Activists say 20 killed in Homs

This video, released on Wednesday before the deal was announced, is said to have been shot in Homs

   Tanks mounted with machine-guns have opened fire in the Syrian city of Homs, killing at least 20 people, activists have reported.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Baba Amr district came under heavy fire on Thursday.
Violence was also reported in other parts of the city.
It comes a day after the authorities in Damascus agreed to an Arab League plan calling on the government to pull the military out of cities.
The plan required Syria to withdraw all troops from urban areas and end all killing immediately.
The Arab League said Damascus had agreed to release all political prisoners and begin a dialogue with the opposition within two weeks.
The Syrian government also said it would allow journalists, rights groups and Arab League representatives to monitor the situation in the country.
At present foreign journalists are unable to move around Syria freely and information is tightly controlled and hard to verify.

'Lack of options'

 

          Samir al-Nashar Syrian National Council

Syrian opposition groups criticised the plan as an attempt by the regime to buy more time.

"The regime has accepted the Arab initiative out of fear of Arab isolation, its weakness and lack of options," a leading opposition figure, Burhan Ghalioun, wrote on his Facebook page.
"But its acceptance does not mean it will respect its clauses."
Mr Ghalioun is a senior figure in the Syrian National Council. Another member of the council, Samir al-Nashar, said it had met Arab League head Nabil al-Arabi to discuss the agreement with Damascus.
"We are not talking about a dialogue," he told AFP news agency.
"We offered to engage in negotiations to move from a authoritarian regime to a democratic regime. And we ask that Bashar al-Assad resign."

From Homs, video footage emerged purporting to show tanks firing in a built-up area on Thursday. The voice of the cameraman gives the date and mentions the previous day's agreement with the Arab League.

Protests against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad started in March but have become increasingly violent.
The government has tried to put down the demonstrations using the security forces and pro-government militia. Opponents of the regime have taken up arms and been joined by soldiers who have defected.
At least 3,000 people have been killed in the unrest in Syria, while hundreds of others have disappeared.
The government of Mr Assad - who took over from his father as president in 2000 - says the violence is being carried out by "armed gangs" and "terrorists".
More than 1,000 security personnel have lost their lives in the fighting, the government says.

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Venice Golden Lion for Alexander Sokurov's Faust

Russian director Alexander Sokurov's take on the German legend Faust has won the film a Golden Lion - the top award at the Venice Film Festival.

The classic tale explores the corrupting nature of power as scholar Faust sells his soul to the devil.
German-born Irish actor Michael Fassbender was named best actor for playing a sex addict in British director Steve McQueen's Shame.
The best actress award went to Hong Kong's Deanie Yip in A Simple Life.
Best actor

Fassbender, 34, previously worked with McQueen in the filmmaker's Bafta-winning debut feature Hunger, playing jailed IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands.
Accepting his acting honour, he said: "It's just really nice when you take chance and you do something that you think is relevant - you hope is relevant - and people respond the way they did."
Fassbender also starred in another Venice competition film - David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method - in which he plays psychoanalyst Carl Jung.
The film will show at the London Film Festival next month.
Golden Lion winner Faust was praised by US director Darren Aronofsky - head of the Venice jury - who presented the award.
He said: "There are some films that make you cry, there are some films that make you laugh, there are some films that change you forever after you see them; and this is one of them."
At a news conference following the award ceremony, Sokurov appealed for governments to continue funding the arts.
"Culture is not a luxury! It is the basis for the development of the society," he said.

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Netanyahu says Egypt peace stands despite embassy riot

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will stick to its peace treaty with Egypt despite the attack on its embassy in Cairo.

   He was speaking after protesters stormed the Israeli embassy on Friday, prompting the evacuation of nearly all Israeli diplomatic staff.
Egypt is on alert after the attack, in which three people died as security forces fought rioters in Cairo.
Cairo says those involved in the attack will be tried in an emergency court.
Anti-Israeli feeling rose after violence on the Gaza border last month.
Five Egyptian policemen were killed as Israeli forces pursued militants who had killed eight Israelis.
The US state department said it was "deeply concerned" about the attack on the Israeli embassy and relieved no staff had been injured.
Urging Egypt to safeguard the security of all foreign embassies on its territory, it stressed that both Israel and Egypt were "key partners and allies" of the US.
The clashes at the Israeli embassy, which carried on throughout Friday night, have shocked people both in Egypt and abroad, the BBC's Bethany Bell reports from the Egyptian capital.
Evacuation "Israel will continue to hold fast to the peace accord with Egypt," Mr Netanyahu said in a televised address in Jerusalem.
"We are working together with the Egyptian government to return our ambassador to Cairo soon.
"I would like to ensure that the security arrangements necessary for him and for our staff will be steadfast."
The Israeli prime minister also thanked US President Barack Obama for American help to evacuate the embassy, without giving details.
"I would say it was a decisive moment - fateful, I would even say," he said.
"He [Mr Obama] said: 'I will do all that I can.' He did that. He applied all of the means and influence of the United States of America, which are certainly substantial."
Ambassador Yitzhak Levanon and nearly all other members of Israel's diplomatic team were evacuated from Egypt. Altogether more than 80 people - embassy staff, their families and security personnel - were flown out overnight to Israel.
Six members of the embassy security staff were trapped inside the building during the riot and had to be rescued by Egyptian commandos, an Israeli official told the BBC.
The Israeli consul remains in Cairo as acting ambassador.
Burning vehicles Reports on Egyptian State TV said Prime Minister Essam Sharaf had offered to step down but his resignation was rejected by the country's military leader, Field Marshal Mohamad Hussain Tantawi.
Under Egypt's former leader, Hosni Mubarak, such violent displays of anger against Israel would not have been tolerated, our correspondent says.
Now the army has to try to balance the demands of its angry people and its longstanding strategic commitments, she adds.
Egyptian state media say at least 448 people were injured in the clashes overnight into Saturday.
The unrest began after Friday prayers, when thousands converged on Cairo's Tahrir Square to demand faster political reforms following the ousting of Mr Mubarak in February.
From there, hundreds marched on the Israeli embassy. They smashed through a security wall around the building before a group of about 30 broke in and threw documents out of windows.
An Israeli official told the BBC that the intruders had entered consular offices, but not the main embassy.
After initially standing by, police moved against the protesters, firing tear gas. Several vehicles were set alight.

