Russia's Khodorkovsky 'Glad' To Be Free

A Russian oil tycoon has denied that he had admitted guilt in his request for a presidential pardon after being released from a prison camp.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was once the richest man in the country, was freed within an hour of the Kremlin publishing a decree and boarded a flight to Berlin, where his ill mother is being treated.

In the first statement since his release, Mr Khodorkovsky said: "On November 12, I turned to the president of Russia with a request for a pardon associated with family circumstances, and am glad about the positive decision. The issue of my guilt was not addressed."

Mr Khodorkovsky has been in prison since 2003 after being convicted in two trials on charges including fraud and embezzlement.

Mr Khodorkovsky spent a decade behind bars

He previously said he would not request a presidential pardon because he would be seen to be admitting guilt.

However, the newspaper Kommersant reported that he changed his mind after a meeting with Russian security services, who raised the possibility of a third trial and warned him that his mother's health was deteriorating.

"This conversation, which was conducted without lawyers, forced Mr Khodorkovsky to turn to the president," the article said.

He also thanked former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, who was the top diplomat of West Germany and then Germany from 1974-1992, for aiding his release.

Mr Putin meets Mr Khodorkovsky at the Kremlin in May 2001

Berlin worked "behind the scenes" for Mr Khodorkovsky release, said German chancellor Angela Merkel.

Mr Putin surprised journalists at the end of his annual end-of-year news conference on Thursday by announcing that he was planning to pardon Mr Khodorkovsky.

"Guided by humanitarian principles, I decree that Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky ... should be pardoned and freed from any further punishment in the form of imprisonment," his decree said.

The circumstances surrounding the pardon remained unclear.

Mr Khodorkovsky has been held at a prison camp in Segezha, northwest Russia

A Russian government source said freeing his best-known and potentially most powerful critic could deflect international complaints about Vladimir Putin's human rights record as Russia prepares to host the Winter Olympics at Sochi in seven weeks.

He fell out with Mr Putin as the president clipped the wings of wealthy oligarchs who had become powerful during the chaotic years of Boris Yeltsin's rule following the collapse of Soviet communism.

Mr Khodorkovsky has given no indication of his future plans, saying only he wanted to meet his loved ones.

"I am very much looking forward to the minute when I will be able to embrace my loved ones and personally shake hands with all my friends and associates," he said.

"First of all I am going to repay my debt to my parents, my wife and my children, and I am very much looking forward to meeting them.

"I will welcome the opportunity to celebrate this upcoming holiday season with my family."

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Snowden Leaks Documents Revealing Spy Targets

New documents leaked by Edward Snowden reveal heads of state and international organisations as targets of US and British spies.

The agents targeted a senior European Union official, German government buildings, and the office of a former Israeli prime minister, according to the papers published on Friday.

Other targets from 2008 to 2011 included foreign energy companies and aid organisations, according to The Guardian and The New York Times, citing secret documents from the former National Security Agency contractor.

Mr Snowden's leaks have exposed the reported surveillance activities of the NSA and its British counterpart GCHQ, the alleged extent of which has upset many US allies and fuelled a heated debate about the balance between privacy and security.

He is living in Russia under temporary asylum.

The newspapers reported that in January 2009, GCHQ and the NSA had targeted an email address listed as belonging to the Israeli prime minister, who at the time was Ehud Olmert.

Spies also monitored email traffic between then-Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak and his chief of staff, Yoni Koren, the newspapers said.

Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert

Other targets were said to include the United Nations Children's Fund, French aid organisation Medecins du Monde, French oil and gas firm Total, and French defence company Thales Group.

An NSA spokeswoman said the agency did not use espionage to help US businesses.

"We do not use our foreign intelligence capabilities to steal the trade secrets of foreign companies on behalf of - or give intelligence we collect to - US companies to enhance their international competitiveness or increase their bottom line," the spokeswoman said.

The European Commission said if it was true one of its senior officials had been targeted it would be "unacceptable".

"This piece of news follows a series of other revelations which, as we clearly stated in the past, if proven true, are unacceptable and deserve our strongest condemnation," a spokesman said.

The Guardian said the disclosure that GCHQ had targeted German government buildings in Berlin was embarrassing for British Prime Minister David Cameron since he had signed an EU statement condemning the NSA's spying on Chancellor Angela Merkel.

GCHQ said it was aware of the reports but did not comment on intelligence matters.

A spokesman said: "Our work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework which ensures that our activities are authorised, necessary and proportionate."

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Putin To Pardon Jailed Tycoon Khodorkovsky

By Katie Stallard, Moscow Correspondent

Russia's president Vladimir Putin says jailed former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky will soon be pardoned after more than a decade in prison.

Once Russia's richest man, Khodorkovsky has become its most famous political prisoner.

He was arrested at gunpoint on board his private jet in 2003 and convicted on charges of tax evasion and fraud.

But many believe his real crime was to challenge Mr Putin, publicly questioning him during a televised Kremlin meeting, and emerging as a potential political rival.

Khodorkovsky was sent to a prison camp in Siberia, before being transferred to a remote penal colony in Russia's far north.

Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience.

