Afghanistan Suicide Bomber Kills Worshippers

A suicide bomber has attacked a mosque in Afghanistan as people gathered to celebrate the Eid al Adha holiday.

Between 36 and 41 people, including at least five children, died in the attack in the town of Maymana, capital of northern Faryab province.

Top provincial officials, including the governor and the police chief, were inside the building when the bomber set off his explosives outside the packed Eid Gah mosque.

The officials were not hurt, but the dead included police officers, soldiers, intelligence agents and civilians. Dozens were wounded.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but suicide bombings are a favourite weapon of Taliban Islamists trying to topple the Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.

One eyewitness, Sayed Moqeed, described the bomber as appearing to be in his early teens.

"Suddenly I heard a very big explosion," he said. "Everywhere were pieces of bodies, hands and limbs. The suicide attacker was in police uniform, he looked to be around 14 or 15 years old."

Deputy Governor Abdul Satar Barez said: "The targets of the bomber were all the officials inside the mosque."

It appeared to be the deadliest suicide attack in recent months.

On September 4, 25 civilians were killed and more than 35 wounded in Nanghar province, and on September 1, 12 people were killed and 47 wounded in a suicide attack in Wardak province.

Mr Karzai strongly condemned the attack, saying that those who carried it out were "enemies of Islam and humanity."

The attack came as Mr Karzai was urging Taliban insurgents "to stop killing other Afghans".

In his Eid al Adha message to the nation, Mr Karzai called on the insurgents to "stop the destruction of our mosques, hospitals and schools".

The United Nations says that Taliban attacks account for the vast majority of civilian casualties in the 11-year war. The insurgents routinely deny that they are responsible for attacks on civilians, saying they target only foreign troops or members of the Afghan security forces.

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Syria: Deadly Car Bomb Attack In Capital

At least five people have been killed and 32 wounded in a car bombing in southern Damascus, according to Syrian state television.

The blast in the capital comes on the first day of a ceasefire brokered by UN and Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

The regime and the main rebel force, the Free Syrian Army, had both agreed to temporarily lay down their arms.

"The explosion of a booby-trapped car outside the Omar bin Khattab mosque in the Daf Shawk district killed and wounded dozens of people," the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The attack comes hours after three people were reported to have been killed by tank and sniper fire in the Damascus suburb of Harasta, which was apparently targeted in a violation of the temporary truce agreed to mark the four-day Muslim holiday of Eid al Adha.

The Syrian army said it had been responding to attacks by armed rebels that were in violation of the ceasefire.

"Armed terrorist groups attacked military positions, thereby clearly violating the halt to military operations agreed by the army command.

"Our valiant armed forces are responding to these violations and pursuing these groups," the military said in a statement, adding that rebel attacks had taken place against its positions in Deir Ezzor, Daraa, Idlib and in the Damascus region.

The Syrian army had said it would cease military operations from Friday to Monday for the Eid al Adha holiday, but warned it would react if "armed terrorist groups" carry out attacks or reinforce their positions, or if fighters cross into the country.

President Assad pictured at a prayer service on Friday

Rebels in a northern town close to the Turkish border also reported one of their fighters was shot dead by a sniper, and a Reuters journalist in the town heard what sounded like four rounds of tank fire.

In a statement read on state television after the truce deal, the Syrian army said it would still respond to gunfire or roadside bombs and keep rebels from bolstering their positions or getting supplies.

A Free Syrian Army commander also said rebels would retaliate if they were attacked.

On Friday morning, Syrian state television showed President Bashar al Assad attending morning prayers for the start of Eid at a mosque in Damascus.

He was pictured smiling and looking relaxed as he spoke to other worshippers, in his first television appearance for more than a month.

During prayers, Imam Walid Abdel Haq called on Syrians to "stop quarrelling because you are all brothers".

"Do you not see what has been happening for two years in the country, the destruction and death? Stop this," he said.

Protests were reported to have taken place in Raqa in the north east, where security forces fired tear gas, and in the southern Deraa province, where three people were injured as police fired live rounds to disperse demonstrators.

Activists said protests also took place in Damascus and Aleppo.

In the Idlib village of Al Habit protesters chanted against Mr Assad, saying: "Traitor, give up, you have destroyed Syria."

