security

The United States accused Iran on Tuesday of backing a plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington, escalating tensions with Tehran and stirring up a hornet's nest in the Gulf, where Saudi Arabia and Iran have long jostled for power.

Egypt's Coptic Christians turned their fury against the army on Monday after at least 25 people were killed when troops broke up a protest, deepening public doubts about the military's ability to steer the country peacefully toward democracy.

Britain and its allies are still far from achieving their goals in Afghanistan despite ten years of fighting there, warned a former commander of the coalition forces in the country. General Stanley McChrystal said the allies ‘still don’t know enough’ about Afghanistan and were ‘little better than’ halfway to succeeding in their military aims. The American general spoke out as the Afghan president admitted his government and the coalition had failed to provide ordinary people with security, even though it was a decade since the Taliban regime fell.

Moammar Gaddafi called on Libyans to take to the streets and wage a campaign of civil disobedience against the country's new leaders - the first word from the fugitive leader in just over two weeks.

Pro-democracy protests which swept the Arab world earlier in the year have erupted in eastern Saudi Arabia over the past three days, with police opening fire with live rounds and many people injured, opposition activists say.