Kenya Mall Massacre: New Footage Of Survivors

By Alex Crawford, Sky News Special Correspondent, in Nairobi

Sky News has obtained footage which shows the lengths some of the survivors of the Nairobi mall massacre went to in order to live.

The pictures were filmed by one of the former military personnel who helped in the rescue.

It shows how some staff in the Nakumatt supermarket climbed into the meat fridge in the butcher section and hid inside for hours to evade the shooting.

When the attackers entered the supermarket spraying bullets everywhere, the shoppers and more than 200 staff inside scattered.

They dived behind counters, hid down aisles and tried to barricade themselves into store cupboards.

One group cowered behind the meat counter. There were about eight of them.

Fred Bosire played dead for up to five hours

But the footage shows a pile of mangled bodies with huge, thick pools of blood around them.

One young woman lying on her side is virtually covered in blood and there is a gaping wound in her head where a bullet has exited.

Another, this time a man, appeared to have died with his hands in front of him attempting to shield his face.

The bullets were so violent, they have broken apart his elbow and upper arm.

They appear to have all been gunned down as they tried to hide from the terrorists.

Two of the gunman were caught on camera during the massacre

One of the security consultants there, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of his work, told Sky News he found no bullet cartridges behind the counter where the dead lay.

But he found several in front of the counter, indicating the attackers had probably leaned over the meat display and sprayed the frightened group at virtual point-blank range.

The pictures are far too gruesome to show in any detail and are extremely hard to view but while the camera is focused on one man's legs, they appear to move.

"We were convinced everyone was dead but we were going around checking if any of the bodies were warm when these legs started twitching," said 'Max' (not his real name).

The collapsed multi-storey car park at the mall

On the footage you can see two feet suddenly move, very slightly.

The man turns out to be one of the meat counter staff, Fred Bosire, who was lying on his stomach with a wound in the back of his leg, pretending he was dead so the attackers would leave him.

We met him days later in the MP Shah hospital in Nairobi.

He was sitting up in bed, smiling broadly although occasionally clutching his leg.

He told us he was too traumatised to talk about his ordeal.

Kenyan forces were aided by security guards and some civilians

He spent up to five hours lying next to shoppers and fellow workers who did not survive - and witnessed the incredible cold-hearted brutality which killed them.

'Max' told us he joined up with other off-duty security guards, former military-trained personnel and civilians who simply felt they had to help rescue those trapped inside the mall by the shooting.

Most did not know each other. Some had a vague association due to being in the same line of work but they quickly became a unit, working together for the next 12 hours alongside the Kenyan Defence Force and special forces.

Together they managed to rescue and help to safety more than 60 people.

There are so many incredible tales of bravery, of selfless courage, of indomitable spirit and the bonding of complete strangers who worked together, side by side, to save people they did not know and may never meet again.

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Syria Chemical Weapons: UN Resolution Passed

An "historic" resolution to destroy Syria's chemical weapons has been passed unanimously by the United Nations Security Council.

All 15 members of the council voted in favour of the resolution, which was widely seen as a compromise between the US and Syria's key ally, Russia.

The vote after two weeks of intense negotiations marks a major breakthrough following two and a half years of paralysis that has gripped the council since the Syrian uprising began.

Russia and China previously vetoed three Western-backed resolutions pressuring President Bashar Assad's regime to end the violence.

"Today's historic resolution is the first hopeful news on Syria in a long time," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the council immediately after the vote.

Russia's Sergei Lavrov votes in favour of the resolution

US Secretary of State John Kerry said the "strong, enforceable, precedent-setting" resolution showed diplomacy can be so powerful "that it can peacefully defuse the worst weapons of war."

He said the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile would begin in November and be completed by the middle of next year.

For the first time, the council endorsed the roadmap for a political transition in Syria adopted by key nations in June 2012 and called for an international conference to be convened "as soon as possible" to implement it.

Mr Ban said the target date for a new peace conference in Geneva was mid-November.

The resolution calls for consequences if Syria fails to comply, but those will depend on the council passing another resolution in the event of non-compliance.