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Malala Shooting: Police Name Prime Suspect

Police have named the prime suspect in connection with the shooting of Malala Yousafzai, the teenage activist who spoke out against the Taliban.

Detectives are attempting to track down 23-year-old Atta Ullah Khan, a chemistry student from the Swat district where Malala was attacked.

Khan's mother, brother, and fiancee have been arrested, as well as six other men.

The suspect's relatives are not accused of involvement, a senior police official is reported to have said.

Malala is being treated at a hospital in Birmingham

Alam Zeb, the principal at Jahanzeb College where Khan is studying for a physics degree, said Khan had given school officials three or four dates of birth.

He condemned the attack and said he was surprised to hear that a former student may have been involved.

The 15-year-old girl became a symbol of courage after being shot in the head by the Taliban earlier this month for demanding education for girls.

She is now being treated in Britain, at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.

The teenager is a high-profile campaigner against the Taliban

The hospital has said she continues to make steady progress and is in a stable condition after she was admitted a week ago following initial treatment in Pakistan.

She had been able to stand with help for the first time in hospital and was "communicating very freely", according to Dr Dave Rosser, medical director of the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.

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Syria: Army 'Shells City' Before Ceasefire

Witnesses say Syrian troops have opened fire on a district in Damascus, hours after the country's army agreed to a ceasefire.

The military and the main rebel force agreed to halt military operations from Friday for the Muslim holiday weekend.

But troops stationed on a mountain close to the capital Damascus are said to have shelled Hajar al Aswad, a neighbourhood which is home to many refugees.

In a statement read on state television after the ceasefire was agreed, the Syrian army said it would still respond to gunfire or roadside bombs and keep rebels from bolstering their positions or getting supplies.

"Military operations will cease on Syrian territory as of Friday morning until Monday," the statement said.

"(The military) reserves the right to respond to continuing attacks on civilians and government forces by armed groups."

A Free Syrian Army commander said rebels would also retaliate if they were attacked during Eid al Adha. They also demanded the release of detainees by Friday.

General Mustafa al Sheikh said: "We will respect the ceasefire from Friday morning if the Syrian army does the same. But if they fire a single shot, we will respond with 100. So we reserve the right to respond."

However, the spokesman of Islamist Ansar al Islam, Abu Moaz, said his fighters will not commit to the ceasefire brokered by UN-Arab mediator Lakhdar Brahimi.

Mr Brahimi proposed a four-day ceasefire for the Muslim holiday, saying it could lead to a longer truce and political negotiations between the sides.

Rebel forces have dismissed the idea, saying they don't trust the regime of President Bashar Assad to stick to its promises.

Abu Moaz also said the fighters doubt the government will honour the truce.

If followed through, a ceasefire would mark the first real halt in the 19-month conflict that human rights groups say has killed more than 35,000 people.

Other rebel groups have also refused to accept the proposal, with the radical Islamic Al Nusra Front saying it will not lay down its weapons and denouncing the truce as a "trick".

Fighting continued to rage on the eve of the holiday, with rebel forces clashing with regime troops as they moved into new areas of the second city of Aleppo and battles also continuing elsewhere.

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US Ambassador Attack In Libya: Man Held

A Tunisian man reportedly linked to the US consulate attack in Libya, in which the American ambassador was killed, has been detained.

The suspect, 28-year-old Ali Harzi, was in custody in the capital Tunis, said interior ministry spokesman Tarrouch Khaled, adding: "His case is in the hands of justice."

Mr Khaled did not elaborate, while the US State Department in Washington had no comment.

Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans died in the attack on the US diplomatic post in Benghazi on September 11.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta recently said the US has been looking into the arrests of two Tunisian men detained in Turkey reportedly over attacks on a consulate in Libya last month.

Meanwhile, a series of State Department emails has raised questions about what the White House knew about the attack in the aftermath.

The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said five days after the attack that it was a "spontaneous" reaction to protests over an anti-Islam film.

US ambassador Chris Stevens was among the dead in the assault

But two hours after the assault began, the White House was told a militant group claimed responsibility for the consulate violence, according to one email.

It was sent to intelligence officials and the White House situation room and said the Islamist group Ansar al Sharia claimed responsibility on Facebook and Twitter, and also called for an attack on the US embassy in the Libyan capital Tripoli.