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Obituary: Osama Bin Laden

            John Simpson on how the world's most wanted man evaded capture for so long?

Osama Bin Laden came to the world's attention on 11 September 2001, when the attacks on the United States left more than 3,000 people dead and hundreds more injured.

   In a matter of three years, the Saudi-born dissident had emerged from obscurity to become one of the most hated and feared men in the world.
Osama Bin Laden was born in 1957, apparently the 17th of 52 children of Mohamed Bin Laden, a multimillionaire builder responsible for 80% of Saudi Arabia's roads.
His father's death in a helicopter crash in 1968 brought the young man a fortune running into many millions of dollars, though considerably less than the widely published estimate of $250m.
 
''Mujahideen''

While studying civil engineering at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Bin Laden came into contact with teachers and students of the more conservative brand of Islam.

Through theological debate and study, he came to embrace fundamentalist Islam as a bulwark against what he saw as the decadence of the West.
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 changed Bin Laden's life forever. He took up the anti-communist cause with a will, moving to Afghanistan where, for a decade, he fought an ultimately victorious campaign with the mujahideen.
Intelligence experts believe that the US Central Intelligence Agency played an active role in arming and training the mujahideen, including Bin Laden. The end of the war saw a sea change in his views.
Lucrative investments His hatred of Moscow shifted to Washington after 300,000 US troops, women among them, were based in Saudi Arabia, home of two of Islam's holiest places, during the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq. Bin Laden vowed to avenge what he saw as blasphemy.
Along with many of his mujahideen comrades, he brought his mix of fighting skills and Islamic zeal to many anti-US factions within the Middle East.
American pressure ended brief sojourns in Saudi Arabia - which removed his citizenship in 1994 - and then Sudan, and Bin Laden moved back to Afghanistan in January 1996.
The country, in a state of anarchy, was home to a diverse range of Islamic groups, including the fundamentalist Taliban militia, which captured the capital, Kabul, nine months later.
Though geographically limited, Bin Laden's wealth, increasing all the time through lucrative worldwide investments, enabled him to finance and control a continuously shifting series of transnational militant alliances through his al-Qaeda network.
Sometimes he worked as a broker, organising logistics and providing financial support. At other times, he would run his own violent campaigns.
In February 1998, he issued a fatwa - or religious edict - on behalf of the World Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, stating that killing Americans and their allies was a Muslim duty.
'Most wanted' Six months later, two bombs rocked the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Some 224 people died and nearly 5,000 were wounded. He was indicted as chief suspect, along with 16 of his colleagues.
Almost overnight, Bin Laden became a major thorn in the side of America. A byword for fundamentalist Islamic resistance to Washington, he soon appeared on the FBI's "most wanted" list, with a reward of up to $25m (£15m) on his head.
The US fired 75 sea-launched cruise missiles into six training camps in eastern Afghanistan in a failed attempt to kill him. They missed their target by just one hour.
As well as the African bombings, Bin Laden was implicated in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York, a 1995 car bomb in the Saudi capital Riyadh and a truck bomb in a Saudi barracks, which killed 19 US soldiers.
"I always kill Americans because they kill us," he said. "When we attack Americans, we don't harm other people."
In the case of the bombs in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, his words rang hollow. The vast majority of the dead and injured were African, not American.
The arrogance of wealth saw Bin Laden make the government of Kazakhstan a multi-million dollar offer to buy his own tactical nuclear weapon.
It comes as no surprise, then, that both the US and Israel are believed to have sent assassination squads after him.
Cult status Then came the events of 11 September 2001. Two hijacked aircraft smashed into, and destroyed, the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York.
Another aircraft ploughed into the Pentagon in Washington and a fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Altogether more than 3,000 people died in the attacks, which led to the US-led operation against the Taliban.
Allied forces moved into Afghanistan late in 2001. At the time, it was believed that Bin Laden might have been killed during the battle for the Tora Bora cave complex.
In reality, he had slipped across the border into Pakistan, a country in which he achieved the sort of cult status usually reserved for pop stars or film actors.
In February 2003, an audio tape, purporting to be of Bin Laden, was delivered to the al-Jazeera television company.
Of the impending US-led invasion of Iraq, the voice said: "This crusaders' war concerns, first and foremost, all Muslims, regardless of whether the Iraqi socialist party or Saddam remain in power.
"All Muslims, especially those in Iraq, should launch a holy war."
The US conceded that the voice was probably Bin Laden's.
Careful timing The last known sighting of Bin Laden by anyone other than his very close entourage remains in late 2001 as he prepared to flee from his Tora Bora stronghold.
In Pakistan, he was given hospitality and shelter by some local Pashtun tribesmen loyal to the Taliban and opposed to their own government then led by President Pervez Musharraf.
The hunt for Bin Laden took a dramatic turn with the arrest in Pakistan, in 2003, of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
The head of al-Qaeda's operations and the suspected mastermind of the Twin Towers attack, it seemed as though the net had begun to close in on Bin Laden himself.
A major offensive to capture Bin Laden was launched by the Pakistani army along the Afghan border in May-July 2004.
But a year later, Mr Musharraf admitted the trail had gone cold.
Though al-Qaeda has been prolific in issuing audio messages, often on the internet and featuring the network's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, videos of Bin Laden himself have been rare.
His appearances have been carefully timed and aimed, analysts say, at influencing Western public opinion by driving a wedge between citizens and their leaders.
One such video was issued in 2004 - the same year as the Madrid bombings - and days before the US election.
A second surfaced as the sixth anniversary of the 11 September attacks approached, timed to quell rumours that he had been dead for some time.
To his supporters, Bin Laden was a fighter for freedom against the US and Israel, not, as he was to many in the West, a terrorist with the blood of thousands of people on his hands.

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Israelis hold renewed mass protests over living costs

                        Jon Donnison says the protests have taken the Israeli government by surprise

Israelis have again taken to the streets in mass protests over the high cost of living.