That will give Assad ally Russia the means to stop any punishment from being imposed.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed that the resolution does not automatically impose sanctions on Syria.

More follows...

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Syria Chemical Weapons: UN Resolution Agreed

A draft resolution to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons arsenal has been agreed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Britain's UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant revealed the UK, France, the US, Russia and China had agreed on a "binding and enforceable draft ... resolution".

The US and Russia had been at odds on how to enforce the resolution and a senior American official described the deal as "historic".

It is understood the text contains no mention of military intervention and Mr Lyall said compromise was crucial.

"The United Kingdom would've liked a direct reference to the international criminal court.," he said.

"We would've liked much stronger language on the abuse of human rights, human rights violations by the regime but what this resolution does do is for the first time for many months it brings together in a strong message of unity of the security council and for that it was worth making some compromises."

Mr Assad said Syria was prepared for a US attack irrespective of a deal

The agreement by the permanent members, whose differences have prevented action on Syria, represents a major breakthrough in addressing a conflict that began two and a half years ago and has killed more than 100,000 people.

The text of the draft resolution was due to be presented to the 10 other members of the Security Council at a meeting on Thursday night - with a vote expected on Friday.

A senior US official said: "This is a breakthrough arrived at through hard-fought diplomacy.

"This is historic and unprecedented because it puts oversight of the Assad regime's compliance under international control."

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed the accord without giving details of the text.

"We reached an understanding with the United States on a draft resolution," he said.

Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al Assad said in an interview with Venezuelan TV that the US may still attack despite an agreement on chemical weapons.

"Maybe we should put that possibility into consideration, in every place of the world (meaning of an outside military attack)," he said.

"We ask ourselves whether there is a possibility of an attack. There may not be one at the moment, but no one knows for sure when that possibility could become a reality. There will always be that possibility and we should not discard it."

The flurry of diplomatic activity is in response to a poison gas attack on August 21 that killed hundreds of civilians in a Damascus suburb, and President Barack Obama's threat of US strikes in retaliation.

US Secretary of State John Kerry subsequently said Mr Assad could avert US military action by turning over "every single bit of his chemical weapons" to international control within a week.

Russia, Syria's most important ally, agreed and Mr Kerry and Mr Lavrov signed an agreement in Geneva on September 13.

Mr Assad's government quickly accepted the broad proposal, but there have been tough negotiations on how its stockpile will be destroyed.

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Iran And US Agree To New Nuclear Talks

UN Leaders Make Nice In New York

Updated: 6:52am UK, Wednesday 25 September 2013

By Dominic Waghorn, US Correspondent

It's that time of year when the world's leaders descend on Manhattan for their annual get together.

The UN General Assembly, best known for diplomatic dustups and theatrical posturing by flamboyant dictators.

Nikita Khruschev comes to mind, probably bashing the podium with a shoe and Yasser Arafat brandishing a pistol.

If that's your thing, this year will be a disappointment.

I almost walked into Robert Mugabe just now. The Zimbabwean dictator and entourage swept into an elevator barely noticed, not pursued by a single camera. 

Was it my imagination or did he seem almost lonely? The last of a dying breed.

Fellow demagogues like Muammar Gaddafi deposed and killed, Hugo Chavez dead, this year's UN panto villain, Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir a no show, chickening out apparently, afraid of war crime charges.

And as for the Iranians who can normally be relied on to stick it to Great Satan and provoke at least a walkout?  This year quite the opposite. Making nicey nicey instead with the Americans with what looks like a historic thaw in the offing. Whatever next?

Barack Obama swept into the UN in his normal black limo looking like a man on a date.

For weeks he's been exchanging increasingly flirtatious letters with Iranian president Hassan Rouhani.

Friends of both had been talking up chances of the two men meeting briefly in a corridor somewhere. Nothing too serious you understand but a completely casual yet completely choreographed handshake.

In the end, the pair did not meet - US officials said a meeting proved to be too complicated for the Iranians.

