Taliban's Mullah Baradar Released From Custody

By Neville Lazarus, Sky News Asia Producer

The most senior leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan has been released from custody in Pakistan to help the struggling Afghan peace process.

According to a Sky News source, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is second to Taliban chief Mullah Omar, will have to remain in the country, although he is free to move around any city.

He will be provided with high security, although the source claimed this is a way for authorities to keep him under watch.

Before his release, preparations had been made for Baradar to be taken to Qatar or Saudi Arabia where he could actively work on the peace process.

But the source said Pakistan objected to such a move because it wants to remain pivotal and influential in any future peace talks between Hamid Karzai's Afghan government, the Taliban and western powers.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pushed for Mr Baradar's release

Sartaj Aziz, advisor on foreign affairs and national security to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said: "Handing over the key Taliban commander to Afghanistan will sabotage the purpose behind the decision of releasing him."

Pakistan authorities have resisted immense pressure for his release since his arrest in Karachi in February 2010.

Many believe the arrest was made to stop him negotiating with the Afghan government and cutting Pakistan out of the talks.

His arrest infuriated Mr Karzai, who last month reiterated demands for his release when he travelled to Pakistan for talks with Mr Sharif.

Baradar, 55, was born in the southern province of Uruzgan and fought the Soviet forces in the late 1980s.

He co-founded the Taliban and became a trusted friend of Omar, rising to become his top military strategist.

After the fall of the Taliban, he fled to Pakistan and became the most senior leader in the organisation's Quetta Shura branch after Omar.

He is credited with bringing together all factions of the Taliban under one umbrella and commands great respect and influence in the movement both in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Even before his detention, he had reached out to the Karzai government and steps to begin peace talks had been taken.

Baradar is the first Taliban prisoner released under the mechanism agreed by the two sides at the Chequers summit in the UK earlier this year.

Pakistan has released at least 33 Taliban inmates over the last year at the request of the Afghan government.

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Syria Completes Chemical Weapon List Handover

Syria has completed the handover of its chemical arsenal inventory, the world's chemical weapons watchdog says.

Confirmation of the handover came ahead of the Saturday deadline issued to Syrian president Bashar al Assad's regime in a US-Russian disarmament plan.

The Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said in an email: "OPCW has confirmed that it has received the expected disclosure from the Syrian government regarding its chemical weapons programme.

"The Technical Secretariat is currently reviewing the information received."

More follows...

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Nairobi Shopping Mall: Gunmen Kill 'At Least 10'

At least 10 people have been killed in a shootout at a shopping mall in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, according to Sky sources.

Police chief Benson Kibue said the gunmen were attempting to rob a shop inside the Westgate centre when the shootout began.

Witnesses said around half a dozen grenades were also detonated.

Abdi Osman Adan, a journalist in Nairobi, told Sky News staff at a supermarket and a jewellery store had reportedly been taken hostage.

Shoppers leave the mall, which is situated in an affluent area of Nairobi

Witnesses reported seeing gunmen "firing at any police officers who tried to approach the building", he said.

Rob Vandijk, who works at the Dutch embassy, said he was eating at a restaurant inside the mall when the attackers threw hand grenades inside the building.

He said he heard gunfire and people screaming as they dropped to the ground.

Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government tweeted: "We're doing our job to ensure that everyone is evacuated to safety. This is a scene of crime."

The shootout happened inside a mall in Kenya's capital city

In a separate message, Kenya Police wrote: "We urge the public to remain calm, stop any form of speculation, especially online, and let us resolve this quickly."

Westgate is situated in western Nairobi and is popular with both expatriates and rich Kenyans.

According to the centre's website, it is the city's "premier shopping mall" and offers a "serene and safe enviornment away from the city centre hubbub".

It has more than 80 stores and features a waterfall with tropical gardens.

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Rhino Poaching Deaths Set For Record High

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent, in the Eastern Cape

The number of rhinos killed in South Africa looks set to exceed last year's record total.