    At least 250,000 people joined the protests, with the main rallies in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa, although some Israeli media put the turnout as high as 400,000.
They are the latest in a series of protests held throughout the summer.
Many Israelis are angry at the high cost of housing, food, education and health care.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has responded by forming a committee to examine calls for reform, although he has warned he cannot meet all the protesters' demands.
Economic battlefield The biggest protest on Saturday, part of what organisers had dubbed a Million Man March, appeared to be in Tel Aviv.
Student union president Itzik Shmuli told the crowd: "They told us that the movement was slowing down. Tonight we are showing that it's the opposite. We are the new Israelis, determined to continue the fight for a fairer and better society."
One banner read: "An entire generation wants a future" and another "The land of milk and honey, but not for everybody".
Jonathan Levy, one of the protest organisers, told the BBC: "All the non-rich people in Israel, no matter if they're secular or religious, old or young, realise that we've abandoned some really important battlefields in this country, that is economy, and we only dealt obsessively with security problems."
The BBC's Jon Donnison, in Tel Aviv, says the Israeli government - with its eyes on the impact of people-power elsewhere in the Middle East - has been taken a back by the spontaneity and scale of the demonstrations.
He says many other countries look enviously at Israel's growing economy but people here feel the wealth has not been shared.
Many of the protesters are from a middle class that has had to bear a hefty tax burden and conscription into the services.
The movement began in mid-July - when some Israelis angry at housing costs pitched tents in a Tel Aviv neighbourhood - and has burgeoned.
Mr Netanyahu has appointed a panel of experts to meet protest leaders and assess their demands.

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Russia's Lavrov condemns EU oil sanctions on Syria

Russia has condemned the EU's move to step up sanctions on Syria by banning imports of its oil, amid ongoing protests against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

    Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the sanctions would "lead to nothing good".
Oil accounts for about 25% of Syria's income and EU member states take about 95% of its oil exports.
At least 14 people were reportedly killed on Friday as protesters again came out in force across the country.
Activists said seven had died in suburbs of the capital Damascus, four in the central city of Homs, and another three in Deir al-Zour in the east.
The United Nations says more than 2,200 people have been killed since pro-democracy demonstrations began in mid-March.
'Appalling' Russia, which has a veto on the Security Council, refuses to back a resolution imposing an arms embargo or asset freeze.

"We are against unilateral sanctions," Reuters quoted Mr Lavrov as saying, on the sidelines of a summit of ex-Soviet states in the Tajik capital Dushanbe. "This ruins the partnership approach to any crisis."

The EU's ban of Syrian oil imports was announced on Friday and is due to come into effect immediately, with the exception of Italy, which has been granted a short-term exemption.
The ban was aimed at increasing pressure on the Syrian regime over its crackdown against anti-government protest, said a UK official.
The EU also added four more Syrian officials and three Syrian groups to its list of those affected by an EU travel ban and asset freeze.
"The violence must stop and he needs to step aside."
The US has already banned the import of Syrian oil, condemning the Syrian crackdown and calling on Mr Assad to step down.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe meanwhile said his country would increase contact with Syrian opposition figures.
Last month, dissidents set up a "Transitional National Council" to co-ordinate the campaign against President Assad, following the example of the rebels in Libya. Burhan Ghalioun, a professor of political sociology at the University of Paris III, was appointed chairman.

Anti-government protests again broke out in various towns and cities after Friday prayers, with activists reporting that security forces opened fire on demonstrations in the provinces of Idlib and Deraa, in suburbs of Damascus, in Aleppo and in the central city of Hama.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian forces had surrounded a number of mosques in protest hotspots, including Deraa and the eastern city of Deir al-Zour.
Another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees (LCC), said there had been a mass demonstration in Hama outside the home of Adnan Bakkour, to support the Hama attorney-general's decision to resign in protest at the killing of protesters.
The LCC reported another big protest in the northern city of Amuda, against Russian arms sales to Syria.
Syrian state television has denied most reports of protests, calling them "imaginary", although it said security forces had killed "two members of armed groups" in Talbisseh.
Access to Syria has been severely restricted for international journalists and it is rarely possible to verify accounts by witnesses and activists.

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EU steps up Syria sanctions with ban on oil imports

The EU has stepped up sanctions on Syria by banning imports of its oil, as protests again broke out against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

    Oil accounts for about 25% of Syria's income and the EU takes about 95% of its oil exports.
Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal said the sanctions would "go straight to the heart of the regime".
Activists say protesters on Friday again poured on to the streets all over the country.
At least 13 more people have been killed by security forces, they said.
The United Nations says more than 2,200 people have been killed in six months of protests.
 
'Appalling'
The UK Foreign Office said the European Union had agreed at official level to ban imports of Syrian oil into the EU to increase pressure on the Syrian regime over its crackdown against anti-government protest.
A spokesperson said it was hoped the agreement would be signed off by EU foreign ministers meeting in Poland on Friday and Saturday and come into immediate effect.
However, Italy has won a concession allowing it to fulfil existing contracts until 15 November.

The EU also added four more Syrian officials and three Syrian groups to its list of those affected by an EU travel ban and asset freeze.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said: "President Assad is carrying out massacres in his own country."
In Paris on Thursday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned Mr Assad's "brutality against unarmed citizens", adding: "The violence must stop and he needs to step aside."
The US has already banned the import of Syrian oil.
UK PM David Cameron has expressed frustration that a tough UN resolution on Syria has not yet been found.
He told the BBC on Friday: "We've been at the vanguard, arguing for a different approach to Syria. What [Assad] is doing is appalling. He's had his chance to demonstrate he's serious about reform and he's blown it."
Russia, which has a veto on the Security Council, refuses to back a resolution imposing an arms embargo or asset freeze.
Anti-government protests again broke out in various towns and cities after Friday prayers.
Activists reported that security forces were shooting at a number of demonstrations, including in the provinces of Idlib and Deraa, in suburbs of the capital, Damascus, in Aleppo and in the central city of Hama.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian forces had surrounded a number of mosques in protest hotspots, including Deraa and the eastern city of Deir al-Zour.
It said eight people had been killed in several suburbs of Damascus, including Erbeen and Douma, while three more died in Homs province and two in Deir al-Zour.
Another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees (LCC), said there had been a mass demonstration in Hama outside the home of Adnan Bakkour, to support the Hama attorney-general's decision to resign in protest at the killing of protesters.
The LCC reported another big protest in the northern city of Amuda, against Russian arms sales to Syria.
Syrian state television has denied most reports of protests, calling them "imaginary", although it said security forces had killed "two members of armed groups" in Talbisseh.
Access to Syria has been severely restricted for international journalists and it is rarely possible to verify accounts by witnesses and activists.
Activists on their Facebook page, Syrian Revolution 2011, had urged people out on to the streets under the slogan "death rather than humiliation", adding: "We are ready to die in the millions as martyrs."
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said seven people had been killed on Thursday, in Homs, Idlib and Deir al-Zour.