At the UN, the US leader talked about "taking a major step down a long road towards a different relationship - one based on mutual interests and mutual respect".

Hassan Rouhani said his country was prepared to engage in stalled negotiations over its disputed nuclear programme and was open to talks with the US "to manage differences".

Enough to make some of America's friends worry things are moving too fast, along with plenty of America's enemies in Tehran, if for different reasons.

This is just the beginning, there are plenty of reasons to be sceptical and it may all come to nothing.

But there's no doubt something has shifted and this year's story here is not about confrontation but rapprochement instead.

They certainly don't make UN General Assemblies like they used to.

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Rouhani: Iran Wants Nuclear Deal 'In Months'

Iran's President Hasan Rouhani has said he wants to reach an agreement over the country's nuclear programme within three months.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Dr Rouhani said he was keen to set a three or six-month timetable to seal a nuclear deal.

He emphasised that Iran envisioned a process lasting "months not years", and added that he had the backing to broker a deal from the country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

"If we are on the issue of the nuclear file, we need resolution in a reasonable time," he told the newspaper.

"The only way forward is for a timeline to be inserted into the negotiations that's short - and wrap it up. That is a decision of my government, that short is necessary to settle the nuclear file.

"If it's three months that would be Iran's choice, if it's six months that's still good. It's a question of months not years."

Dr Rouhani balked at meeting President Obama in New York

The United States, other Western powers and Israel suspect Tehran is using its nuclear programme as a cover to develop an atomic bomb, a claim Iran denies.

Dr Rouhani's comments come after signs of improving relations between the US and the Islamic Republic following his election earlier this year.

The Iranian leader, however, opted against meeting US President Barack Obama at the United Nations on Tuesday.

His latest comments came ahead of discussions on Iran's nuclear activities between US Secretary of State John Kerry, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and their counterparts from the UK, China, France, Germany and Russia at the UN headquarters in New York.

Dr Rouhani said told the UN General Assembly that Iran was willing to make its nuclear program "transparent" to assure the international community it was not seeking to build a bomb.

"If the West recognises Iran's legal rights then there's really no hurdle in creating full transparency that's necessary to settle this case," he said.

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Battle To Save US Youth From 'Jihadi Pipeline'

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

Authorities in the American city regarded as the 'jihadi pipeline' for terror group al Shabaab say they are winning the battle to prevent young men being recruited.

The FBI says the group, which has admitted being behind the Nairobi mall massacre, has persuaded dozens of young men from within the Somalian community in Minneapolis to join them.

Police and community leaders in the city, the largest Somalian population in the United States, have waged a war to win the hearts and minds of young men and keep them out of al Shabaab's clutches.

And, they say, what was a steady flow of recruits has slowed to a trickle.

The US attorney-general Eric Holder has said he has seen no evidence to suggest that any Americans were involved in the Nairobi operation.

But events in Kenya have sent a shudder through families in the Minneapolis Riverside area known as 'Little Mogadishu' - they fear that some of those young men who have disappeared will be caught up in al Shabaab attacks on western targets.

Al Shabaab militants train on the outskirts of Mogadishu in 2008

Last month the group posted a YouTube video featuring the so-called Minnesota Martyrs, three young inner-city Americans appealing for others to join them on "the path to paradise".

One, speaking directly to camera, says: "If you guys only knew how much fun we have over here, this is the real Disneyland, come here and join us, take pleasure in this fun."

And Sky News understands that two more young men disappeared from Minneapolis earlier this month - with their families fearing the worst.

Despite this the authorities say they are making progress in the face of what the FBI says is one of the largest efforts to recruit Americans to a foreign terrorist organisation.

Sergeant Derwin Ellis, who leads the outreach effort for the sheriff's department, told Sky News: "We're moving in a positive direction.

A campaign is under way in Minneapolis to keep youths away from al Shabaab

"How that is measured as far as the battle overall is hard to say. Until al Shabaab ceases to exist I won't say that battle is over with."

Mohamed Farah is the executive director of a non-profit organisation called Ka Joog, which translates as "stay away". He told Sky News that outreach efforts are working.