Mr Putin has previously singled Khodorkovsky out for bitter personal attacks, saying, "A thief should sit in jail".

But as he left his annual press conference, he casually mentioned to reporters that he was minded to pardon him soon.

The Russian leader said: "He has been in jail already more than ten years, this is a serious punishment.

"He cites humanitarian reasons. His mother is ill." 

"I decided that with these circumstances in mind, it is necessary to take a decision, and in the near future a decree pardoning him will be signed."

It was not clear why he had not mentioned it in the previous four hours' questioning, despite being asked directly about the Khodorkovsky case.

The president said the ex-tycoon had been through 'serious punishment'

Khodorkovsky has vehemently maintained his innocence over the last decade, refusing to ask for a pardon that could be construed as an admission of guilt.

One of his legal team initially denied that a pardon had been sought, and a spokesperson said he could not confirm whether the report was true.

He said: "Until his legal team can meet with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, it cannot be commented on whether a request on a pardon was made, by whom and for what reasons.

"All of his family and supporters would of course be elated to see him finally free after 10 years of imprisonment."

His son, Pavel Khodorkovsky, tweeted: "Very happy news.  Waiting to speak with my father to learn more."

Russian stocks rose 1.3% after Mr Putin's announcement.

Investors have long viewed the treatment of the former oligarch as evidence of the weakness of property rights and rule of law in Russia.

But critics said the move, which follows a high-profile amnesty announced on Wednesday, was part of a concerted PR exercise, attempting to sanitise Russia's human rights record ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi in February. 

Charges have been dropped against 30 Greenpeace crew arrested after a protest in the Russian Arctic, and Russian punk band Pussy Riot, jailed for an anti-Putin stunt inside a Moscow Cathedral are due to be released from prison.

Putin said he hoped Russia's response would 'serve as a lesson' to Greenpeace and that the country would take tough steps to defend its interests in the region in future.

He said he felt pity for the jailed Pussy Riot band members, not because they were in prison, but because they had "started to engage in activities which are degrading and humiliating for women".

Reacting to Mr Putin's comments, Khodorkovsky's mother, who will turn 80 next year, said she had only just heard the reports and was not aware that her son had asked for a pardon.

Khodorkovsky is held in Penal Colony No. 7

She said: "I want to believe he will pardon him. I want to believe Putin is not totally lost."

Khodorkovsky answered Sky News' questions from inside his prison camp earlier this year.

Responding via his legal team, he said: "Jail is a great leveller. I lost much when I came into jail, many people arrive having had so little, they barely notice the difference."

"It makes it equal in a funny sort of way."

We asked him to describe his daily life in Penal Colony No. 7 - a dilapidated camp in the remote Karelia region, notorious for its Stalin-era gulag.

He said: "We are held in barracks with 100-150 people in a barrack; the sleeping quarters are two square metres per person; it is warm in the barrack, this is very important.

"Overnight it is quiet, the light remains on, and an inspector walks inside the facility once every two hours. But this does not bother me.

"Clothing is issued and laundered.  There is a common toilet, but it is clean.  I shower once a week. I can see traces of meat in the food regularly; fresh vegetables - sometimes in the prison shop.

"I receive a parcel once every two months from home; 20kg.  I ask for nuts, dried fruits and coffee. After 10 years you get experienced looking after your health."

Khodorkovsky turned 50 in prison earlier this year and was due to be freed in August 2014, despite rumours of a third case being prepared against him.

Asked about his prospects for release in October, he replied: "Over 10 years I have become convinced that in my case nothing is impossible.

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South Sudan Evacuations Amid Deadly Violence

A second flight will be sent to evacuate Britons fleeing fighting in South Sudan, after three United Nations peacekeepers were killed amid escalating violence.

The three Indian soldiers were killed when armed youths breached a UN compound in the country's Jonglei state.

The government says it has lost control of the region's capital, Bor, and fighting continues to spread through the newly-formed East African state following a reported coup attempt in national capital Juba on Sunday.

An estimated 20,000 people have sought refuge at two UN compounds in Juba, and another 14,000 in Bor.

President Salva Kiir, above, blamed the coup on his ousted vice president

The Foreign Office (FO) has strongly advised all remaining British nationals to leave the country as fears grow that it may prove difficult to get out if the situation continues to deteriorate.

One group of British nationals has already left on a Foreign Office flight and a second is due to leave from the city.

An FO spokesman said: "The UK plans to send a second flight to South Sudan to evacuate British nationals who wish to leave from Juba airport on Friday December 20, following the evacuation of some British nationals on December 19.

"We strongly advise all British nationals in South Sudan to leave the country if they can do so safely. You may have difficulty leaving in the event of a further deterioration in security."

US President Barack Obama has deployed 45 military personnel to help bolster security at the US Embassy. Non-emergency government personnel were ordered to leave earlier this week.

In a written statement, he said: "South Sudan stands at the precipice. Recent fighting threatens to plunge South Sudan back into the dark days of its past."

The United Nations has estimated that up to 500 people have been killed in fighting between rival factions following the coup attempt against the president by soldiers loyal to his former deputy, Riek Machar.

South Sudan's numerous ethnic groups have battled each other for decades.