With just three months left in 2013, the number of rhinos killed is more than 500 and appears almost certain to top 2012's death toll of 668.

The South African Government has already sent in the military to the country's flagship game reserve, the Kruger National Park, to help in the fight against poaching.

There is also a plethora of independently-funded efforts to save the animal which faces extinction for the second time in a century.

One man doing his fair share is veterinarian Dr William Fowlds who is the founder of Rhino Lifeline and managed to persuade the South African bank Investec to help financially support his efforts.

Veterinarians work with a rhino injured by poachers

The Investec cash has helped pay for helicopters and medical supplies so Dr Fowlds can track rhinos from the air, fire tranquilisers into them, then drill tiny holes in their horns into which chips are inserted so the rangers can keep track of them.

DNA is also taken and stored on the national database in Pretoria.

:: Warning: The video on this story shows animals in distress and receiving medical treatment.

Dr Fowlds was the first vet on the scene when three rhinos were attacked by poachers 18 months ago on the Kariega Game Reserve. One was so badly mutilated, he died hours later.

But somehow Dr Fowlds' prompt work managed to bring the other two back from the brink.

The rangers were traumatised by the sight of these animals with their horns and part of their faces ripped off by the poachers.

They were lying motionless, heavily tranquilised by the thieves. Dr Fowlds set about injecting them with antibiotics, pain-killers and vitamins and tidied their wounds.

Dr William Fowlds is the founder of Rhino Lifeline

They were named Thandi and Themba and the vet team worked frantically to save the two of them. But 24 days later, Themba was found drowned in a waterhole.

Internal injuries were to blame. The vet team was distraught. Dr Fowlds was determined he wasn't going to lose Thandi too.

He performed procedure after procedure on the animal, even performing pioneering skin graft operations on the rhino, snipping skin away from behind her ear and growing it over the bloody hole where the horn had been.

Less than two years on, Thandi is alive and has a new mate. Her mate's horn has had to be cut off to try to protect her from his amorous advances but they are both alive and far less of a poachers' target.

The story of Thandi's survival is well known to South Africans who responded in their hundreds with money and offers of help when the news of Thandi and Themba was first reported.

"Thandi's will to survive has been inspirational," Dr Fowlds told Sky News.

"We would never have put her through all those procedures if she hadn't shown us that. I don't think I have ever come across any animal with such a desire to live. And that's what the world needs to know. These animals want to live and we need to help them."

:: Read the second part of Alex Crawford's report this Sunday as she looks at the drastic protection measures introduced in an attempt to save rhinos from poachers in South Africa.

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Assad 'Is At Stalemate And Wants Ceasefire'

Bashar al Assad's forces are at a stalemate with rebels and the government will soon call for a ceasefire, Syria's deputy prime minister has said.

Speaking on behalf of the Government, Qadri Jamil told The Guardian that neither side was strong enough to win the two year conflict.

"Neither the armed opposition nor the regime is capable of defeating the other side," he said. "This zero balance of forces will not change for a while."

He added that the Syrian economy had lost about $100bn (£62bn) during the war, which has killed more than 100,000 people.

Qadri Jamil said the Syrian economy has collapsed due to the war

Mr Jamil said a ceasefire would be called for at a long-delayed conference in Geneva.

However, leaders of the armed opposition have repeatedly refused to go to what it called Geneva Two unless Mr Assad resigns.

His comments came as US Secretary of State John Kerry said "It is a fact" Mr Assad was responsible for August's chemical weapons attack in Damascus.

He said a UN report was "unequivocal" in its conclusion that the sarin gas attack bore the trace of the regime.

Last week the US and Russia hammered out a deal for Syria to hand over its chemical weapons, which America, France and the UK now want enshrined in a United Nations resolution.

A member of the Free Syrian Army holds an RPG launcher

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he cannot be 100% certain that Syria will carry out its commitments to destroy its chemical weapons stockpiles.

"Will we be able to accomplish it all? I cannot be 100% sure about it," he told a news conference.