He said: "The only way to combat such an organisation is education, making sure our young people understand and are educated not only in their religion but socially, so they're aware of the good and the bad.

"It is working, it is definitely working. There will always be bad apples but we must be positive."

They hope the example of young, smart, media-savvy role models in the community will be inspirational.

One of them, student Abdul Mohamed, told Sky News: "I'm very confident in the notion that this will end, that the youth will snap out of it, will realise this is not the right way to go, that nothing positive that can come out of it.

"There is hope in the future."

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Kenya Siege Survivors Tell Of Brush With Death

Survivors of the Nairobi shopping centre terrorist attack have spoken of their attempts to hide from armed gunman as fired indiscriminately among shoppers.

The attack at the Westgate shopping centre, which began on Saturday, has so far killed at least 67 people.

Eleven suspects are in custody and five of the attackers - thought to be members of Somalia's al Shabaab group - have been killed but it is still unclear whether the four-day siege has been ended.

Ben Mulwa had just got out of his car after arriving at the mall for lunch with a friend.

He described running from his vehicle into the mall to escape the shooting when he saw four men armed with automatic weapons.

"There was a security guard who came to seek safety right next to where I was," he told Sky News after returning to hospital.

"He was the first to be shot dead because I remember they shot him right through the head

"Before I could come to terms with that, that's when I saw the second gunman pointing a gun in my direction. All I remember is I heard a very loud bang.

"I think I almost passed out for a couple of seconds. A bullet grazed over my forehead - how he was able to miss to hit me and he was only three or four metres away from me is a miracle somehow."

Kenyan security forces outside the Westgate mall

Mr Mulwa was hit on the knee and hid in a flowerbed before he was rescued.

Syed Ibrahim was shot by the gunmen and pleaded for his life, before the terrorists let him go.

He said: "I just told them to leave me alone, I've been injured, so they let me go and said we won't do anything to you because you have been shot already.

"The memory, you can't forget, you usually see it on TV or in movies. You wouldn't expect to see it in reality.

"It's not yet over, let's pray for the best."

Meanwhile, a five-year-old bravely confronted one of the gunman in the mall, telling him: "You're a very bad man, let us leave."

The Sun newspaper reported the little boy stood up to one of the terrorists after he shot his mother Amber in the leg.

But the gunman then gave the boy and his six-year-old sister Mars Bars, before letting them escape the mall.

The children's father, Dan Prior, said: "I am very relieved that my family have survived and my thoughts go out to those families that are not as fortunate as my own. 

"My children are traumatised and my wife is very unwell as a result of this senseless atrocity."

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Kenya Mall Attackers 'Ashamed And Defeated'

The Kenyan President says terrorists who attacked a Nairobi mall have been "ashamed and defeated", but that losses from the attack were "immense".

Four days after al Shabaab gunmen invaded the busy Westgate shopping centre, Uhuru Kenyatta announced that 11 suspects are in custody and five of the attackers are dead.

A CCTV image of two militants inside the mall

"We have ashamed and defeated our attackers - that part of our task is completed," Mr Kenyatta said as he called for three days of national mourning.

"Kenya has stared down evil and triumphed."

The President said the terrorists had killed 67 people - 61 civilians and six members of the security forces. Six Britons, including an eight-year-old girl, are among the dead. 

But Mr Kenyatta indicated that the death toll, which was previously at 62, would rise further as bodies of victims were recovered from the mall.

"Towards the tail end of the operation, three floors of the Westgate mall collapsed and there are several bodies trapped in the rubble including the terrorists," he said.

"These cowards will meet justice as will their accomplices and patrons, wherever they are."

Mr Kenyatta said his country 'stared down evil and triumphed'

Police said all the attackers were now either dead or in custody.

"Now it is for the forensic and criminal experts," said police spokesman Masoud Mwinyi.

Kenyan officials have announced the imminent end of the siege for the past three days - something al Shabaab spokesmen have mocked in commentaries and in postings on social media.