On Sunday, violence broke out when the presidential guard splintered along ethnic lines.

Guards from the president's majority Dinka tribe tried to disarm guards from the Nuer ethnic group, triggering violence in the capital which has extended out into the country.

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Paul Walker Porsche Crash Down To 'Speed Alone'

The Porsche Carrera GT that crashed killing Fast & Furious actor Paul Walker had no mechanical problems, according to investigators.

A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the car lost control due to "speed, and speed alone".

The investigation also ruled out debris in road as causing the car in which Walker was a passenger to smash into a street light and a tree.

The actor and driver, his friend and financial adviser Roger Rodas, were both killed in the accident on November 30.

Scene of the crash in Santa Clarita, California

Investigators have refused to set a firm speed at which they think the car was travelling until Porsche engineers come to California next month to extract information from on-board data collectors.

According the reports in the US, three black boxes have been recovered from the vehicle.

One will be able to tell the last speed recorded and whether the airbags were deployed and the other two will give information on the throttle and engine readings.

Tributes are left at an unofficial memorial for the star

As a result of 40-year-old Walker's death, Universal Pictures has announced it is putting the filming of Fast & Furious 7 on hold indefinitely.

More than half the movie has reportedly been made and it was slated for release on July 11, 2014.

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NSA Spying Sweeps 'Have Gone Too Far', Report

A panel has recommended curbing the secretive powers of the National Security Agency, warning its mass spying sweeps in the war on terror had gone too far.

The report, commissioned by President Barack Obama, said the NSA should halt the mass storage of domestic phone records, and called for new scrutiny on snooping on world leaders.

It also called for privacy safeguards for foreigners and fresh transparency over US eavesdropping.

The 300-page report unveiled 46 recommendations to reshape US surveillance policy following explosive revelations by fugitive intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

There is no guarantee the president will accept the non-binding recommendations but he will consider his next move ahead of a public statement in January.

The panel urged reforms of a secret national security court that oversees clandestine surveillance operations.

It also called for the NSA to be stripped of its ability to store telephone records - instead handing that duty to phone companies or a third party.

The report said the intelligence and security infrastructure launched after the September 11 attacks had perhaps gone too far.

"It is now time to step back and take stock," it said.

Fugitive intelligence contractor Edward Snowden

"We conclude that some of the authorities that were expanded or created in the aftermath of September 11 unduly sacrifice fundamental interests in individual liberty, personal privacy, and democratic governance."

Review board member Richard Clarke, a former White House counterterrorism aide, called for mechanisms that were more transparent and have more independent oversight to give the public a new "sense of trust".

Throughout, the report argued that a new equilibrium needed to be found between national security, and privacy and individual Constitutional rights.

It steered away from calling for outright curbs on gathering intelligence on foreign leaders, following embarrassing revelations that US spies had snooped on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone.

But it said US spy chiefs should be forced to justify surveillance on world leaders to the president and his aides.

The release of the report comes amid deepening political pressure on the White House for significant reforms in the massive NSA telephone and internet data mining operations across the world.

A federal judge in Washington this week ruled that NSA programmes, which have scooped up millions of details on telephone calls and Internet traffic on Americans and foreigners, were probably unconstitutional.

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Russia Will Free Arctic 30 And Pussy Riot

The Arctic 30 Greenpeace activists and jailed members of Pussy Riot are set to be freed under new amnesty laws.

The State Duma voted 446-0 in favour of the Kremlin-backed bill.

It will allow investigators to drop charges against the 30 activists from Greenpeace's ship Arctic Sunrise detained in Russia's Arctic in September.

The activists, who include six Britons, were arrested after Russian authorities boarded their vessel following attempts by some of them to board an offshore oil platform.

They have been on bail but the 26 non-Russians among them were not allowed to go home.

The six British Greenpeace activists who were arrested in Russia

Greenpeace said a last-minute amendment to the amnesty bill meant Russia would almost certainly end legal proceedings against activists who faced jail terms of up to seven years if convicted over the protest.

Arctic Sunrise's American captain Peter Willcox was quoted by Greenpeace as saying: "I might soon be going home to my family, but I should never have been charged and jailed in the first place.

"We sailed north to bear witness to a profound environmental threat but our ship was stormed by masked men wielding knives and guns ... We were never the criminals here."

Lawyers said the amnesty, which could come into force this week, would also lead to the early release of Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina.

Their two-year sentences over an anti-Putin protest in a cathedral have been criticised in the West as excessive.

Protesters climb the Prirazlomnaya oil platform

Officials in Krasnoyarsk and Nizhny Novgorod, where the two women are currently held, have promised to free them "right away and without bureaucratic delay, probably tomorrow", Ms Tolokonnikova's husband Pyotr Verzilov wrote on his Twitter blog.

The pair's sentences run out in early March next year.

The lower house of parliament passed the amnesty, which President Vladimir Putin proposed to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the passage of Russia's post-Soviet constitution.

The move has been largely viewed as the Kremlin's attempt to soothe criticism of Russia's human rights records ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi next year.

The amnesty affects a range of categories like mothers with dependents, minors and the elderly. However, it also specifically mentions the charge of hooliganism as well as the charge of participating in mass riots.