The document, according to the Associated Press, may fuel Republican attempts ahead of next month's presidential election to show that the White House knew it was a terrorist attack.

Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney and politicians in his party have accused the Obama administration of misleading Americans about the nature of the atrocity.

The email was one of three sent by State Department officials in Washington. The first email said its regional security officer reported the mission in Benghazi was under attack, and that "20 armed people fired shots".

It said Mr Stevens was there, and that he and four others were in the compound's safe haven.

Forty-nine minutes later, an email said the firing at the site "has stopped and the compound has been cleared," while a response team was attempting to locate people.

The next message, one hour and 13 minutes after the second and two hours after the attack began, a message reported Ansar al Sharia claimed responsibility for the attack.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the review board she appointed to investigate the attack is "looking at everything," rather than "cherry picking one story here or one document there."

White House press secretary Jay Carney said the emails represented just one piece of information the administration was receiving at the time.

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Hurricane Sandy Brings Heavy Flooding To Jamaica

Hurricane Sandy tore down power lines and trees as it pounded Jamaica, before heading for Cuba and the Bahamas.

Schools and businesses were closed and authorities moved residents in low-lying, flood-prone areas into shelters amid steady rain and fierce winds.

Residents reported widespread power outages, flooded streets and some severely damaged homes.

One man was crushed to death by stones that fell from a hillside as he tried to get into his house in a rural village near Kingston, according to a police official.

Widespread flooding has been reported across Jamaica

Cruise ships changed their itineraries to avoid the storm, which made landfall five miles east of the capital and airports were closed.

Curfews were imposed on 80 communities in an attempt to prevent the looting which has followed previous storms.

Many people refused to evacuate their homes because they were fearful that their possessions would be stolen.

Officers said suspected looters shot and wounded a police official as he led a group through a volatile section of West Kingston called Craig Town.

Storm couds gather over Cuba as Sandy approaches

In some southern towns on Jamaica, a few crocodiles were caught in rushing floodwaters that carried them out of the mangrove thickets, into housing districts, local residents reported.

One large crocodile reportedly took up temporary residence in a family's front yard in the city of Portmore.

A hurricane warning was in effect for Cuba, where forecasters said Sandy was expected to make landfall as a Category One storm.

Sandy has dumped heavy rain on Jamaica and Cuba

Computer models show Sandy is likely to cross eastern Cuba before losing hurricane strength as it approaches the Bahamas. It is then forecast to become a hurricane again as it passes over the island chain.

"It is a big storm and it's going to grow in size after it leaves Cuba," said Michael Brennan, a hurricane forecaster at the National Hurricane Centre in Miami.

Sandy is expected to dump as much as 15 to 30cm of rain across parts of Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and eastern Cuba, with as much as 50cm possible in some places, forecasters said.

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Mining Firm Sacks 8,500 Striking Workers

The mining firm Gold Fields has fired 8,500 miners amid the bitter disputes crippling the industry in South Africa.

The company, the world's fourth-largest bullion producer, said it had carried out its threat against strikers at its KDC East mine after they failed to meet a new deadline to return to work.

Spokesman Sven Lunsche said negotiations had failed and the company had issued dismissal notices to employees, who have 24 hours to appeal.

"We have now reached a situation where the mine is becoming economically very marginal - we need to resume production as soon as possible to prevent total closure," he told Sky News.

"We have dismissed the miners, but hopefully they will use the appeal process to come back to work."

The move was described as a "last throw of the dice" by the firm, which says the dispute has cost it more than £107m.

Mr Lunsche said Gold Fields would begin hiring new staff shortly, adding: "We need to resume production, and we need workers who are willing to do that."

Its larger KDC West mine has seen around half the usual staff numbers return to work.

The development is the latest twist in a wider dispute that has left the South African mining industry battling its worst industrial unrest for decades.

More than 80,000 miners have gone on strike since August, hitting growth and investor confidence in the continent's biggest economy.

Related stories:

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Obama Aggressive In Final Presidential Debate

Romney Avoids Foreign Policy Blow

Updated: 10:35am UK, Tuesday 23 October 2012

By Dominic Waghorn, US Correspondent

This was always going to be a tough one for Mitt Romney.

The Republican challenger has not distinguished himself on foreign policy. 

And on many foreign issues there is not enough swinging room between him and the President to let him land a punch.