Some hours before Mr Kenyatta spoke, the Somali terror group said its militants were still holding out with hostages and that there were "countless dead bodies" still inside the complex.

Smoke rises from the mall on Tuesday

Mr Kenyatta also said forensic experts would examine the bodies of the attackers to determine if British or Americans were involved.

"Intelligence reports had suggested that a British woman and two or three American citizens may have been involved in the attack," Mr Kenyatta said.

"We cannot confirm the details at present but forensic experts are working to ascertain the nationalities of the terrorists."

Bullet holes around a window of the complex

However, al Shabaab themselves, on Twitter, denied that any women took part. 

The attackers marched into the four-storey, part Israeli-owned mall at midday on Saturday, shooting dead shoppers with machine guns and tossing grenades.

Al Shabaab said it carried out the attack in retaliation for Kenya's military intervention in Somalia.

Mr Kenyatta had rejected the militants' demands that he pull Kenyan troops out of its northern neighbour. 

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Kenya Siege: British Woman 'Among Attackers'

A British woman and "two or three Americans" are among the militants who took part in an attack on a shopping centre in Nairobi.

Kenya's Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed has confirmed that al Shabaab fighters were responsible for the attack, adding that the militants included Americans and a Briton.

In an interview with the PBS Newshour programme, Ms Mohamed said: "Both the victims and the perpetrators ... came from Kenya, the United Kingdom and the United States.

"From the information that we have, (there are) two or three Americans, and I think so far I have heard of one Brit."

Asked about the British woman, Ms Mohamed added: "A woman, woman, and I think she has done this many times before."

Samantha Lewthwaite is known to be in East Africa

The announcement will fuel speculation that British terror suspect Samantha Lewthwaite, who was married to the July 7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay, was involved in the Kenya attack.

Lewthwaite, dubbed the "White Widow", is known to be in East Africa and is wanted by Kenyan police over alleged links to a terrorist cell that planned to bomb the country's coast.

In March last year officials said she had fled to Somalia and that officers were hunting a woman who used several identities, including hers.

Ms Mohamed said the Americans involved in the shopping centre attack are aged about 18 or 19 years.

Kenya's Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed spoke to the PBS Newshour programme

"The Americans, from the information that we have, are young men. About between 18 and 19, of Somali origin or Arab origin, but that ... lived in the US in Minnesota and one other place," she said.

"I think that just goes to underline the global nature of the war that we're fighting."

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: "Aware of the Foreign Minister's comment, we continue to liaise very closely with the Kenyan authorities and to support their investigation into this attack.

"The UK will do everything it can to support the Kenyans bringing everyone responsible for this vicious attack to justice."

Somalia's al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which began on Saturday.

Kenyan security forces took control of the shopping centre after a final assault on the militants.

Police are conducting a sweep of the complex following the rescue of the remaining hostages.

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Kenya Siege: Special Forces 'Sanitising' Mall

Kenyan special forces are continuing to clear a shopping centre where gunmen have killed at least 62 people.

All hostages trapped by the attackers have been evacuated from the Nairobi complex and the three-day-long siege was nearing its end, Manoah Esipisu said.

But he cautioned that some of the insurgents could still be hiding after up to 15 of them stormed the building on Saturday in a grenade and gun attack targeting terrified shoppers.

Troops have been combing the building overnight, going from floor to floor looking for "anyone left behind", said the interior ministry, adding its forces were "in control" of the Westgate mall.

The gunmen were believed to be members of al Qaeda-linked Somali militant group al Shabaab which said the assault was in retaliation for Kenya's military helping the government in Mogadishu.

Kenya's Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed said a British woman and "two or three Americans" were among the militants.

Victims: Ross Langdon, Eliv Yavus and eight-year-old Jenah Bawa

Six British nationals are believed to have been killed in the terror attack. Among the dead were eight-year-old Jenah Bawa and 33-year-old Ross Langdon.

Almost 200 people were hurt in the attack, and 63 others had been recorded missing by the Red Cross - a figure thought to include hostages as well as those possibly killed.