Pussy Riot's "punk prayer" protest at Christ The Saviour Cathedral, Moscow

It does not require approval by the upper chamber of parliament and will come into effect when it is published, probably on Thursday.

The foreign crew from Arctic Sunrise will then request to leave, and still hope to be home by Christmas, said Greenpeace spokesman Ben Stewart.

"There is certainly a chance, but until they actually leave Russia everything is speculation," he said.

All were arrested after the ship was boarded by Russian special forces in September and were first held under arrest in a jail in northern Murmansk, where the ship remains in Russian control.

The Britons have been named as Alexandra Harris, Kieron Bryan, Anthony Perrett, Phil Ball, Frank Hewetson and Iain Rogers.

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Italy Migrants Face 'Appalling' Treatment

The European Union has condemned the "appalling conditions" of Italian migrant centres after video emerged of apparent mistreatment on the island of Lampedusa.

Italy's Rai 2 TV broadcast secret footage shot inside a detention centre showing naked inmates being sprayed down with water after an alleged scabies outbreak.

The man who shot the mobile phone footage, reportedly an unnamed Syrian refugee, said men and women are regularly sprayed down. 

EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem on Wednesday promised to take action if various detention centres are not improved.

"We have already started investigations into the appalling conditions in many Italian detention centres, including Lampedusa," she said on Twitter.

"The EU is committed to assist Italy in receiving migrants, but it has to be done in decent conditions."

Coffins laid out of those killed in the October sinking

Lampedusa made headlines in October after a migrant ship sank en route to the island, killing more than 300 people.

The overloaded boat was carrying hundreds of African asylum seekers from Libya and sank after a fire was started.

A second boat capsized in the same week in the Canal of Sicily, killing at least 27 people.

More than 13,000 people have tried to reach Lampedusa this year, more than double the population of the island.

Ms Malmstroem said: "We will not hesitate to launch an infringement procedure to make sure EU standards and obligations are fully respected."

A refugee is pulled out of the water by a coast guard

Earlier this month, the EU published a list of proposals aimed at tackling human trafficking and avoiding further boating disasters.

The proposals include increased border surveillance, boosting EU assistance to member states facing the biggest influx of migrants, improving the fight against human trafficking and opening more legal channels to reach Europe - including resettling more refugees in the EU.

They will be discussed in an upcoming EU leaders' summit later this week.

Up to 20,000 migrants have died at sea trying to reach Europe in the past 20 years, according to immigration charities.

However, tackling the complex issue is tricky at a time when Europe is in economic stagnation.

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Peru Two Jailed For Six Years And Eight Months

Why Peru Became The Cocaine Hotspot

Updated: 10:37am UK, Monday 21 October 2013

By Pete Norman, Sky News Online

Peru has overtaken Colombia as the world's leading source for cocaine production, according to the United Nations.

Home to the ancient Inca civilisation, Peru is rugged, remote and the ultimate source of the mighty Amazon river.

It is also home to a long-running guerrilla campaign by the leftist Shining Path group.

While urban and coastal inhabitants have benefited greatly from market-focused economic development since the early 1980s, when military rule ended, the rural poor have gained little.

Its hilly, isolated and fertile regions are home to the guerrillas, who rely on cocaine production, hostage-taking and corruption for funds.

In September the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (Undoc) said that in 2012 Peru surpassed Colombia in farm acreage of coca leaves, the raw material for cocaine, for the first time in two decades.

Undoc said the survey showed that Peru last year cultivated 156,250 acres of coca bushes compared with Colombia's 120,000 acres.

US-supported efforts to reduce or eradicate coca leaf in Colombia have tipped the scales of production towards Peru.

According to the CIA, Peru was the world's largest coca leaf producer until 1996, when neighbouring Colombia took the lead.

It said that in 2009 Peru had 100,000 acres under coca leaf production compared to Colombia's 286,000 acres - with the potential to produce 225 metric tons of pure cocaine.

Aerial spraying of herbicide in Colombia has affected coca crops covering 250,000 acres while manual eradication has been done on another 150,000 acres.

Undoc said Colombia reduced its area under coca cultivation by 25% in 2012 - the biggest annual reduction since the international body began monitoring it in 2001.

Meanwhile, around 30 Britons are now in Peruvian prisons on drug-related convictions, according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

While Colombia still supplies virtually all of North America's cocaine, the CIA said much of the drug exported from Peru through land, air and sea routes is destined for Europe and other markets.

North America and Europe cocaine consumption has stabilised in recent years while growth has increased in Oceania and Asia Pacific regions.

It said: "Finished cocaine is shipped out from Pacific ports to the international drug market, (while) increasing amounts of base and finished cocaine, however, are being moved to Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia for … trans-shipment to Europe and Africa."

Smaller quantities are carried through air routes by so-called drug mules, while larger loads travel by sea to west Africa prior to distribution throughout Europe.

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Syria: Sky News Gains Access To UK Jihadists

By Stuart Ramsay, Chief Correspondent

Sky News has gained the first access to a previously unknown brigade of exclusively British jihadists fighting in Syria.