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Q&A: Palestinian statehood bid at the UN

Palestinian officials plan to ask the United Nations to recognise an independent Palestinian state within 1967 borders if there is no progress in the peace process by September.

    The idea is strongly opposed by Israel and its close ally, the United States.
Here is a guide to what is likely to happen and its significance.

Q. What are the Palestinians asking for?

     The Palestinians, as represented by the Palestinian Authority, have long sought to establish an independent, sovereign state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem - occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six Day War. Although the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has said he would prefer to achieve this through negotiations, two decades of on-and-off peace talks have failed to produce a deal.
Late last year, Palestinian officials began pursuing a new diplomatic strategy: asking individual countries to recognise a Palestinian state within 1967 borders. Now they want the UN to do the same. This would entitle them to full member state representation at the UN, where the Palestine Liberation Organisation currently has only observer status. It could also have political implications allowing Palestinians greater access to international courts where they could possibly launch legal action to challenge the occupation of territory by Israel.

 Q. What is the process?

 The 15-member UN Security Council needs to recommend statehood to the General Assembly. If it does, then a vote on membership by its 193 members could take place on 20 September. Approval requires a two-thirds majority - or 128 votes. Currently 122 countries are said to recognise Palestine but the Palestinians hope they would gain the support of up to 150.
The US is the main obstacle to a General Assembly vote because it has veto power as a permanent Security Council member. In February, the US vetoed a resolution, which was co-sponsored by 130 countries, condemning Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories as an obstacle to peace. This time around, the Palestinians are hoping to persuade the US to at least abstain.
As a back-up, they are exploring other possible legal options. These include a loophole created by a 1950 resolution, which may allow the Security Council to be bypassed on issues of "world peace". The Palestinians and their supporters are also looking at ways to press for UN General Assembly resolution 181 of 1947 to be enforced. The resolution calls for the partition of British Mandate Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab one. At the very least, the Palestinians say they want the General Assembly to accept Palestine as an observer state.

Q. Is this symbolic or would it change facts on the ground?

  
         Getting UN recognition of Palestinian statehood on 1967 borders would largely have symbolic value, building on previous UN decisions. Already Security Council resolution 242, which followed the Six Day War, demanded the "withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict." Although Israel disputes the precise meaning of this, there is wide international acceptance that the pre-1967 frontiers should form the basis of a peace settlement.
The problem for the Palestinians is that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not agree with the premise. In May, when President Barack Obama called for border talks based broadly on 1967 lines, Mr Netanyahu described the idea as "unrealistic" and "indefensible".
It is unlikely that UN recognition of a Palestinian state would persuade Israel to concede possession of occupied land. New facts on the ground have been created since 1967, Israelis have insisted over the years. Almost half a million Israelis live in more than 200 settlements and outposts in the West Bank. Mutually agreed land swaps have been suggested as a way to overcome this and could only be agreed by negotiations.
The Palestinians argue that recognition of a Palestinian state would strengthen their hands in peace talks with Israel. They say these would have to resume, in order to resolve other issues such as security, water, refugees and arrangements for sharing Jerusalem, which both sides claim as their capital. However Israeli officials object to recognition of a Palestinian state in advance of such agreements as "putting the carriage before the horse".

Q. Why is this happening now?

  
The main reason is the impasse in peace talks. However, the Palestinians also argue that their UN plan fits with an agreed deadline. The Middle East Peace Quartet - the European Union, United States, Russia and UN - committed itself to the target of achieving a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict by September 2011. The Palestinian Authority Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, says that Palestinians have succeeded in building up state institutions and are ready for statehood.
Recent Arab uprisings also appear to have energised Palestinian public opinion. Civil society groups may hold street demonstrations to show their backing for the UN option.

Q. How is this different from previous declarations?

    In 1988, the late Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, unilaterally declared the establishment of a state. This won recognition from about 100 countries, mainly Arab, Communist and non-aligned states - several of them in Latin America. Recognition of Palestine as a sovereign state by the UN would have greater impact as it is the overarching international body and a source of authority on international law.

 Q. Who supports and opposes the UN option?

      This course of action enjoys wide support among Palestinians. After the recent reconciliation deal between rival political factions, even leaders of the Islamic militant organisation, Hamas, acknowledged there was a broad consensus on the establishment of a Palestinian state within 1967 borders, though they formally still refuse to recognise Israel and their Charter is committed to its destruction. The appeal to the UN is also backed by the 22-member Arab League.
 The main opposition comes from Israel. "Peace can only be achieved around the negotiating table. The Palestinian attempt to impose a settlement will not bring peace," Mr Netanyahu told a joint session of the US Congress in May. Mr Obama has criticised the Palestinian push. In his major speech on the Middle East he dismissed it as "symbolic actions to isolate Israel at the United Nations".
Some major European Union states are looking increasingly favourably on the idea of recognising a Palestinian state. This is mainly because of their disappointment with Mr Netanyahu's government in Israel-Palestinian peace talks and what they see as its recalcitrance over settlements.
In the coming weeks, both Palestinian and Israeli delegations will be on a diplomatic drive to win countries around to their point of view.