Mr Esipisu said: "Our special forces are inside the building checking the rooms. Obviously it's a very, very big building.

"We think that everyone, the hostages, have been evacuated but we don't want to take any chances. The special forces are doing their job and yes, I think we are near the end."

He also told AFP: "The special forces call this sanitising. It's a very complex and very delicate operation.

Smoke is seen rising from the shopping centre

"At the moment they have not met any resistance, but of course we are not ruling out the possibility that there are a couple of them hiding in a remote room or corner."

Earlier, Islamist militants were reported to be "running and hiding" in stores as security forces closed in.

Kenyan police said three terrorists had been killed and others were hurt after the military launched a major assault.

Eleven soldiers from the Kenyan Defence Force were wounded in the fighting, and more than 10 people have been arrested over Saturday's attack.

Interior minister Joseph Ole Lenku said there was "no way out" for the militants and "no room for escape".

Around lunchtime on Monday, four huge explosions were heard followed by a barrage of gunfire at the shopping complex in the Kenyan capital.

Black smoke poured from the top of the building as troops lay siege to the mall while military and police helicopters circled above.

Police and volunteers react after hearing gunshots

Security officials at the scene said the explosions had been caused by Kenyan forces who set off blasts to get in through the roof.

However, Mr Lenku said the smoke had been down to the al Shabaab fighters setting fire to mattresses as a decoy.

The atrocity is the worst in Nairobi since an al Qaeda bomb attack on the US embassy in 1998 that killed more than 200 people.

The Kenyan Red Cross has set up a webpage for anyone worried about friends or relatives who might be caught up in the siege.

:: A helpline has been set up for people in the UK who are concerned about relatives in Kenya: 020 7008 000.

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Merkel Romps To Victory In German Election

By Robert Nisbet, Europe Correspondent

Angela Merkel has triumphed by securing a third term as German chancellor, but she will have to find new coalition partners to govern Europe's largest economy.

Her conservative Christian Democratic Union and its sister party the Christian Social Union saw their combined share of the vote rise by 8% in an unexpectedly strong endorsement of her austerity policies.

Ms Merkel told supporters it was "a super result" but she did not immediately speculate about the shape of the next government.

"I see the next four years in front of me and I can promise that we will face many tasks, at home, in Europe and in the world," she said during a television appearance last night.

"The party leadership will discuss everything when we have a final result but we can already celebrate tonight."

Preliminary official results showed that overall the CDU/CSU won 41.5%, seeing off the main opposition Social Democrats who managed 25.7%.

It was a poor night for the liberal Free Democratic Party, which was Ms Merkel's coalition partner since 2009, and saw its support plummet by nearly 10% to 4.8%.

It fell beneath the 5% threshold of national support and so is barred from the Bundestag, the national parliament.

Ms Merkel will have to forge alliances with traditional opponents

Its humiliation almost handed Ms Merkel an absolute majority, as its exclusion lowered the number of seats the CSU would have needed to control the chamber.

But she is just shy of that total, so will need to forge alliances in order to govern.

It seems most likely she will seek a "grand alliance" with the SDP, which will be expected to seek promises in return for its support.

They could include a greater emphasis on growth across the eurozone, rather than austerity, and the introduction of a minimum national wage.

But Ms Merkel's support from the electorate is so strong, it will strengthen her hand in any negotiation.

It is unlikely there would be an obvious sea-change in the government's political trajectory.

That will be welcomed by many in the EU and leaders around the world who know that a change of direction might spook the markets and raise borrowing costs for indebted nations.

It will also cheer Prime Minister David Cameron, as Ms Merkel appears to share his conviction that the EU could be strengthened if power flows from Brussels back to member states.

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Kenya Attack: Final Assault To End Stand-Off

Kenyan troops are carrying out a major assault against al Shabaab gunmen in Kenya in a bid to end the stand-off inside a Nairobi shopping centre.

The Kenyan Defence Force has secured most of the Westgate shopping complex, and most of the hostages have been rescued.