"But everything we have seen so far in recent days gives us confidence that this will happen ... I hope so."

Mr Putin, who has been Mr Assad's staunchest ally, said he had strong grounds to believe the chemical attack outside Damascus on August 21, which is believed to have killed 1,400 people, was staged by opponents of the Syrian government.

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Chicago Park Shooting: Child Among 13 Injured

At least 13 people, including a three-year-old child, have been shot in a park in Chicago.

It is thought the attack happened in the Back of the Yards neighbourhood on the city's South Side at 10.15pm on Thursday.

Chicago Fire Department officials said the child was in a critical condition, as are two of the other victims.

"We had multiple victims shot, who were transported to various hospitals throughout the city," said James Mungovan, deputy district chief of the Chicago Fire Department.

Detectives at a sealed off basketball court

No one is believed to be in custody.

Witness Julian Harris told the Chicago Sun-Times that men fired at him from a grey sedan before turning towards Cornell Square Park and firing at people in the area.

He said his three-year-old nephew was wounded in the cheek.

He said: "They hit the light pole next to me, but I ducked down and ran into the house.

"They've been coming round here looking for people to shoot every night, just gang-banging stuff. It's what they do."

Francis John, 70, said she was in her apartment when the attack happened.

Chicago has recently been named America's murder capital

She said she went down to see what was going on and "a lot of youngsters were running scared".

Ms John said she was surprised by what had happened, saying she has lived in the area for 30 years.

She told the Chicago Sun-Times there has not been much gun violence in the neighbourhood in recent years.

FBI figures have shown that Chicago has overtaken New York to become the murder capital of the US with 500 deaths in the last year.

President Barack Obama returned to his adopted hometown earlier this year to appeal for an end to the "senseless" gun violence ravaging Chicago.

He pressed for ambitious gun control measures, which so far have been stalled in the US Congress.

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Greece Protests After 'Neo-Nazi' Killing

Protesters and police have clashed violently in Greece following the murder of a leftist musician by a suspected neo-Nazi.

Police fired tear gas as thousands of people demonstrated against fascism in Athens, the northern city of Thessaloniki and the western city of Patras.

Around 5,000 people shouting "break down the fascists" and wielding banners that read "fascism, never again" took to the streets in the district of western Athens where 34-year-old Pavlos Fyssas was stabbed to death outside a cafe on Wednesday.

Most protested peacefully, but police officers fired volleys of tear gas at a group of demonstrators who pelted them with wooden sticks and stones, and arrested 23 people.

In Thessaloniki, where some 6,000 people marched, police fired tear gas after some protesters smashed shop windows.

Protesters throw rocks and Molotov cocktails - police fired tear gas

Around 1,000 protesters threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at police in Patras, who responded with tear gas. A retired police officer was injured in the scuffles, according to a police source.

A 45-year-old alleged member of the extreme-right Golden Dawn group who was arrested at the scene has confessed to stabbing Mr Fyssas, a left-wing hip hop singer who, his father said, had been "hunted down" and dealt a "professional" stab blow.

The suspect's wife was also arrested for allegedly giving false evidence to police during the investigation.

Golden Dawn has denied any connection to the murder, which came a few days after a group of communists were beaten by suspected neo-Nazis.

Protesters buckle under the effects of tear gas

The party, which ranks third in opinion polls despite being implicated in violence, has capitalised on the country's recession plight and widespread anger towards mainstream parties for failing to tackle decades of corruption.

It is widely recognised as being a neo-Nazi organisation and its badge has a design resembling a swastika, although it has rejected this label.

Government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou blamed the killing squarely on Golden Dawn, condemning the group's "raw violence" and calling on other parties to "raise a barrier to the vicious circle of tension and violence".

The anti-fascist protests came as around 20,000 people marched peacefully in Athens, Thessaloniki and other cities during a two-day strike called by the civil servants' union Adedy.