The President probably won on points, but his challenger held his own and made no gaffes. Given his previous form on foreign policy, that's an improvement.

This debate was about foreign policy when the election is not. The economy remains the overriding issue.

It was predictable then that both men would try to bring the debate back to domestic issues.

President Obama was the first, 25 minutes in, stressing that nation building starts at home.

Mr Romney joined in, forcefully making the argument that America will only be respected overseas if it's strong at home. 

Then followed a slew of argument that had nothing to do with foreign policy from healthcare reform to classroom sizes. 

There were cheers in the adjoining "spin room" from journalists when moderator Bob Schieffer tried to return the discussion to foreign affairs even if it was largely in vain.

With the odds stacked against him, Mr Romney was largely avoiding losing.

His most dangerous moment was one of his own creation, a tactical error he could have avoided.

He probably should not have mentioned foreign trips, given how badly his last one went, offending the British, Palestinians and the press travelling with him.

But he brought up the President's visits overseas all the same, accusing him of indulging in an "apology" tour allowing his opponent to come right back at him.

"If you want to talk about trips governor," came back the president. Mr Obama then compared his visit to Israel, which included a tour of the Yad Vashem holocaust museum, to Mitt Romney's which he said was more about attending fundraisers.

Many Americans will not have been watching. This was a big sports night.

In the Tailgaters Sports Bar in Daytona Beach up the coast, most people weren't focused on the debate. The Chicago Bears were playing the Detroit Lions, by coincidence the home town teams of each candidate.

The game was on a much bigger screen than the debate in the bar.

But a few were paying attention to the candidates.

Carl Dephillipe told Sky News the debate had made all the difference to his vote.

"I am a Democrat so I was leaning towards Obama but I hadn't heard anything about his foreign policy till tonight so finally being to sit down tonight to listen to his foreign policy I'll definitely be giving him my vote," he said.

Further down the bar David Daley was also critical of Mr Romney.

"I think he's basically selling the American people a dream. That he's promising a lot of things that he's not going to be able to do," he said. 

For the record, the President's team beat Mr Romney's by 13 to 7.

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Taiwan Hospital Fire: 12 Dead, Dozens Hurt

At least 12 people have been killed and 72 wounded in a fire at a hospital in southern Taiwan.

The fire started in the early hours in a nursing facility housing mainly bed-bound patients in Tainan city.

A fire official said the blaze could have started in a storage room on the second floor of the five-storey building - part of the public Sinying Hospital.

Premier Sean Chen expressed his shock at the incident and sent his condolences to the families of the victims.

More follows...

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Obama Aggressive In Final Presidential Debate

Barack Obama went on the attack over Mitt Romney's perceived shortcomings on foreign policy in the third and final debate ahead of November's election.

The incumbent President said the former Massachusetts governor had been "all over the map" in his positions on major foreign policy issues.

"Every time you have offered an opinion you have been wrong," he said.

"You said we should have gone into Iraq, despite the fact there were no weapons of mass destruction. You said we should still have troops in Iraq to this day. You said we shouldn't be passing nuclear treaties with Russia."

Mr Romney, meanwhile, accused Mr Obama of failing to tackle Islamic extremism and missing opportunities presented by the Arab Spring.

"I congratulate him on taking out Osama bin Laden and going after the leadership of al Qaeda but we can't kill our way out of this mess," he said.

He said Mr Obama had sent out the wrong message by embarking on an "apology tour" of the Middle East during which he said the US had at times dictated to other nations, a charge dismissed by the President as a "big whopper".

The Republican challenger also said he would take a tougher line on Iran, singling out the country's controversial nuclear programme as the greatest threat to US security.

"I think from the very beginning, one of the challenges we've had with Iran is that they have looked at this administration and felt that the administration was not as strong as it needed to be," he said.

"We're four years closer to a nuclear Iran and we should not have wasted these four years."

Mr Obama committed to stand with Israel against threats from Iran or any other nation, but said terrorist networks were the principle concern for national security.

He highlighted his administration's change of focus of attention to "those who actually killed us on 9/11", saying that under this strategy "al Qaeda's core leadership has been decimated".

The President also dismissed claims he had run down the armed forces to levels not seen since the early 20th century.

"You mentioned the navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well, governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets because the nature of our military's changed," he said to laughter from the audience.

