BBC news 2011-05-08 加文本

BBC news 2011-05-08

BBC News with Fiona MacDonald

Senior United States intelligence officials have for the first time said that Osama Bin Laden was in active control of al-Qaeda right up to his death in the American raid on his compound in Pakistan. The officials said the raid yielded the biggest collection of intelligence ever obtained from a single terrorism suspect. Videos seized during the raid which the Americans have just released show him delivering a video message to the American people and watching himself on television. Our security correspondent Frank Gardner reports.

The really interesting thing, I think, coming out of all of this is that US intelligence appears to be doing a 180-degree about-turn. Having said for years that "Well, he's on the run, he's not...he's too busy to do any command and controlling," they are now saying that his compound in Abbottabad was the command and control centre, a command and control centre for al-Qaeda, and that he was in operational command of the organisation, which is quite different to what we've been told till now.

Afghanistan's second city Kandahar has been paralysed by intense fighting sparked by multiple attacks from suspected Taliban militants on government buildings. At least six of the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers. Afterwards, militants exchanged fire with security forces with both sides using heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. From Kabul, here's Paul Wood.

President Karzai said in a statement that killing civilians in Kandahar was the Taliban's response to the death of Osama Bin Laden. They are trying to hide their defeat by taking revenge on the innocent people of Afghanistan, he said. A spokesman for the Taliban denied that, saying that on the contrary, the Kandahar attack had been planned for some time. A week ago, the Taliban did announce the beginning of their spring offensive. They've also put out a statement more recently, saying that what they called the pure blood of Osama Bin Laden would nurture the sapling of jihad.

Reports from Syria say tanks have moved into the port city of Baniyas, where there have been persistent demonstrations against the government of President Bashar al-Assad in recent weeks. Some local people are said to have tried to form human chains to stop the tanks. Jim Muir reports.

The official version of events at Baniyas announced on Syrian state TV is that army and security forces have moved into the coastal town to chase what they called "armed terrorist elements". It said a number of wanted men have been arrested and quantities of arms and ammunition found. Activists said the troops and tanks moved in under cover of darkness and began house-to-house searches with lists of people they were after. Women staged a protest on the road outside the town, demanding the release of the detained men.

Rebel leaders in Libya say Italy has agreed to supply weapons to help them defeat Colonel Gaddafi's forces. The Italian government has denied the deal. A foreign minister spokesman said Italy would only provide the rebels with self-defence equipment.

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Tunisian police have used tear gas and batons to disperse hundreds of demonstrators in the capital Tunis. The demonstrators were calling for the resignation of the government and protesting against what they saw as the heavy-handed response of the police to other demonstrations in recent days. An overnight curfew has been declared in and around the capital. Meanwhile, a Tunisian court has sentenced Imed Trabelsi, a nephew of the wife of ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, to two years in jail for drug use.

The BBC has learnt that the European Commission is willing to cut the interest rate on the emergency loans made to the Irish Republic last year. If agreed by fellow EU member states, the reduction could save $570m a year. Here's our business correspondent Joe Lynam.

Last November, Ireland agreed emergency funding from EU buddies and the IMF worth $100bn at an average rate of 5.8%. That was widely felt to be excessive by Irish voters, who elected a new government in February with a strong mandate to re-negotiate the terms. What Ireland must give up in return, though, is unclear. The new coalition in Dublin has consistently said that its 12.5% corporation tax rate would not be raised, despite French and German demands to do so.

The governing party in Singapore has won all but six seats in Saturday's elections for parliament, but the opposition has described its advances as a political landmark. The People's Action Party, which have been in power for more than 40 years, won 81 out of 87 seats. Among those who lost their seats is Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo.

Tributes have been paid to one of the world's great golfers, Severiano Ballesteros, who's died of cancer at his home in Spain. Flags flew at half-mast and a minute's silence was observed at the start of Saturday's round of the Spanish Open, which is held this year in Barcelona.

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