   

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Q&A: Israeli deadly raid on aid flotilla

Nine people were killed, and dozens wounded, when Israeli troops boarded a flotilla of ships carrying aid for Gaza on 31 May 2010. It was the ninth attempt since 2008 to break an Israeli and Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip by sea, but the first that resulted in bloodshed. The findings of a UN inquiry on the raid are expected to be officially published soon

 
How did the confrontation begin?
The six ships were boarded in international waters, about 130km (80 miles) from the Israeli coast. Commandos landed on the largest ship, the Turkish-owned Mavi Marmara, by descending on ropes from helicopters. They were attacked by the activists on board and opened fire.
Who started the violence? This is disputed. The activists say the commandos started shooting as soon as they hit the deck. Israeli officials say the commandos opened fire only after being attacked with clubs, knives and a gun which was taken from them. Video released by the Israeli military stops just before the shooting begins. A UN inquiry was apparently unable to determine at exactly which point the commandos used live fire.
Where were the dead activists from? They were all Turkish, including one who had a dual Turkish-US nationality. All were travelling on the large lead ship in the flotilla, the Mavi Marmara.
What was the purpose of the flotilla? It wanted to deliver aid to Gaza, breaking an Israeli and Egyptian blockade on the territory. The ships were carrying 10,000 tonnes of goods, including school supplies, building materials and two large electricity generators. The activists also said they wanted to make the point that, in their view, the blockade was illegal under international law.
Who organised it? A group called The Free Gaza Movement, an umbrella organisation for activists from numerous countries, and a Turkish group called the IHH (Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief).
The Israeli government says the IHH is closely linked to Hamas, which it views as a terrorist group, and is a member of another organisation, the Union of the Good, which supports suicide bombings.
However, the Turkish government regards the IHH as a legitimate charity, and had urged Israel to let the flotilla through.
Why did Israel want to stop the flotilla?
Israel prevents a large range of goods from reaching Gaza, in order to put pressure on the Hamas government. These include cement and scaffolding, which it says can be used to make launchers for rockets.
Following international outcry over the raid, Israel eased its blockade somewhat, allowing in most consumer goods that have nothing to do with stated security concerns. Egypt reopened its Rafah border crossing. The naval blockade of Gaza - which extends three nautical miles off the coast - remains in place.
Israel also wanted to check that the ships did not contain deliveries of weapons or cash. It offered to allow the flotilla to land in an Israeli port, and to deliver by road any goods that passed its checks.
Some previous flotillas had been allowed to reach Gaza, others were turned round and sent back.
How did the international community react? There was widespread condemnation of the violence. The UN Security Council issued a statement calling for a "prompt, impartial, credible and transparent" inquiry into the raid.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged Israel to lift the Gaza blockade.
What have inquiries found? In September 2010 a UN Human Rights Council report said Israel's military broke international laws, that the action by commandos, which left nine dead, was "disproportionate" and "betrayed an unacceptable level of brutality". Israel rejected the report as "biased" and "one-sided".
Israel and Turkey held their own inquiries into the raid, submitting the findings to an international panel set up by the UN. The findings were conflicting.
Turkey's report, drawn up by government officials, accused Israeli commandos of "excessive, brutal and pre-meditated" conduct. It concluded their action boarding the Mavi Marmara was "unlawful" and breached human rights. Results of post-mortem examinations had earlier suggested a total of 30 bullets were found in the bodies of the dead activists, including one who had been shot four times in the head. The Turkish panel also deemed the Gaza blockade "unlawful".
An Israeli inquiry, headed by Judge Jacob Turkel, with five Israeli members and two international observers, delivered its report in January. It found the actions of the navy and Israel's blockade of Gaza were legal under international law and but offered some criticism of the planning of the military operation. It also referred to "the regrettable consequences of the loss of human life and physical injuries".
What happened to the UN report? UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced an investigation into the raid back in August 2010. The former New Zealand Prime Minister, Geoffrey Palmer, was appointed to preside over a four-member panel that included an Israeli and a Turkish member.
Publication of the report has been repeatedly delayed, apparently to allow Israel and Turkey to continue reconciliation talks.
A leak of the report published by the New York Times says Israel used "excessive force" in its raid but that the naval blockade was legal and legitimate to stop weapons reaching militant groups.
The UN also found that Israeli commandos were met with "organised and violent resistance" when they boarded the Mavi Marmara, according to the paper.
Israel is said to feel vindicated by the report while Turkey is disappointed.
How have relations between Turkey and Israel been affected? The deep rift between these two former allies has worsened.
Following the leak of the Palmer report, Turkey expelled the Israeli envoy and suspended military cooperation. It had insisted on an Israeli apology by the time the report was published. Israeli officials say the report does not demand a full apology, establishing only that Israel should express regret and pay reparations.
In the immediate aftermath of the flotilla raid, Turkey had already withdrawn its ambassador from Israel and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for Israel to be punished for its "bloody massacre". Joint military exercises were cancelled.
Behind-the-scenes diplomacy and Turkey's decision to send planes to help fight fires in northern Israel last November only temporarily improved relations slightly.
What protests have taken place since? Less than a week after the deadly confrontation on board the Mavi Marmara, another vessel - the Irish-owned MV Rachel Corrie - tried to sail into Gaza. It was intercepted by Israeli troops, with no apparent confrontation. Other boats were later diverted to the Egyptian port of el-Arish.

One year after the raid, plans were announced for another aid flotilla to set sail for Gaza. This time the IHH did not take part. More than 300 protesters on 10 ships, from North America and Europe, were due to join.
The Israeli military was under orders to prevent them from reaching the Palestinian territory.
Greece prevented several vessels from setting sail from its waters. Some crews claimed their ships were sabotaged to stop them joining the flotilla. Israel dismissed this as "ridiculous".
Another initiative by pro-Palestinian activists was the so-called "flytilla". Hundreds planned to fly to Israel's Ben Gurion airport and declare their intention to visit the occupied West Bank for peaceful activities. Most were stopped from b

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Israel's 'social protests' rattle Netanyahu government

Last weekend's protests were among the biggest Israel has ever seen

Last Saturday, hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets of a Middle Eastern city.

     Demanding change, they were fed up with the ruling elite and said their government was no longer listening to its people.
But this was not Egypt, Tunisia or Libya. This was Israel.
If the Israeli government had hoped the street protests, which began three weeks ago, would lose momentum and fade away, it has not happened.
An estimated 300,000 people from different backgrounds joined the latest marches across the country.