Officials say up to 15 al Shabaab militants may still be inside the centre.

Kenyan military spokesman Colonel Cyrus Oguna has told Sky News: "We cannot reveal the numbers of gunmen we suspect are there, but we estimate the operation will end very soon.

"We do not negotiate with terrorists and that position has not changed. Everyone who has been rescued is being checked to make sure none of the terrorists escaped during the dragnet."

Troops gather outside the Westgate shopping centre

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta says there have been "numerous offers of assistance from friendly countries" to help end the stand-off, but that for now it remains a Kenyan operation.

However, a Kenyan security source has confirmed that Israeli agents "are rescuing the hostages and the injured". The Westgate shopping complex is part Israeli-owned.

The Kenyan Red Cross say 68 people have been confirmed dead after gunmen stormed the shopping centre on Saturday.

At least 49 people remain missing, and at least 200 people have been injured.

Police have conceded that the death toll could be "much, much higher", after reports emerged that there are multiple fatalities still inside the shopping centre.

Kenyan soldiers enter the main gate of the shopping centre

The Foreign Office said three Britons were among those killed and warned that number is likely to rise.

It also said it was "looking into" unsubstantiated claims that a list of names of those purported to be linked to the attack had been published on Twitter.

Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the "despicable attack", saying it was an act of "appalling brutality".

"Because the situation is ongoing, we should prepare ourselves for further bad news," he added.

Also killed in the attack were two Canadians, two French citizens, two Indian citizens, a South Korean, a South African, a Dutch woman and the former UN envoy Kofi Awoonor.

A Kenyan army soldier takes cover behind a wall near the centre

The Kenyan Red Cross has set up a webpage for anyone worried about friends or relatives who might be caught up in the incident.

Security forces have taken control of the upper and lower levels of the shopping complex, and an army spokesman told Sky News they were trying to secure the second floor where the terrorists may be hiding.

Other reports suggested the attackers are holed up in a toilet block next to a supermarket on the ground floor of the complex.

The Somalia-based al Shabaab militant group has claimed responsibility and warned of further attacks.

Mr Kenyatta said one of his nephews and his nephew's fiancee were among the people confirmed killed.

Onlookers watch as the stand-off continues at the Westgate complex

"They shall not get away with their despicable and beastly acts," the President said in an emotional speech to the nation. "We will punish the masterminds swiftly and indeed very painfully."

The attack is the worst in Nairobi since an al Qaeda bombing at the US embassy killed more than 200 people in 1998.

:: A helpline has been set up for people in the UK who are concerned about relatives in Kenya: 020 7008 000.

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Iraq Suicide Bombers Kill Almost 100 At Funeral

Almost 100 people have died after two suicide bombers targeted a funeral in the Shi'ite neighbourhood of Sadr City in Baghdad, police have said.

One bomber detonated his explosives-laden car as he drove up near a tent where mourners had gathered and another on foot blew himself up nearby.

A third explosion followed as police, ambulances and firefighter were gathering at the scene.

The explosions set several cars on fire, sending a towering plume of thick black smoke over the city.

One of the mourners, Sheik Sattar al Fartousi, said: "I saw several charred bodies on the ground and tents on fire and also burning cars. Wounded people were screaming in pain.

"The scene was horrible. The funeral turned into an inferno."

He said the first blast went off as dinner was being served in one of several tents set up for the funeral of a member of the al Fartousi tribe. He estimated that more than 500 people were attending the event.

A plume of black smoke was sent over Sadr City

Hussein Abdul Khaliq, a government employee who lives in the area, said: "This funeral was not a military post or a ministry building, yet it was still targeted. This shows that no place and no one is safe in Iraq."

The attack happened at sunset on Saturday, hours after insurgents launched a suicide attack on a police headquarters in the city of Beiji, about 110 miles north of Baghdad, killing seven policemen and wounding 21 others.

In that attack, police said guards managed to kill one suicide bomber, but three other bombers were able to set off their explosive belts inside the compound.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Al Qaeda's branch in Iraq frequently targets Shi'ite civilians and security forces in an attempt to undermine public confidence in the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad.