Until now, the existence of this UK brigade has been kept a secret, but it reveals that British security services have hugely underestimated the scale of UK nationals involved in the bloodshed.

In a series of wide-ranging and frank interviews, the jihadists, who have asked Sky News to protect their identities for fear of a backlash against their families in the UK, reveal that hundreds of young men from Britain have joined the fight against Bashar al Assad's government and that "at least" four die each month.

They also claim that the UK remains the largest single source of private fundraising for jihadi fighters, outdoing countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.

In the interviews, carried out by US journalist and Muslim convert, Bilal Abdul Kareem, exclusively for Sky News, the Islamic fighters insist they have no intention of attacking UK targets or waging jihad on British soil.

One of the men, identified as Mustafa, is asked directly if he is part of al Qaeda and why he insists on hiding his identity.

"I'm not part of al Qaeda, and I've never been a part of al Qaeda - ever,"  he says.

UK jihadists say they are no threat to Britain

"I'm not a terrorist in any way. If people could see how much goodness we have in our hearts, how much mercy we have for people and how much you know we are driven by compassion to help other people they wouldn't think that we were terrorists.

"But this is a line that they have been fed and there are people that benefit from pushing that narrative about us, so I protect my identity."

This denial follows warnings from the heads of the UK's security services that young men travelling to Syria risk being radicalised before returning home to carry out terror attacks in Britain.

Fighting on a mountain top in the northeast of the country, these men look like hardcore jihadists, but when they speak they are pure Brits.

They joke and laugh between themselves, sometimes comparing the now ubiquitous "selfies".

But they hardly speak any Arabic and are dependent on one of their number to give orders on the battlefield.

Like British soldiers, they discuss kit and the best things to buy for jihad. In one exchange a young man, advised to buy new binoculars, naively asks if eBay will deliver.

"No man," one of the more seasoned fighters laughs in reply, shaking his head, "eBay won't deliver here man."

It is pure comedy. The men insist they have a moral obligation to help in Syria because of the outside world's refusal to intervene in the near three-year-old civil war, and deny they are terrorists.

"When you see atrocities carried out like what you see from the images that you see from Syria, then really as a human being, you know morally there should be an obligation just being part of the human race to defend such people," one of the brigade's leaders told Sky News.

The Britons say they were angered by the lack of international intervention

"But if morals can't, if that's not enough to motivate you, our religion demands for us that people that cannot defend themselves, that somebody needs to get up and respond to their call. Ethically, it's the only right thing to do," he said during a pause in the fighting.

The armed opposition to President Assad in the north of the country is now being waged almost exclusively by a myriad of jihadist groups supported by a significant number of foreign fighters from the USA, Canada, Northern Europe, North Africa and the former Soviet republics of Chechnya and Dagestan.

The British contingent say their numbers are increasing daily and social networking sites are helping to organise the influx into Syria.

They know that returning to their families in the UK will be extremely difficult from now on, but in reality they probably won't get the chance - the fighting footsoldier's life expectancy in Syria is very short once serious combat begins.

This committed group buck many stereotypes used to describe the Islamist fighters in Syria.

Whether anyone agrees or disagrees with them is not in itself relevant, not yet at least, as this is the first time we have ever heard them speak.

In response to Sky's exclusive report, the Foreign Office issued a statement saying: "Some people who travel from the UK to Syria for jihadist fighting will pose a security threat when they return."

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China's Illegal Detention Of Christian Pastor

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent, in Henan Province

A Chinese Christian pastor and 23 members of his congregation have been held at an unknown location illegally and without access to lawyers since mid-November.

The case of Pastor Zhang Shaojie is evidence that in parts of China the violent suppression and unlawful arrests of the faithful by local government officials continues.

China's poor record on religious tolerance has been showing signs of improvement in recent years.

The Communist government had pledged to improve the rights of religious groups but this case suggests challenges remain.

Our research led us first to a small town on the border of Hebei and Henan Provinces.

We arrived at 1am to meet the daughter of Pastor Shaojie. Her name is Zhang Yunyun and she is a mother on the run.

We meet her in the hotel room she is hiding in for the night with her 11-month-old daughter Jessie.

Yunyun is on the run because she fears the arrest of her father could lead to her own detention.

She has received repeated threats on the phone from officials. One caller threatened to "wipe out her family" if she talks to reporters. But she is undeterred.

It is nearly a month since she last saw her father. Speaking in whispers, she explains what happened.

The pastor's daughter Zhang Yunyun and her 11-month-old daughter Jessie

"My father went to work (in the church) as usual, it was a Saturday.

"Suddenly a dozen police came, they forcefully took my father away.

"There was no paperwork at all, they just took him away. we haven't seen him since."

We look at photographs she took of the government men who turned up at the church on November 16.

"Government," she says, pointing at a group of plain-clothed men. They look threatening.

She describes how they tied up her father and took him away with some of his parishioners.

She selects another photograph and points to some of those who have disappeared.

"Her, her, him, her," she says. In all, 24 people were taken away.

This is a case that pits a Christian community, which had been growing in numbers and influence, against a local government that has seized the land bought for a new church.

Our conversation with Yunyun wakes Jessie, who begins to cry. It is time for us to leave.