Just as their counterparts did five months ago in Cairo's Tahrir Square, Israeli demonstrators have taken over the heart of Tel Aviv.
Revital Len-Cohen is an educated woman, a lawyer whose husband works in Israel's booming high-tech sector. By her own admission she never thought she would find herself protesting on the streets.
But Mrs Len-Cohen has a young son with severe learning difficulties. She has had to give up work and gets little or no support from the state.
That, she says, is why she has spent a week in a small tent on the street.
"I'm really desperate. This is a country where we pay our taxes and do our best but we're now in a position where I'm having to beg from my parents to survive," the mother-of-two told me as she sat under the hot, midday sun.
Non-political People here have many different grievances. Each part of the protesters' tented city, along Tel Aviv's Rothschild Boulevard, is home to a particular group with an axe to grind.
Just along from a group of tents where Mrs Len-Cohen and other parents of disabled children sleep, is a group of students.
Critics say their demands are unrealistic, especially when there is a deeper, global, economic crisis.
Others insist this is a battle for the soul and direction of Israel.
They say their "movement" is deliberately non-political. It is not about Israel and the Palestinians but normal Israelis concerned that their country is losing all sense of moral and collective responsibility.
Partly promoted through social media, comparisons are inevitably made with the Arab Spring.
The goals, circumstances and even the conclusion may be different, but the genie of protests is out of the bottle.
 
Caught off-guard
Israel is a country where a tiny minority of families and individuals control a hugely disproportionate amount of wealth.

That in itself is not unusual: income disparity and unfairness can be found in most countries, those who criticise the demonstrators' "naivety" point out.
But Israel is a young country founded on strong ideals of social responsibility and cohesiveness. The demonstrators in Rothschild Boulevard want their country back.
By the government's own admission, it was caught somewhat off-guard as the protests grew. There was, initially, incredulity among ministers in the governing coalition.
In many ways Israel's economy has been immune from the global crisis. The much-vaunted high-tech sector is still growing and official unemployment levels are much lower than in other developed countries.
Belatedly, Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu has acted. He has promised to reassess his government's priorities. But whether that means, for example, diverting funds away from the bloated defence budget towards social policy, remains to be seen.
Mr Netanyahu has also appointed a "panel of experts" to meet protest leaders and assess their demands. The panel is led by Professor Manuel Trajtenberg, from Tel Aviv University.
He is reported to have initially rejected the offer, fearful it would become just another, ineffective Israeli inquiry - kicked into the long grass, its recommendations never to be taken up.
It was only when Mr Netanyahu promised to change his own fundamental positions that the respected professor changed his mind and agreed to lead the task-force.
As the Arab Spring leads to an Israeli Summer, there is no threat yet to the survival of the Netanyahu government.
However, with protests spreading to Jerusalem and other major cities, pressure is building.
Even bigger marches are planned for the coming weeks.


A little further on are families who cannot afford the spiralling cost of renting even the most basic of homes.
Students, mothers, doctors, anarchists - all protesting about the cost of living.

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Bahrain unrest: Teenager dies after protest

A teenage boy has died after being hit by a tear-gas canister fired by Bahraini security forces trying to disperse a protest, activists say.

    Ali Jawad Ahmed, 14, was among a small crowd who had gathered overnight in the village of Sitra, said the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights.
The group said security forces personnel had used "excessive force".
A police official told the state news agency that the incident was being investigated but gave no other details.
"There was no reported police action against law-breakers... at the time the boy's death was reported, except dispersing a small group of around 10 people at 01:15," BNA quoted the official as saying.
Isa Hassan, the teenager's uncle, said police officers had overreacted when confronted by a small group of protesters. He said the tear gas canister was fired from about 7m (21ft) away, directly at the crowd.
"They are supposed to lob the canisters of gas, not shoot them at people," he said at the funeral, according to the Associated Press. "Police used it as a weapon."
One activist told the BBC that Ahmed was hit in the face by the canister. The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights published a photograph showing the boy with blood seeping from his mouth.
More than 30 people have been killed in Bahrain since protests began in February, with the island's Shia majority demanding political, social and economic reforms from the Sunni royal family.
In mid-March, King Hamad Al Khalifa called in troops from neighbouring Sunni Gulf states to crush the dissent and imposed a state of emergency.
Small-scale clashes between security forces and demonstrators have become a near nightly event since emergency rule was lifted in June.

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Syria unrest: Hama legal chief 'resigns over killings'

A man claiming to be the top legal official in the central Syrian city of Hama has announced that he has resigned in protest at the crimes against humanity committed by security forces.

In a video statement, Hama governorate attorney-general Adnan Bakkour said he had evidence of more than 70 executions and hundreds of cases of torture.
It is not clear when he was filmed.
On Monday, the Syrian state news agency said Mr Bakkour had been kidnapped by gunmen while on his way to work.
It quoted the Hama Police Command as saying the attorney-general, his driver and a bodyguard had been abducted in the village of Karnaz.
There had been no other reports about Mr Bakkour since then.
In his statement, which was posted online on Wednesday, he said he was resigning because of the "al-Assad regime and his gangs".
Mr Bakkour gave the reasons for his decision as:

• The killing of 72 prisoners in Hama's central prison on 31 July 2011, including peaceful protesters and political activists
• The burying of more than 420 victims in mass graves in public parks by security forces personnel and the pro-regime shabiha militia; he said he was told to report that the victims were killed by armed gangs
• The arbitrary arrests of peaceful protesters; he said there were approximately 10,000 prisoners in total
• The torture of prisoners at branches of the security services; he said approximately 320 people had died under torture
• The demolition by the army of homes with people still inside in his district of Hama, al-Hadima

Mr Bakkour said he would make documents supporting his allegations available later, but in the meantime would name "criminals" who he said had massacred unarmed protesters.
They included the local heads of the interior ministry, police, military intelligence, air force intelligence, and the General Security Directorate. He also accused several named officers of torture.
The publication of the video came as troops backed by tanks raided houses in Hama searching for activists behind the protests calling for the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, residents said.
On Tuesday, at least seven people were shot dead by security forces as thousands took part in impromptu demonstrations nationwide after prayers marking the end of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Activists said six were killed in the southern governorate of Deraa, including three in the town of al-Harra.
Later, the human rights group, Amnesty International, published details of 88 people it believed had died in police detention. It included videos of corpses with signs of beatings, burns, electric shocks and other abuse.
The UN has said more than 2,200 people have been killed since pro-democracy demonstrations began in mid-March. Syria's government has blamed "armed criminal gangs" for much of the unrest.
Access to Syria has been severely restricted for international journalists and it is rarely possible to verify accounts by witnesses and activists.

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Who are the shabiha?

The defiant slogan says: "Baniyas is the grave of the shabiha"

Syria's government blames "armed criminal gangs" for much of the unrest since protests began in March, but activists accuse state-sponsored militia of assisting in the crackdown that has left more than 1,700 civilians dead. Here is what is known about these armed regime supporters, known locally as the "shabiha".

