A rebel group in Syria, the Free Syrian Army, the FSA has confirmed to the BBC that Al Qaeda fighters are active inside the country. An FSA officer told the BBC that anti-government forces had been offered money and weapons by Al Qaeda but it had been rejected. Alastair Crooke, a former British intelligence officer who studies Islamist militants said they were increasing in number.

叙利亚叛军“自由叙利亚军”（FSA）对BBC表示，基地组织武装人员正在本国境内活动。一名FSA官员告诉BBC，基地组织给反政府军提供资金和武器，但遭到拒绝。研究伊斯兰武装分子的英国前情报官员阿拉斯泰尔·克鲁克称基地组织成员在增加。

"The hard element of the opposition, they armed the combat-experienced people who come up from either Libya or Iraq not only are at the vanguard, but they are actually pushing out all other forms of opposition."

“反对派厉害之处，在于武装了来自利比亚或伊拉克有作战经验的人，这些人不仅做前锋，还将其他反对派组织赶走。”

Polling stations have closed in Egypt after the second day of voting in the first free presidential election there. If there's no outright winner, the two leading candidates will go into a run-off next month. Those standing include several Islamists as well as ministers from the era of the former president Hosni Mubarak. Counting at the votes have begun at some polling stations. The results are expected to be announced by Tuesday at the latest. There are no exact turnout figures yet.