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Yemen: President Saleh defiant after injury
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has broadcast a brief audio message, hours after being injured in an attack on his compound in the capital Sanaa.
Mr Saleh said he was well and urged the army to confront his tribal opponents, who he blamed for the attack.
Seven people were killed. The prime minister and the speaker of parliament were among several injured.
The attack came amid huge demonstrations and continuing fighting between government and armed tribes.
Earlier, troops shelled the home of the brother of tribal leader Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar, the head of the powerful Hashid tribal confederation, who has joined the opposition.
Sheikh Ahmar’s office denied responsibility for the palace attack.
Meanwhile, the European Union set in motion a procedure to evacuate its citizens, foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said.
Along with France and the United States, it called for an immediate ceasefire.
‘Outlaw gang’
Mr Saleh received treatment in a military hospital, after at least two shells hit a mosque in the presidential compound.
The extent of his injuries is unclear, although various reports say he received scratches, or was hit by shrapnel in the head or neck.
Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Mujawar, speaker of parliament Yahya al-Rai and several other officials were also wounded.
Al-Arabiya TV reported that Mr Rai was in a critical condition.
Officials said Mr Saleh would soon appear in public, but it was not until more than six hours later that state TV broadcast his recorded audio message.
He urged the military to fight Sheikh Ahmar’s tribal group.
Mr Saleh’s message was broadcast more than six hours after he was injured“I salute our armed forces and the security forces for standing up firmly to confront this challenge by an outlaw gang that has nothing to do with the so-called youth revolution,” he said.
“Seven officers were martyred. We will follow these culprits sooner or later in co-operation with all security services.”
Correspondents say Mr Saleh spoke with a laboured voice, at times breathing heavily.
There has been heavy fighting in the northern Sanaa district of Hassaba since last week between Mr Saleh’s forces and tribesman loyal to Sheikh Ahmar.
Explosions were heard in the south of the capital for the first time.
Yemen’s Ahmar family
- Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar is the overall leader of the Hashid tribal confederation, one of the two main tribal groupings in Yemen
- His father Abdullah Bin Hussein al-Ahmar – who died in 2007 – founded the Islamist Islah opposition party
- Sheikh Sadeq’s brother Hamid al-Ahmar is a prominent businessman and leading member of Islah. He has repeatedly called for Mr Saleh’s resignation
- Another brother, Sheikh Hussein Bin Abdullah al-Ahmar, resigned from President Saleh’s Governing People’s Council on 28 February over the shootings of protesters
Witnesses said the army had shelled the home of Sheikh Ahmar’s brother Hamid, a leader of the opposition Islah party, in the Hadda district.
Also on Friday morning, thousands attended a funeral for 50 people killed in earlier violence, and Friday prayers were followed by huge anti-government protests.
In the southern city of Taiz, at least three members of the security forces and two protesters were killed in clashes, officials and doctors said.
It was not clear if the security forces were soldiers or police. One report said they had been killed by a rocket-propelled grenade.
A crackdown on protesters in Taiz on Sunday left more than 50 demonstrators dead.
More than 350 people have been killed since the uprising started in January, but at least 135 of them have died in the past 10 days.
Western and regional powers have been urging Mr Saleh to sign a Gulf Co-operation Council-brokered deal that would see him hand over to his deputy in return for an amnesty from prosecution.
He has agreed to sign on several occasions, but then backed out.
Libya: UK Apache helicopters used in Nato attacks
UK Apache attack helicopters have been used over Libya for the first time, Nato has confirmed.
They attacked and destroyed two military installations, a radar site and an armed checkpoint near Brega, the Captain of HMS Ocean told the BBC.
French Gazelle helicopters also took part in simultaneous attacks on different targets in Libya for the first time.
On Wednesday, Nato extended its mission in Libya by 90 days.
The BBC’s defence correspondent Jonathan Beale said: “The Captain of the HMS Ocean reported that those targets had been successfully destroyed and both Apaches returned to their base on HMS Ocean.”
“This successful engagement demonstrates the unique capabilities brought to bear by attack helicopters,” said Lt Gen Charles Bouchard, Commander of Operation Unified Protector.
AT THE SCENE
Two of the four Apaches on board HMS Ocean left under the cover of darkness. From the ship you can see the lights on Libya’s coast.
This was a mission that would signal an escalation in the bombing campaign. It would also come with added risks.
The Apaches fly lower and slower than other Nato warplanes – able to identify a wider range of targets, but also more vulnerable to attacks from the ground.
“We will continue to use these assets whenever and wherever needed, using the same precision as we do in all of our missions.”
A Ministry of Defence statement said: “UK Apache Attack Helicopters have taken part in coordinated operations over Libya as part of Nato’s Operation Unified Protector to protect civilians under UNSCR 1973. All of the aircraft recovered safely to HMS Ocean. Further details of the operation will released in due course.”
Missile risk
The decision to send four British Apache helicopters to Libya was made by Prime Minister David Cameron on 27 May.
Their deployment via HMS Ocean means there should be less chance of civilian casualties in operations that previously relied on the use of Tornado and Typhoon aircraft.