    During the five months of unrest, many Syrians say they have seen heavily-armed men dressed in black fighting alongside the army and security services.
The men are accused not only of killing and beating people who attend demonstrations, but also of carrying out a campaign of intimidation that has included executions, drive-by shootings and sectarian attacks.
Activists say their presence has allowed the government to deny any involvement in the most brutal actions against protesters.
"They're not afraid to use force, violence, weapons, racketeering and blackmail," Ammar Qurabi of Syria's National Organization for Human Rights told the Associated Press.
"That way, the regime will remain clean and will say: 'Look these are gangs doing this, not us'."
'Thugs' It is not clear exactly who they are and to whom they are loyal, but the term "shabiha" has repeatedly been used to describe them. Derived from the Arabic word for "ghost", it has come to mean "thugs" in modern day Syria.
The term is believed to have first appeared in relation to the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad after a crackdown was launched in the port city of Latakia, where a notorious, mafia-like organised crime syndicate called the shabiha has existed for years.
In towns along the Mediterranean coast, local shabiha gangs are said to run protection rackets, weapons- and drug-smuggling rings, and other criminal enterprises. Residents reportedly dare not mention the name.
Membership of the shabiha is drawn largely from President Assad's minority Alawite sect, which dominates the government, security services and military.
In May, the European Union imposed sanctions on Mr Assad's first cousins, Fawwaz and Munzir, for their alleged involvement in "the repression against the civilian population as members of the shabiha".
The connection to the Assad family appears to have allowed the shabiha to emerge in the 1970s after Hafez al-Assad - father of Bashar - became president in a coup. The gangs operated with few constraints and were generally seen as being above the law and ruling by force.
Its members were reportedly armed by military units commanded by Hafez's brother, Rifaat.
However, by the 1990s the shabiha's disregard for the authorities in Latakia, and the brutal enforcement of their protection racket, reportedly became too much of an embarrassment for the Assads.
Bashar was tasked by his father with reining in the shabiha, and restoring law and order to the city. In one incident, the future president allegedly had his cousin's bodyguards imprisoned for beating up a passerby.
Such actions were said to have curbed the worst of the shabiha's excesses, but its power and influence were not significantly eroded.
 
'Throats cut'
In late March 2011, the shabiha appears to have come to the aid of President Assad when major anti-government protests erupted in Latakia, as well as the nearby towns of Baniyas and Jabla.

Residents said members of the group had joined soldiers from the army's fourth armoured division - under the command of the president's younger brother Maher - and attacked civilians.
Gunmen fired automatic weapons from vehicles and took up sniper positions on rooftops, they added. Others broke into the houses of protesters, beat up occupants and set fire to the homes.
In May, people who fled an assault on the western village of Tell Kalakh, which lies close to the Lebanese border, told reporters that some residents had had their throat cuts in the street by black-uniformed "shabiha".
Some of the attackers had been from Qardaha, a predominantly Alawite town in the north-west that is the ancestral home of the Assad family, and had been checking residents' ID cards in order to find local Sunnis, they said. Tell Kalakh is a main Sunni village surrounded by 12 Alawite villages.
"If they see he's a Sunni from his family name, they take him away and kill him," one woman told Reuters news agency.
"They destroyed the Omar Bin Khattab mosque because it is named after a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and dear to Sunnis. What we have here is a sectarian war between the Alawites and Sunnis."
Such claims raised suspicions among the opposition that the government was using shabiha to help it play up fears of a sectarian divide.
'Outsourced repression' There were even reports that soldiers and police who tried to stop shabiha killing civilians in Tell Kalakh and elsewhere had been shot dead.
When an army brigadier-general was killed along with his two sons and a nephew in Homs in April, officials blamed criminal gangs. But witnesses and human rights activists said he had been murdered by shabiha.
By June, activists and witnesses said hundreds - even thousands - of shabiha had been sent to help the security forces launch attacks to crush dissent in restive cities, or intimidate those protesting elsewhere.
Videos posted online appear to show men in civilian clothes who join soldiers and police to beat and detain protesters in Homs. Others stab protesters gathered at a mosque in Damascus. Photographs were also published of burnt-out cars, homes and businesses, which were said to belong to known activists and protesters.
Syrian officials have denied using pro-regime militiamen to intensify the crackdown on protesters and commit atrocities on its behalf.
It has instead insisted that criminal gangs or terrorists have targeted security forces, murdered civilians and destroyed property.
However, the claims have been dismissed by the international community, which has accused President Assad of "outsourcing repression".

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Syrian town of Rastan 'surrounded by tanks'

Syrian tanks and armoured vehicles have surrounded the town of Rastan, north of Homs, which has been the site of anti-regime dissent, activists say.

   In separate operations in the capital and in the northern province of Idlib, at least six people were reportedly killed.
Meanwhile, the opposition has announced a council to lead the uprising.
The UN says more than 2,200 people have died since protests against President Bashar al-Assad began in March.
One of the most influential Sunni clerics, the Sheikh of Al-Azhar in Cairo, has condemned attacks on protesters taking refuge in mosques.
He said the aggressors would be punished in this world and the next.
'Long bursts' In Rastan, residents reported heavy machine-gun fire by security forces at the entrance to the town.
Rastan has been caught up in the protests taking place across the country and correspondents say that dissent has continued there despite harsh repression.
"The tanks deployed at both banks of the highway, which remained open, and fired long bursts from their machine guns at Rastan," one resident told Reuters news agency by phone.
Unconfirmed reports from activists say the latest move was prompted by defections among Syrian troops in the area, the agency reports.
Monday's fighting has caused many of the town's inhabitants to flee.
Most foreign journalists have been barred from Syria, making it difficult to verify reports from the country.
Further to the north-west, tanks and troops are reported to have stormed the town of Sarmin, in Idlib province, taking up positions in the central market and firing randomly to keep people off the streets, according to the London-based Observatory for Human Rights.
It said at least five people, including a child, had been killed, and that more than 60 were wounded.
One person died in another raid involving armoured vehicles on Qara, a suburb of the capital, Damascus. About 40 people were arrested there, the group said.
Opposition council Other attacks were reported near Deir ez-Zor in the east, and around Heet near the Lebanese border in the west. The operation in Heet reportedly sent many civilians fleeing over the border.
Meanwhile, Syrian opposition leaders meeting in the Turkish capital, Ankara, have announced the formation of a Transitional National Council to provide political leadership for the uprising, reports the BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut.
The council will be made up of 94 members, including some leaders still inside Syria and others outside.
It seems to be the most serious attempt so far to unite the opposition on a single platform, but it remains to be seen whether it will gain universal acceptance by all strands of the opposition, especially the activists on the ground, our correspondent adds.
Syria has come under increasing international pressure to end attacks on protesters.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov visited Mr Assad on Monday to deliver a message from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
According to a statement on the Russian presidency's website, "the Russian side stressed the need to immediately and fully end violence from any side, to take specific steps to implement the reforms announced by the Syrian leadership without any delay".
It also said "the opposition should not try to evade taking part in dialogue".
A report on state news agency Sana said Russia's position on Syria was "unchanged", and that Moscow had expressed hope that "security and stability would be maintained".
Both the Turkish president and his prime minister have made further outspoken criticisms of the Syrian leadership, saying it is now too late for corrective steps and reform offers.
The European Union is considering banning the import of oil from Syria in an effort to increase pressure on the Assad regime.