A man defends himself with makeshift barricades

She shows us the location of her church on a map. It is in a town 20 minutes' drive away, over the border in Henan Province.

We arrive at Nanle County Church at dawn. It is a rundown building in centre of the town. The front door is closed but a side door is ajar. We go inside.

It does not resemble a European Christian church. It looks more like a theatre: 600 or so seats and a large stage with a pulpit in its centre.

This is where Pastor Zhang and his worshipers were dragged from a month ago.

There are two types of church in China: some are sanctioned and authorised by the state and others are not.

Nanle County Church is sanctioned and so, in theory, its worshippers should face no problems from the authorities.

As we are looking around, some of the parishioners emerge from a side room. They recall the day of the arrests.

"Pastor Zhang was negotiating with our local government here. Suddenly a dozen people arrived, and they took Pastor Zhang away," one woman says.

"We did some charity work, perhaps some of that was too much? They always discriminate towards religions."

"We are very worried about my dad," another says.

"My mother was arrested here too, at the church. No arrest warrant, no evidence, just arrested."

I ask whether it is hard to practise their religion in China.

"I think it's really unsafe here and there's no freedom. Whenever we come to services there are always restrictions."

The parishioners then receive a phone call. It is from one of a group of lawyers who have taken up the case and who have just arrived at the prosecutor's office across town.

We drive over to meet them. For 10 minutes we chat to them about the case.

A child seen inside the Nanle County Church in China

"Christianity in the Chinese system does not have any real standing," one lawyer explains.

The lead attorney for the detained Christians is Xia Jun. "Our rights as lawyers to meet our client have been blocked," he says.

"I've been in Nanle for more than 20 days, I'm representing Pastor Zhang Shaojie. We went to the detention centre to see him five times, but all been denied.

"Four times I went to the Public Security Bureau to report about it, all been rejected. Then I was followed, every day. I drive around the roundabout three times, the car following me drove three times too."

They explain the complexity of the case. It combines a number of themes: intolerance of religious groups, land-grabs for financial gain, and rampant local corruption by officials who operate above their own laws.

"The key problem is the power of officials in our country. They behave like uncaged monsters ... out to harm us all. For them, the law doesn't exist," Mr Xia says.

Moments later we all discover what he means. A coach pulls up next to us. We assume those who disembark are more Christian supporters, but they're not. They are just the opposite.

In a split second, our civilised chat with the lawyers turns into a melee of chaos. The coach-load of women backed by some men attack the lawyers, the Christians and us.

One of the lawyers is beaten and kicked in front of us. Our camera is then pulled from the Sky News cameraman's shoulder and damaged.

We retreat inside the prosecutor's office, which turns out to be deserted. One of the lawyers puts a chair leg through the door to stop the mob from entering the building. It doesn't work.

The mob move into the lobby and we retreat with the lawyer and one of the Christians into another room: a dead end.

The lawyer barricades us all inside the small room using a sofa, a chair, a desk and a drawer to wedge the door handle. Inches away on the other side of the door the determined mob are trying to get to us.

"Who are they? I ask.

"They are paid and backed by the local government. They come and go as required. All this is organised behind the scenes by the government," Mr Xia explains.

Xie Jun, the lawyer for Pastor Zhang Shaojie

The same group had attacked him the previous day.

We watched through the barred window as another lawyer, stuck outside, is struck on the head with a small rock.

"This case is for pure religious causes," Mr Xia says.

"More than 20 people were arrested. Pastor Zhang Shaojie and most of them are church staff: the core leaders of the church.

"When they are arrested, all the activities like worshiping and services, can't take place as normal."

For four hours, the local government rent-a-mob did their best to get inside. We watched a police car pull up outside and then drive away again.

The violent spectacle is a demonstration of a determined intolerance of religion incited by a corrupt local government.

The lawyers tell us that they believe the government seized the church land because it can be used for their own lucrative construction projects.

We call the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing, who "handle" foreign reporters in China, to explain the situation.

Eventually, the same authorities who refuse to tell anyone why they are holding Pastor Zhang and his congregation escort us out of the building and out of the town.

They have given us safe passage out but continue to intimidate the Christians within their town.

"I miss my father very much," Zhang Yunyun had told me the previous night. It is exactly a month since she last saw him.

I ask if she thinks he will be home for Christmas.

She pauses: "I don't think so."

She and her baby daughter Jessie remain on the run, in hiding and frightened.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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NSA Considers Edward Snowden Amnesty Deal

The US National Security Agency is considering offering an amnesty to Edward Snowden if he agrees to stop leaking top secret documents, a top agency official has said.

The fugitive intelligence analyst - currently in Moscow - has been charged with espionage by US authorities for divulging reams of secret files, which have been published by news organisations across the globe. 

Mr Snowden has insisted he spilled the secrets to expose the NSA's far-reaching surveillance and spark public debate.

Rick Ledgett, who heads the NSA taskforce in charge of assessing the Snowden leaks, told CBS News' 60 Minutes that he would be open to the possibility of a deal.

He said: "My personal view is, yes, it's worth having a conversation about." 