Apache AH Mk1
- Crew: 2
- Main weapon: 16 Hellfire anti-tank missiles
- Length: 17.76m (58ft 3in)
- Rotor span: 14.63m (48ft)
- Cruising speed: 161mph (259km/h)
- Range: 334 miles (537km)
- Max mission duration: 2h 45min
Source: AgustaWestland
But the Apaches operate at lower altitudes and could be targeted by Libyan forces loyal to Col Gaddafi, which still have access to thousands of surface-to-air missiles.
Nato intervened in Libya after the UN passed a resolution for the protection of civilians, amid a two-month revolt inspired by other uprisings in the Arab world.
It has intensified raids in recent weeks with attacks on command-and-control structures in the capital Tripoli.
The intervention was initially led by France, Britain and the US until 31 March – when Nato took over. It was given an initial 90 days, which would have run out on 27 June.
On Wednesday, UN investigators accused government forces in Libya of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Rights experts said they had found evidence of crimes including murder and torture, in a pattern suggesting Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was behind them.
The UN mission also said opposition forces were guilty of abuses that would constitute war crimes, although they were not so numerous.
Syria: Attack on central town of Rastan ‘kills 15’
Syrian government troops have heavily bombarded Rastan, near Homs, in the centre of the country, killing at least 15 people, activists say.
More than 50 people have been killed in Rastan since a military operation there started at the weekend, reports say.
The offensive comes despite an amnesty offer by President Bashar al-Assad’s government and the release of hundreds of detainees.
The initiatives have been dismissed by Syrian opposition groups.
The opposition groups, which are meeting in Antalya in neighbouring Turkey, say the Syrian government’s concessions have come too late, correspondents say.
The groups are working on what they hope will be a roadmap for peaceful transition.
The Local Co-ordinating Committee, which helps to organise and document the country’s protests, gave the names of the people it said were killed in Rastan in the latest artillery and tank bombardments.
The committee said the offensive had hit at least two mosques and a bakery, as well as houses that collapsed, killing entire families.
Eyewitnesses told BBC Arabic that army and security forces are not able to take control the town, even though it has been surrounded by tanks over the past few days.
Detainees released
Following the announcement on Tuesday of a conditional amnesty, hundreds of detainees have been released.
More seem to be on the way, although it is not clear if the authorities intend to free all the 10,000 or more people they are believed to have detained in the past 10 weeks and the thousands already in jail before that, says the BBC’s Jim Muir in Beirut.
The authorities have announced the formation of a high-level commission to oversee a proposed national dialogue aimed at stabilising the situation.
More than 1,000 people have been killed in Syria since an uprising against President Assad began in March, activists say.
Reports from Syria are hard to verify independently, as foreign journalists are not allowed into the country.
Are you in Syria? Have you been affected by the unrest? You can send us your experiences using the form below.
China rejects Gmail spying claims
China has rejected allegations of involvement in a cyber-spying campaign targeting the Google e-mail accounts of top US officials, military personnel and journalists.
A foreign ministry spokesman said it was “unacceptable” to blame China.
Google has not blamed the Chinese government directly, but says the hacking campaign originated in Jinan.
The US company said its security was not breached but indicated individuals’ passwords were obtained through fraud.
Google said Chinese political activists and officials in other Asian countries were also targeted from the Shandong city, which is 400 km (250 miles) south of Beijing.
The White House said it was investigating the reports but did not believe official US government e-mail accounts had been breached.
Safety tips
It is extremely difficult for analysts to determine whether governments or individuals are responsible for such attacks, says the BBC’s Adam Brookes in Washington.
But the fact that the victims were people with access to sensitive – even secret – information raises the possibility that this was cyber-espionage rather than cyber-crime, adds our correspondent.
However, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a news briefing: “Blaming these misdeeds on China is unacceptable.
“Hacking is an international problem and China is also a victim. The claims of so-called support for hacking are completely unfounded and have ulterior motives.”
On Wednesday, Google said it had “detected and has disrupted” a campaign to take users’ passwords and monitor their emails.
“We have notified victims and secured their accounts,” said the company. “In addition, we have notified relevant government authorities.”
The e-mail scam uses a practice known as “spear phishing” in which specific e-mail users are tricked into divulging their login credentials to a web page that resembles Google’s Gmail web service (or which appears related to the target’s work) but is in fact run by hackers.
Having obtained the user’s e-mail login and password, the hackers then tell Gmail’s service to forward incoming e-mail to another account set up by the hacker.
In an advisory message released on Wednesday, Google recommends several steps for users to take to improve the security of Google products:
- Enable two-step verification, such as using a mobile phone to which Google sends a second password to enter on sign-in
- Use a strong password (mix of letters and numbers, avoiding family names, birth dates etc) for Google that you do not use elsewhere. Here’s a video to help.
- Enter your password only into a proper sign-in prompt on a https://www.google.com domain.
- Check your Gmail settings for suspicious forwarding addresses or delegated accounts
The imagination imitates it is the critical spirit 