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McCain To Russia: 'Putin Doesn't Respect You'

Vladimir Putin's Letter To America

Updated: 1:25pm UK, Thursday 12 September 2013

By Vladimir Putin, Russian President, for The New York Times

Recent events surrounding Syria have prompted me to speak directly to the American people and their political leaders. It is important to do so at a time of insufficient communication between our societies.

Relations between us have passed through different stages. We stood against each other during the Cold War. But we were also allies once, and defeated the Nazis together. The universal international organisation - the United Nations - was then established to prevent such devastation from ever happening again.

The United Nations' founders understood that decisions affecting war and peace should happen only by consensus, and with America's consent the veto by Security Council permanent members was enshrined in the United Nations Charter. The profound wisdom of this has underpinned the stability of international relations for decades.

No one wants the United Nations to suffer the fate of the League of Nations, which collapsed because it lacked real leverage. This is possible if influential countries bypass the United Nations and take military action without Security Council authorisation.

The potential strike by the United States against Syria, despite strong opposition from many countries and major political and religious leaders, including the Pope, will result in more innocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syria's borders.

A strike would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism. It could undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and further destabilise the Middle East and North Africa. It could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance.

Syria is not witnessing a battle for democracy, but an armed conflict between government and opposition in a multireligious country. There are few champions of democracy in Syria. But there are more than enough Qaeda fighters and extremists of all stripes battling the government.

The United States State Department has designated Al Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, fighting with the opposition, as terrorist organisations. This internal conflict, fuelled by foreign weapons supplied to the opposition, is one of the bloodiest in the world.

Mercenaries from Arab countries fighting there, and hundreds of militants from Western countries and even Russia, are an issue of our deep concern. Might they not return to our countries with experience acquired in Syria? After all, after fighting in Libya, extremists moved on to Mali. This threatens us all.

From the outset, Russia has advocated peaceful dialogue enabling Syrians to develop a compromise plan for their own future. We are not protecting the Syrian government, but international law. We need to use the United Nations Security Council and believe that preserving law and order in today's complex and turbulent world is one of the few ways to keep international relations from sliding into chaos.

The law is still the law, and we must follow it whether we like it or not. Under current international law, force is permitted only in self-defence or by the decision of the Security Council. Anything else is unacceptable under the United Nations Charter and would constitute an act of aggression.

No one doubts that poison gas was used in Syria. But there is every reason to believe it was used not by the Syrian army, but by opposition forces, to provoke intervention by their powerful foreign patrons, who would be siding with the fundamentalists. Reports that militants are preparing another attack - this time against Israel - cannot be ignored.

It is alarming that military intervention in internal conflicts in foreign countries has become commonplace for the United States. Is it in America's long-term interest? I doubt it. Millions around the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy but as relying solely on brute force, cobbling coalitions together under the slogan "you're either with us or against us".

But force has proved ineffective and pointless. Afghanistan is reeling, and no one can say what will happen after international forces withdraw. Libya is divided into tribes and clans. In Iraq the civil war continues, with dozens killed each day. In the United States, many draw an analogy between Iraq and Syria, and ask why their government would want to repeat recent mistakes.

No matter how targeted the strikes or how sophisticated the weapons, civilian casualties are inevitable, including the elderly and children, whom the strikes are meant to protect.

The world reacts by asking: if you cannot count on international law, then you must find other ways to ensure your security. Thus a growing number of countries seek to acquire weapons of mass destruction. This is logical: if you have the bomb, no one will touch you. We are left with talk of the need to strengthen non-proliferation, when in reality this is being eroded.

We must stop using the language of force and return to the path of civilised diplomatic and political settlement.

A new opportunity to avoid military action has emerged in the past few days. The United States, Russia and all members of the international community must take advantage of the Syrian government's willingness to place its chemical arsenal under international control for subsequent destruction.

Judging by the statements of President Obama, the United States sees this as an alternative to military action.