The heated debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida repeatedly strayed into domestic policy, with Mr Romney arguing that national security depends on a strong economy.

Going into the debate the candidates were neck-and-neck after the Romney campaign was boosted by good performances in the first two clashes.

A poll taken by CBS immediately afterwards suggested voters thought Mr Obama had performed best in Boca Raton, by 53% to 23%.

Both men will now embark on two weeks of whirlwind of campaigning.

Mr Obama is due to speak in six states during a two-day trip that begins on Wednesday, while Mr Romney is expected to visit two or three states a day.

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Beirut Protests: Tense Stand-Off In Lebanon

Police in Beirut have fired warning shots and thrown tear gas at hundreds of angry protesters attempting to storm the Prime Minister's office in Beirut.

Clashes erupted during the funeral for top intelligence chief Brigadier General Wissam al Hassan, who was killed in a massive car bombing on Friday.

Forces had earlier set up road blocks and cordoned off Beirut's Martyrs' Square as well as boosting security in the capital.

Wissam al Hassan was killed by a massive car bomb on Friday

Currently, the scene has quietened to a tense stand-off, which some protesters refusing to leave the area.

Mr al Hassan, 47, was a powerful opponent of Syria in Lebanon and headed an investigation over the summer that led to the arrest of former information minister Michel Samaha, a politican who was one of Syria's most loyal allies.

He was among eight people killed in the attack on Friday, which many have blamed on the Syrian regime.

The protesters believe the government is too close to Syria and its ally in Lebanon, the Shiite group Hizbollah.

They are calling for Prime Minister Najib Mikati to quit over Mr al Hassan's assassination.

Even before the bombing, the civil war in neighboring Syria had set off violence in Lebanon and deepened tensions between supporters and opponents of President Bashar Assad's regime.

The attack heightened fears that Lebanon could easily plunge back into cycles of sectarian violence and reprisal that have haunted it for decades.

Dozens of anti-Syrian protesters erected eight tents near the cabinet headquarters in central Beirut, saying they will stay until Prime Minister Najib Mikati's government, which is dominated by the Shiite militant group Hizbollah and its allies, resigns.

Politicians salute Mr al Hassan's coffin during the funeral

Hizbollah is Syria's most powerful ally in Lebanon, which for much of the past 30 years has lived under Syrian military and political domination.

Syria's hold on Lebanon began to slip in 2005, when former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, an opponent of Syria, was assassinated by a truck bomb along Beirut's Mediterranean waterfront.

Syria denied any role, but broad public outrage in Lebanon expressed in massive street protests forced Damascus to withdraw its tens of thousands of troops from the country.

For years after the pullouts, there was a string of attacks on anti-Syrian figures in Lebanon without any trials for those responsible.

Al Hassan will be buried in Martyrs' Square next to the late Hariri.

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'Al Qaeda Terror Plot' Foiled By Jordan

Jordanian authorities have foiled an al Qaeda plot targeting shopping malls and Western diplomats, according to reports.

Sameeh Maaytah, a spokesman for the Jordanian government, said 11 suspected militants were in police custody.

State news agency Petra said they were planning a wave of attacks on diplomatic missions, hotels and other key sites.

Mr Maaytah said the men - who are all Jordanian citizens - had brought arms into Jordan from neighbouring Syria to use in the alleged plot.

"The kind of weapons, explosives, they were ready to use include mortars and machine guns," he said

"I say again they hold Jordanian nationality, they went to Syria and came back using the Samr route which crosses the Syrian-Jordanian border."

Authorities said there were several possible targets in capital Amman

He added that al Qaeda operatives based in Iraq have been assisting the suspects with the manufacture of explosives.

The suspects were arrested over the past few days by Jordanian intelligence agents, he said.

A judicial source told AFP that the case had been referred to the prosecutor of the state security court - a military tribunal.

"They will face two charges: conspiracy to carry out terrorist acts and possession of explosives," said the source who declined to be named. The charges carry the death penalty.

The group scouted possible targets in Amman, experimented with explosives after getting hold of raw materials to make bombs, and had begun selecting possible suicide bomb candidates, Petra said.

Among their alleged plans were attacks on two malls as well as a major attack in the upmarket Abdoun neighbourhood in western Amman.