Thousands of Iraqis have been killed in violent attacks in recent months - a level of bloodshed not seen since Iraq pulled back from the brink of civil war in 2008 - despite appeals for restraint from Shi'ite and Sunni political leaders.

More than 4,000 people have been killed in violent attacks between April and August, according to the United Nations.

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Bo Xilai Found Guilty Of Corruption In China

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent in Jinan

Communist Party politician Bo Xilai has been sentenced to life in prison following a sensational scandal that culminated in one of China's highest-profile trials in decades.

The verdict marks the end of a protracted legal and political saga which began with the murder of a British businessman and caused political ripples right to the heart of China's Communist leadership.

Bo's five-day trial ended last month at the Intermediate People's Court in the eastern city of Jinan.

With unprecedented openness and moments of genuine suspense, it was a Chinese trial like no other before it.

Through televised highlights and minute-by-minute microblog updates from the court, the Chinese public was able to follow Bo's robust self-defence and disdainful cross-examination of witnesses.

Performing with the charisma and trademark flair which has set him apart in Chinese politics, he laughed-off the central accusation against him that he had illegally obtained 26.8 million yuan (£2.73m).

Bo Xilai with wife Gu Kailai, who he dismissed as 'crazy'

He said money did not interest him, claiming, rather unusually, that even his underwear was 50-years-old.

In one of the most dramatic moments of the trial, Bo dismissed the two star witnesses against him - his wife, and his former chief of police - as "crazy" and a "liar" respectively.

In reference to some of the bribery allegations, he complained that "not even the worst TV script writers could come up with such plots".

At times though, the trial itself resembled a soap opera, with Mr Bo revealing a complicated love triangle between himself, his wife Gu Kailai, and Wang Lijun, his former police chief.

The prosecution produced documentary and anecdotal evidence which it claimed showed the Bo family to be extremely wealthy with bulging bank accounts, access to private jets and a villa near Cannes in France.

Stories emerged in court regarding the antics of Bo Guagua, the son of Bo and Gu Kailai.

The young Bo, who studied at Harrow, Oxford and Harvard had, according to the prosecution, jetted across Europe and Africa and been allowed to enjoy a playboy lifestyle which went against all Communist Party principles.

Bo Guagua, son of Bo Xilai, was accused of enjoying a 'playboy' lifestyle

Many of the trips and other financial deals were, the prosecution claimed, the result of Bo Xilai's corrupt dealings with businessmen.

Bo had abused his various positions of power over decades. He had instigated corrupt deals with numerous business associates with whom his relationship should never have been financial.

For almost two decades, from 1985, Bo Xilai had climbed up the Communist Party ladder from mayor of the north-eastern port city of Dalian, to governor of Liaoning Province.

He served as the Chinese government's Commerce Minister and wowed many foreign counterparts with his relaxed domineer, modern and apparently capitalist outlook and his political drive.

At one point, it was almost certain he would be chosen as one of the seven men on the Standing Committee of the Politburo who run the country.

However, his career came to a spectacular halt four and a half years after he became Communist Party Secretary in the central Chinese city of Chongqing.

The sensational trial grabbed the attention of China's media

The fall from grace was swift and almost inevitable after his wife was accused of the murder of a friend and business associate of the Bo family, a Briton called Neil Heywood.

In a dramatic sequence of events over the winter of 2011-2012, the conspiracy began to unravel.

Bo's chief of police in Chongqing, Wang Lijun, left his post and fled to a US consulate. Mr Wang asked for political asylum and told the Americans that Bo's wife had poisoned Mr Heywood.

His asylum request was rejected but the lurid claim could not be ignored. The fact Mr Wang had chosen to tell the Americans and not his own superiors was an acute embarrassment for the Communist Party. Within months, Wang and Gu were tried, convicted and jailed.

The Chinese government presented Bo's trial as the downfall of a corrupt crook.

However, it was widely seen as being far more a political purge of a man who posed a threat to the current leadership of President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.

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