I welcome the president's interest in continuing the dialogue with Russia on Syria. We must work together to keep this hope alive, as we agreed to at the Group of 8 meeting in Lough Erne in Northern Ireland in June, and steer the discussion back toward negotiations.

If we can avoid force against Syria, this will improve the atmosphere in international affairs and strengthen mutual trust. It will be our shared success and open the door to cooperation on other critical issues.

My working and personal relationship with President Obama is marked by growing trust. I appreciate this. I carefully studied his address to the nation on Tuesday. And I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States' policy is "what makes America different. It's what makes us exceptional".

It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord's blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.

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Assad To Destroy Chemical Weapons 'In A Year'

Syrian leader Bashar al Assad has said he is committed to destroying his stockpile of chemical arms - but warned it would take a year to do so.

In an interview with Fox News, Mr Assad said he was committed to getting rid of the arsenal but conceded it would cost at least £600m ($1bn).

And he also challenged America to foot the bill.

"It needs a lot of money, it needs about one billion (US dollars)," he told the US crew at the presidential palace in Damascus.

"If the American administration is ready to pay those money, and to take responsibility of bringing toxic materials to the United States, why don't they do it?"

Mr Assad denied responsibility for the gas attack. Picture: Fox News

Mr Assad also insisted that his decision to destroy the weapons was not forced upon him by the threat of US strikes.

He said destroying the weapons was "a very complicated operation, technically".

"So it depends, you have to ask the experts what they mean by quickly. It has a certain schedule," he said.

"It needs a year, or maybe a little bit more."

Assad forces have been shelling in Idlib, activists say

Mr Assad also said a UN report that found "clear and convincing evidence" of a sarin nerve gas attack in Syria last month is "unrealistic", and denied responsibility for it.

"Sarin gas is called kitchen gas," he said.

"You know why? Because anybody can make sarin in his house. Any rebel can make sarin.

"Second, we know that all the rebels are supported by governments. So any government that would have such chemical can hand it over."

Rebels take cover in the Idlib countryside in northwestern Syria

He also used the one-hour interview to criticise the American stance in the Syrian crisis.

He said that, unlike Russia, Washington had tried to get involved in Syria's leadership and governance.

And as diplomatic wrangling over Syria's chemical weapons continues, a roadside bomb in a central region of the country has killed 19 people.

A Homs province official said the explosion targeted a bus in the village of Jbourin.

More than 100,000 people have been killed in Syria's civil war

And Turkey has closed one of its border gates to Syria following clashes near the town of Azaz, which is close to the Turkish frontier.

The fighting between the Western-backed Free Syrian Army fighters and an al Qaeda-affiliated rebel group appears to have ceased.

The clashes comes as US Senator John McCain penned an opinion piece for a Russian website in which he criticises Vladimir Putin's close ties with the Assad regime.

Mr McCain's column was in response to Mr Putin's piece in The New York Times last week which was highly critical of America's response to the Syrian crisis.

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Syria: Gas Attack Evidence 'Implicates Rebels'

Syria: How The Crisis Has Developed

Updated: 11:34am UK, Wednesday 18 September 2013

:: March 2011 - Protesters stage demonstrations in Damascus and security forces in Daraa shoot dead several campaigners, leading to unrest and violence.

:: May - The Syrian military deploys tanks in a bid to quash demonstrations.

:: July 19 - The UK freezes £100m of Syrian assets.

:: August 18 - US President Barack Obama calls on Bashar al Assad to step down. The US freezes all assets of the Syrian government.

:: November 16 - The Free Syrian Army attacks a military base near Damascus.

:: February 4, 2012 - A UN Security Council resolution on Syria is rejected for a second time by Russia and China.

:: March 1 - Government troops seize the Baba Amr district of Homs after an intense battle lasting for several weeks.

:: April 12 - A UN-brokered ceasefire comes into force after fierce fighting in the country.

:: May 23 - Dozens of people, many of them women and children, die in Houla, near Homs. Foreign Secretary William Hague says they were "massacred at the hands of Syrian forces". The UN later accuses the Syrian military of committing war crimes.