Mr Snowden is thought to have access to around 1.5 million NSA files

But NSA chief General Keith Alexander has rejected the possibility of an amnesty.

He told the programme: "This is analogous to a hostage-taker taking 50 people hostage, shooting 10 and then say 'You give me full amnesty and I'll let the other 40 go'."

Gen Alexander also said suggestions that the agency was routinely eavesdropping on the phone calls of Americans were false.

He said: "NSA can only target the communications of a US person with a probable cause finding under specific court order," he said, referring to the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

"Today, we have less than 60 authorisations on specific persons to do that."

NSA chief General Keith Alexander says there will be no deal

Mr Ledgett warned that Mr Snowden effectively stole the "keys to the kingdom" when he took more than 1.5 million of the agency's files.

He said of particular concern was Mr Snowden's theft of around 31,000 documents the NSA official described as an "exhaustive list of the requirements that have been levied against the National Security Agency".

He said: "What that gives is, what topics we're interested in, where our gaps are. Additional information about US capabilities and US gaps is provided as part of that."

He said the information could potentially offer a rival nation a "roadmap of what we know, what we don't know, and give them, implicitly, a way to protect their information from the US intelligence community's view. It is the keys to the kingdom."

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Nelson Mandela Funeral Blog: As It Happened

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3:12pm UK, Sunday 15 December 2013

Nelson Mandela guided South Africa from the shackles of apartheid

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Mandela Funeral: End Of 'Extraordinary Journey'

Nelson Mandela, hailed as "Africa's greatest son" at an emotional state funeral, has been laid to rest near his childhood home.

The burial of the anti-apartheid icon followed a service attended by 4,000 mourners from across the world, at which South African President Jacob Zuma declared Mr Mandela's "extraordinary journey" was now over.

"It is the end of 95 glorious years of this freedom fighter, a dedicated and humble servant of the people of South Africa," he said during a poignant speech.

Mr Mandela's coffin is carried along a hilltop overlooking Qunu village

"He was a fountain of wisdom, a pillar of strength and a beacon of hope for all those fighting for a just world order."

In contrast to the funeral, held in a huge tent at Mr Mandela's ancestral home of Qunu, in South Africa's Eastern Cape, the burial service was a smaller affair.

Several hundred of Mr Mandela's family and closest friends gathered at the grave site, as military jets and helicopters performed a fly past.

Television cameras cut away as officials lowered his body into the ground.

Earlier, Mr Mandela's coffin was carried to the funeral on a military carriage and covered with the South African flag, as a 21-gun salute echoed around his childhood home.

It was placed in front of a stage, on which 95 candles - one for each year of his life - were lit and a huge portrait of the smiling former president was displayed.

Mourners heard from political leaders, Mr Mandela's family and some of his closest friends during an emotional service that brought both tears and laughter.

Mr Mandela's family and South Africa's president sit beside his coffin

Ahmed Kathrada, who was imprisoned on Robben Island for 26 years with Mr Mandela, gave a memorable speech, recalling a man he described as his "elder brother".

Speaking directly to his friend, he said: "What can we say ... in these, our last, final moments together?

"Your abundant reserves of love, simplicity, honesty, service, humility, care, courage, foresight, patience, tolerance, equality and justice continually serve as a source of enormous strength to millions."

Mr Kathrada said his close friend was an "enormous" source of strength

Holding back tears, he added: "My life is in a void and I don't know who to turn to."

Hailemariam Desalegn, the Ethiopian Prime Minister and chairman of the African Union, said: "His was a life of struggle in the face of unparalleled odds. A life of suffering in the hands of malicious perpetrators of injustice. A life of perseverance in the face of challenge.

"But we are not mourning. We are celebrating humanity at its finest. We should find consolation that his legacy will live on for eternity."

Mr Mandela's ex-wife Winnie Mandela (left) and widow Graca Machel (centre)

Jakaya Kikwete, the President of Tanzania, described Mr Mandela as "our leader, our hero, our icon and our father", while Kenneth Kaunda, the former president of Zambia, added: "As we go on without Madiba ... let us remember the love he had for us all. Without that, we cannot succeed."

High-profile guests included businessman Sir Richard Branson, TV chat show host Oprah Winfrey and actor Idris Elba, who plays Mr Mandela in a forthcoming film about his life, while prominent US civil rights activist Reverend Jessie Jackson and Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams also made the journey.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu was in the audience after earlier claiming he had not received an invitation, while the Prince of Wales attended on behalf of the Queen.

Oprah Winfrey and Sir Richard Branson attended the service

During his speech, Mr Zuma described his predecessor as a man "so great and yet so humble".

"We wish to express two simple words," he said. "Thank you. Thank you for being everything we wanted and needed in a leader during a critical period in our lives."

He added: "We'll cherish every moment we spent with you.

"You were an exceptional human being and you will remain our guiding light as we continue our journey to build the South Africa of your dreams."

Archbishop Desmond Tutu initially thought he had missed out on an invite

As the funeral was beamed to specially erected big screens on hillsides around Mr Mandela's home, warriors, dressed in their colourful tribal outfits, gathered to sing, dance and clap.