A security source told Reuters the cell had manufactured explosives "aimed at inflicting the heaviest losses possible".

"The group was able to devise new types of explosives to be used for the first time and planned to add TNT to increase their destructive impact," the source said.

Jordan is a key US ally and is one of the safest countries in the Middle East. However, it has seen al Qaeda-linked violence before.

In 2005, triple suicide bomb attacks at luxury hotels in the capital Amman killed 60 people.

Sunday's announcement that attacks have been foiled comes days after several reports that Jordanian authorities have arrested jihadists in recent months who cross into Syria to join the anti-regime armed insurgency there.

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Lebanon: Protests After Beirut Bomb Blast

Protesters in Lebanon have burned tyres and set up roadblocks amid growing anger over a car bomb that killed eight people, including one of the country's top security officials.

There are fears that the devastating attack threatens to bring Syria's civil war to Lebanon.

Lebanese troops stood guard at road junctions and official buildings in the capital Beirut as the Lebanese cabinet held an emergency meeting to decide on what, if any, action to take.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati later said the blast was linked to the civil war in neighbouring Syria and revealed that he had agreed to stay on as premier at President Michel Sleiman's request because of "national interest".

Among the victims of the Beirut blast was Brigadier General Wissam al Hassan, head of a Lebanese intelligence department and an opponent of Syrian President Bashar al Assad.

Politics in Lebanon and Syria are closely connected

Brig-Gen al Hassan, 47, headed an investigation over the summer that led to the arrest of former information minister Michel Samaha, one of Mr Assad's most loyal allies in Lebanon.

Mr Samaha, who is in custody, is accused of plotting a campaign of bombings and assassinations to spread sectarian violence in Lebanon at Syria's behest.

Also indicted in the August sweep was Syrian Brigadier General Ali Mamlouk, one of Mr Assad's highest aides.

Dozens were left wounded in the blast in Beirut's mainly Christian Achrafieh neighbourhood.

Lebanon's fractious politics are closely entwined with Syria's.

The countries share political and sectarian ties and rivalries, often causing events on one side of the border to have a "knock on" effect on the other.

Lebanon's opposition is an anti-Syrian bloc, while the prime minister and much of the government are pro-Syrian.

The civil war in Syria has laid bare Lebanon's sectarian tensions as well.

Many of Lebanon's Sunni Muslims have backed Syria's mainly Sunni rebels, while Shi'ite Muslims have tended to back Mr Assad.

Brig-Gen al Hassan was a Sunni whose stances were widely seen to oppose Syria and Shi'ite Hezbollah, the country's most powerful ally in Lebanon.

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Gaddafi's Ex-Spokesman Moussa Ibrahim 'Captured'

Muammar Gaddafi's former spokesman Moussa Ibrahim has reportedly been captured - exactly a year after the death of the Libyan dictator.

Ibrahim, who was the mouthpiece of the Gaddafi regime during last year's war, was caught in the town of Tarhouna, 40 miles south of Tripoli, according to a statement from the Prime Minister's office.

"Moussa Ibrahim has been arrested by forces belonging to the Libyan government in the town of Tarhouna and he is being transferred to Tripoli to begin interrogation," the statement said.

Despite the official statement, a recording, purportedly made by Ibrahim, insisted he had not been caught and was not in Libya. 

Scores of Libyans gathered at the main Martyrs' Square to celebrate the anniversary of Gaddafi's death and news of Ibrahim's capture.

"The happy news that we heard today, of course I am indescribably happy," said one local resident.

"That is why I went out to Martyrs' Square happy and I can't describe my feelings.

"I thank God and I pray that God protects our country and keeps it safe. I pray God helps us get the other remnants to complete our joy."

Another local resident, Yossef Abu Abeed said: "This is a happy moment which meets the anniversary of the death and capture of the biggest tyrant in history.

"Because God protected this revolution from the start, today in this anniversary, we have captured the horn who misled a lot of Libyans with the media as a weapon, namely Moussa Ibrahim."

Fluent in English, Ibrahim would hold regular press conferences in the luxury Tripoli hotel where journalists stayed during last year's war.

His whereabouts had been unknown since the fall of Tripoli in August 2011, although there had been past reports of his capture.

Saturday marks one year since Gaddafi's capture and death in his hometown of Sirte, after he was caught hiding in a drain pipe.

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