:: August - Barack Obama says the use of chemical weapons against civilians would represent the crossing of a "red line".

:: March 6, 2013 - Foreign Secretary William Hague says Britain will provide opposition forces with "non-lethal equipment for the protection of civilians".

:: April-May - Britain says there is credible evidence to suggest Syrian forces have used chemical weapons in Adra, Darayya and Saraqiq and calls for an investigation by the UN.

:: April 29 - Syrian prime minister Wael Nader al Halqi survives an assassination attempt as a car bomb explodes in Damascus.

:: May 14 - Footage of a Syrian rebel commander apparently cutting out a soldier's heart is condemned by the country's National Coalition.

:: June 6 - Syrian forces, backed by Hizbollah fighters, recapture the strategic border town of Qusair.

:: June 6 - Human Rights Watch releases footage which it claims shows Syrian troops shelling school buildings.

:: July 25 - The UN says the number of people killed in the civil war has reached 100,000.

:: August 21 - An alleged chemical attack in Damascus kills 1,300 people, according to the opposition. Doctors Without Borders says 335 people died from "neurotoxic" symptoms.

:: August 25 - Foreign Secretary William Hague says a chemical attack by the Syrian government is the only "plausible explanation" for the deaths.

:: August 26 - UN inspectors brave sniper fire to gather "valuable" evidence from one site of the alleged chemical attack, as the US Secretary of State John Kerry says the Assad regime would face action over the "moral obscenity".

:: August 27 - The UK recalls Parliament to hold a vote on August 29 on the use of chemical weapons in Syria. David Cameron and Barack Obama agree there is "no doubt" the Assad regime is responsible for the alleged attack.

:: August 28 - Britain tables a draft UN resolution condemning the alleged attack and "authorising all necessary measures".

:: August 29 - David Cameron is forced to rule out military action after narrowly losing a Commons vote on the principle of intervention.

:: August 31 - President Obama says the US "should take military action" in Syria but confirms he will seek authorisation from Congress before launching any strikes against the Assad regime. He says the US is "prepared to strike whenever we choose".

:: September 2 - a French intelligence reports claims the Assad regime was responsible for a "massive and coordinated" chemical attack in Damascus.

:: September 3 - Israel says it has carried out a joint missile test with the US in the Mediterranean.

:: September 4 - The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approve a draft US resolution authorising the use of military force in Syria. Meanwhile, MPs in France debate whether to join any possible military intervention, although they do not vote on the subject.

:: September 5 - World leaders meet at the G20 summit in Russia, with the crisis in Syria high on the agenda.

:: September 6 - Britain pledges £52m in aid to Syria, as David Cameron hits back at a reported jibe from Russia that Britain is a "small island".

:: September 8 - The RAF sends up two Typhoon jets in Cyprus as warplanes, thought to have come from Syria, enter international airspace. Meanwhile John Kerry says more nations than his country can use are prepared to join military action against Syria.

:: September 9 - Russia urges Syrian President Bashar al Assad to hand over his chemical weapons to avert a US-led military strike on Damascus.

:: September 10 - President Barack Obama delays a Congress vote on air strikes as Russia gives the US its plan for putting Syria's chemical weapons under international contral.

:: September 11 - A UN report confirms at least eight massacres were carried by the Assad regime and one by rebels over the past 18 months.

:: September 12 - Syria formally applies to join the Chemical Weapons Convention. Russia and US hold two days of talks on the issue.

:: September 14 - The US and Russia agree on a giving Syria a deadline of one week to produce a list of chemical weapons they possess. 

:: September 16 - British, French and US foreign ministers meet in Paris and warn "there will be consequences" if Syria fails to abide by the plan to hand over its chemical weapons arsenal.

:: September 18 - Syria hands Russia "new materials" on the Damascus gas attack which it claims implicate rebels. Russia also calls the UN report into the incident "biased" and "politicised".

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