up Ahmed Mansoor from his apartment Friday afternoon, said his wife, Nadia.

The men also took Mansoor's passport and laptop and left without telling his wife where they were taking him or why.

Lt. General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, the commander-in-chief of Dubai police, said he was not aware whether Mansoor had been arrested, but promised to look into it.

CNN has also sent queries to other Emirati officials inquiring about Mansoor but have not heard back.
Earlier Friday, three men identifying themselves as police officers were at his apartment building, Mansoor wrote in an email. When he called police asking about the men, he said he was told they had come for his car. Read more...

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Filed under: Dubai •UAE

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Filed under: Protests •Syria

Druze Syrians in the Golan Heights march Saturday in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

The anti-regime demonstrations pulsating across Syria have resulted in a security hunt for snipers and a wave of arrests Saturday.

Syrian security forces are searching for members of an "armed group" that killed "a number of citizens and security forces" in the Damascus suburb of Douma on Friday, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported on Saturday.

SANA cited an unidentified official source as saying that snipers from the group fired at civilians and security forces from rooftops. This is disputed by activists and eyewitnesses who told CNN that government snipers fired shots at unarmed protesters and government forces beat demonstrators.

"Security forces are pursuing the members of the armed group that terrorized the citizens through firing randomly," SANA reported, citing the source who doesn't identify the group in question.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces in the volatile southern city of Daraa and in Homs arrested on Saturday about 20 people who had demonstrated the day before.

Protests on Friday swept through Syria, one of the latest Arab countries to endure grassroots discontent.
At least 10 people, nine of them in Douma, were killed on Friday, according to human rights activists.

Another person was killed in Al Sanameen near Daraa. SANA reported that a girl was killed when the armed group opened fire on civilians in the city of Homs. Read more...

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Filed under: Protests •Syria

Anti-government activists gather on the streets of Daraa, 100kms south of the capital Damascus. Syrian security forces fired on anti-regime protesters near a mosque AFP/Getty Images.

Violent protests erupted Friday in Syria, with dozens of people killed in and around the restive city of Daraa and a boy slain in the coastal town of Latakia, reports said.

"The situation in Syria has worsened considerably over the past week, with the use of live ammunition and tear gas by the authorities having resulted in a total of at least 37 people being killed in Daraa , including two children," said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Among the dead were 15 people who tried to march to Daraa, sources said, and nine others who died when security forces fired on demonstrators in Daraa's main square, said Wissam Tarif, a human rights activist.

There were many casualties in Daraa, said Abdullah, who asked that his full name not be reported due to security concerns. He said he saw Friday's events in the city, where deadly clashes have taken place in recent days between security forces and protesters. Read more...

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Filed under: Protests •Syria