AFP | May 27, 2012, 09.00AM IST | | | | BAMAKO: Tuareg rebels and the Islamist rebel group Ansar Dine have agreed to join forces and create a body to rule northern Mali, according to an agreement. "The Ansar Dine movement and the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (Tuareg MNLA) proclaim their dissolution in Azawad (northern Mali)," the yesterday's deal said. "The two movements have created the transitional council of the Islamic

Sunday, 27 May 2012 12:53 Written by TOLOnews.com Top Pakistani government officials said the 33-year prison sentence for the doctor who helped the CIA track down Osama bin Laden is payback for how the US went about getting the Al Qaeda leader, and they shrugged off criticism of the verdict by telling America to stop "over-reacting" and "take a deep breath". To watch the programme, please click here: Dim lights Embed Embed this video on your site

PROVINCES, (SANA)- Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups committed two horrible massacres against a number of families in the towns of al-Shumariyeh and Taldo in the countryside of Homs province, in escalation of their crimes that comes usually before Security Council sessions on Syria and this time in coincidence with the announced visit of the UN envoy to Syria Kofi Annan. A source in the province told SANA reporter that terrorist groups from al-

reuters Malians gesture behind the national flag at a rally against the seizure of northern Mali by Tuareg and Islamist rebels, in Bamako April 11, 2012. REUTERS BAMAKO: Mali's Tuareg rebel National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and Ansar Dine Islamist militants have agreed to merge and create an independent Islamic state in the north of the country, a rebel spokesman said on Saturday.

Mali's army deserters at a camp near Niamey where they took refuge under the protection of Niger's army after an offensive by Tuareg and Islamist rebels in the north on May 25, 2012.

Two rebel groups that seized northern Mali two months ago have agreed to merge and turn their territory into an Islamist state, both sides say. The Tuareg MNLA, a secular rebel group, and the Islamist group Ansar Dine signed the deal in the town of Gao The two groups that seized control of Mali's north have announced that they have agreed to merge and create an independent Islamic state in the northern half of the west African nation.

WARDAK: More than 1,500 Afghans block the highway between Kabul and Kandahar in Seed Abad, Wardak province, Afghanistan, yesterday. The protesters demanded a stop to military night operations.

From the Newspaper | Anwar Iqbal | 13 hours ago Mr Bilawal Zardari said he realised that he was visiting Washington at a most difficult time in the 65-year relationship between the two countries.

By Razeshta Sethna | From InpaperMagzine | 9 hours ago Pakistan is an important ally for the US in this region but the relationship is periodically fractured and mired in distrust.

AP | 4 hours ago In this file photo a marble slab of the CIA memorial wall containing stars in the lobby of the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Va. - Photo by AP WASHINGTON: The CIA is remembering those lost in the hidden, often dangerous world of espionage, adding a new star to the intelligence agency's memorial wall and more than a dozen names to its hallowed Book of Honor. The new star carved into the wall is for Jeffrey Patneau, a young officer