“The outpouring of love that we’ve seen in recent days shows that the triumph of Nelson Mandela and this nation speaks to something very deep in the human spirit.”
A senior leader of the Somali militant group Al-Shabab, Hasan Dahir Aweys has been transferred to the capital Mogadishu. There’s still confusion on whether he surrendered or defected. Abdullah Abudishak reports.
Hours after his arrival in Mogadishu Aweys was still at the airport. He was negotiating with government officials led by Somalia’s interior minister. The spokesman of the Somali president says the government is ready to give him amnesty provided he denounces violence. Aweys is seen by many as the father of Jihadists in East Somalia since early 1990s after the collapse of Somalia’s last functioning government. He is considered a terrorist by both the UN and the United States.
A hunger strike by asylum seekers camped out in the centre of Munich in southern Germany is reaching a critical phase. About 50 people from countries including Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan have eaten nothing for more than a week and refused water since Thursday. The German authorities say they won’t be blackmailed into giving them asylum without going through the required legal procedures.
World News from the BBC
A Christian girl who was falsely accused of blasphemy in Pakistan has fled to Canada with her family to start a new life. Rimsha Masih was 14 when she was arrested last August accused of burning pages of the Koran. Orla Guerin reports from Islamabad.