Sky News' Special Correspondent Alex Crawford, in Qunu, said: "The authorities and the Mandela family have always insisted this should be a coming together of a huge, important state funeral with all its pomp and ceremony, and the traditions of Mr Mandela's tribe.

"These past 10 days have been a chance not just for local people to grieve and to mourn, but also to remember how much of a colossus this man was, both in world politics and South African history."

Members of the armed forces marched alongside Mr Mandela's coffin

Mr Mandela's body arrived in South Africa's Eastern Cape on board a military plane, escorted by two fighter jets.

Tens of thousands of people lined the roads as the funeral procession made the short journey from Mthatha airport to Qunu, although some were angry the cortege did not stop to allow them time to pay their respects.

Preparations for service - the first ever state funeral in South Africa - were also marred by a public spat between the country's government and Mr Tutu, one of the most prominent survivors in the long struggle against apartheid.

A 21-gun salute heralded the arrival of Nelson Mandela's coffin

Mr Tutu, a Nobel laureate who has been critical of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party, initially said he was not invited - an apparent snub denied by the government.

More than 100,000 people saw Mr Mandela's body lying in state in Pretoria over the last three days, but some had to be turned away.

The former leader, who was imprisoned for 27 years for opposing racist apartheid before emerging in 1990 to forge a new democratic South Africa, died on December 5.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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Desmond Tutu 'Will Attend Mandela's Funeral'

Desmond Tutu will attend the funeral of Nelson Mandela after he was apparently left off the guest list, according to reports.

"Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu will be traveling to Qunu early tomorrow to attend Tata's funeral," the Anglican cleric's office said in a brief statement.

"Tata", meaning father in Xhosa, is a term by which Mandela is affectionately known.

The 82-year-old retired archbishop earlier said he received "no indication" he had been invited to the burial service and was "heartbroken" at not being able to attend.

Contradicting President Jacob Zuma's claim that he was "definitely" on the guest list, Mr Tutu added: "Had I or my office been informed that I would be be welcome, there is no way on Earth that I would have missed it."

Minister in The Presidency Collins Chabane said: "We didn't send an invitation to Archbishop Tutu because we did not send an invitation to anyone.

Mr Tutu had been "heartbroken" not to have been asked to attend

"The accreditation for people who were accredited for the National Memorial Service is still valid. This matter was clarified in the first stage of accreditation," he said.

Mr Chabane added that those who had been accredited were welcome to attend the funeral. As long as their names were on the accreditation list, they would be accommodated.

Mr Tutu worked closely with the former South African president in his long struggle against apartheid and welcomed Mr Mandela into his home after his fellow campaigner's release from jail.

The apparent exclusion of the Nobel Peace Prize winner led to speculation he was being punished for vocal criticism of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party.

Some 4,000 people are expected to attend the funeral of the anti-apartheid hero including family members, African leaders and several heads of state.

The Prince of Wales will attend in place of the Queen and prominent US civil-rights activist Jessie Jackson is also expected to be there.

More follows...

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Mandela Funeral: Mourners Angry At Procession

Tribal Traditions At Mandela Burial

Updated: 11:05am UK, Saturday 14 December 2013

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent, in Qunu

He is Qunu's most famous son and the return of Nelson Mandela's body to his ancestral homeland is not just for sentimental reasons - it is part of Xhosa tradition that those who pass away are returned to the soil from where they came.

This weekend sees a stark shift in tempo, organisation and ceremony as the state funeral meshes with the centuries-old traditions of Mr Mandela's countrymen and women in the rural Eastern Cape.

"We feel very represented by Nelson Mandela," Mandisi Tshaka, a young Xhosa man, resplendent in his traditional robes and big beaded necklace, told me.

"Everyone in the world knows the Xhosa tribe because of him and we're saluting him."

The South African government has announced the former president's state funeral is a "first for the country" and means full military ceremonial honours will be laid on and led by the armed forces.

There will be 21-gun salutes and a fly-over by the South African Air Force.

But there is a strong importance being put on performing the Xhosa rites as Mr Mandela is laid to rest.

There will be a ritual slaughtering of an ox in the early hours before receiving his body at Mthatha airport in the Eastern Cape.

The AbaThembu king, Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, is expected to lead a group of traditional leaders as well as Mandela elders in welcoming him home to the village of Qunu, where he spent much of his childhood.

Xhosa custom dictates a welcome ritual is performed to ensure the ancestors are informed of the arrival of Mr Mandela's remains.

Mr Mandela will be called on by his praise name Dlibhunga and the AbaThembu king will shout this three times as he greets the body when he arrives home.

Despite the pomp and ceremony of the state funeral, there will be equal, if not more, importance put on the traditional Xhosa burial rituals to ensure the man they call Madiba has an easy transition into the afterworld.

The Xhosa king, Zwelonke Sigcau, told Sky News: "The Xhosa people believe Nelson Mandela is not leaving us. It is just his body which is going into the ground. His spirit will remain."

In the African culture many believe a dead person's spirit lives on beyond death and joins other ancestors who guide, help and protect the living.

It is a belief which greatly helps alleviate the pain felt by the loss of a loved one - and Mr Mandela may assume even greater importance amongst his people because of his exalted status as a spiritual ancestor now.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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