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Hugo Chavez stays in Caracas for new chemotherapy round

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is set to to have a third round of chemotherapy after having a cancerous tumour removed in June.

    He is being treated at a hospital in the capital, Caracas, in contrast to two previous treatments and initial surgery which took place in Cuba.
Mr Chavez says his treatment has been going well and is aimed at preventing the reappearance of cancer cells.
His illness has caused political uncertainty in Venezuela.
It has cast doubt on whether he will be able to stand for re-election next year.
The president walked into the Dr Carlos Arvelo Military Hospital on Sunday accompanied by aides and his daughter, Rosa.
He thanked his supporters for their prayers and messages of goodwill.
"From here, I join all these prayers and masses for the health of all of us. God bless you!" Mr Chavez tweeted.
Speaking on national television on Saturday night, Mr Chavez said he and his team of Cuban and Venezuelan doctors had decided he could undergo his latest round of chemotherapy in Venezuela.
"I'm determined to continue living," Mr Chavez, 57, said later at the hospital.
"It's not time to die. What we have to do still is a great deal."
The left-wing leader underwent surgery in Cuba in June to remove a tumour from his pelvic region. However, he has not disclosed the exact nature of the cancer.

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Baghdad mosque attack: Suicide bomber kills at least 28

A suicide bomber has killed at least 28 people and wounded at least 30 more after blowing himself up inside a Sunni mosque in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, local officials say.

    The attack took place during prayers in the Umm al-Qura mosque in west Baghdad, the city's largest Sunni mosque.
Officials said parliamentarian Khalid al-Fahdawi was among the dead in the strike, the Associated Press reported.
The attack comes towards the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The mosque is the main headquarters of the Sunni Endowment, which is responsible for maintaining Sunni Muslim religious sites across Baghdad.
"A suicide bomber entered the main area of the mosque and blew himself up," said Qutaiba al-Falahi, a spokesman for the group, according to Reuters news agency.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday's bombing.
There has been a recent flurry of violence across Iraq, although it is much reduced since a peak in 2006-2007.
On Friday at least 13 people were killed in a series of attacks across the country - in Basra, Falluja and Baghdad.

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Syrian town of Rastan 'surrounded by tanks'

 Syrian tanks and armoured vehicles have surrounded the town of Rastan, north of Homs, which has been the site of anti-regime dissent, activists say.

    Residents reported heavy machine gun fire by security forces at the entrance to the town.
Most foreign journalists have been barred from Syria, making it difficult to verify reports from the country.
The UN says more than 2,200 people have died since protests against President Bashar al-Assad began in March.
Rastan has been caught up in the protests taking place across the country and correspondents say that dissent has continued there despite harsh repression.
"The tanks deployed at both banks of the highway, which remained open, and fired long bursts from their machine guns at Rastan," one resident told Reuters news agency by phone.
Unconfirmed reports from activists say that the latest move was prompted by defections among Syrian troops in the area, the agency reports.
It was announced on Sunday that Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi is due to visit Syria to try to resolve the crisis in the country.

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Libya: Colonel Gaddafi tells supporters to 'rise up' in speech

Colonel Gaddafi has given a defiant radio address where he called on supporters to "rise up" against rebel forces.
He warned supporters that anti-Gaddafi fighters would "kill and torture" residents if they didn't defend themselves.
The leader has confirmed that he left his compound in Tripoli, which fell on Tuesday to the rebels.
His whereabouts are currently unknown.

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Iran tries 'Israeli spy' for scientist's murder

An Iranian man has gone on trial, charged with killing one of the country's nuclear scientists and having links to Israel's Mossad spy agency.

     State media said Majid Jamali Fashi had confessed to the murder of Massoud Ali Mohammadi, a physics professor at Tehran University, on 12 January 2010.
Prosecutors said Mr Fashi had killed Mohammadi by detonating a bomb planted on a motorcycle left outside his home.
Iran has accused Israel and the US of trying to harm its nuclear programme.
The two countries believe Iran is trying to acquire the technology to build nuclear weapons, something Tehran vigorously denies.
 
'War against God'

On Tuesday, Iranian state television released details of the prosecutor's charges against Mr Fashi.
He was accused of receiving training from Mossad and being paid $120,000 (£72,000) to kill Mr Mohammadi, it reported.
The conservative Mehr news agency also said Mr Fashi was charged with "war against God", which carries the death penalty.
In his confession, Mr Fashi allegedly said he was ordered by Mossad to carry out five other killings, but did not go through with them.
Several other Iranian scientists have been killed in recent months.
Daryoush Rezaei, also a physicist at a Tehran University, was , state media said.
Majid Shahriari, a member of the nuclear engineering department of Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran,  while Fereydoon Abbasi was injured in an attack on the same day.
Reports said motorcyclists drove alongside the scientists' cars, attached magnetised bombs to the side of the vehicles, and then drove away.
Iran has blamed the US and Israel for the attacks, saying they were an attempt to slow its acquisition of nuclear technology.

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Syria unrest: UN rights body to investigate crackdown

The UN Human Rights Council has ordered an investigation into violations reportedly committed by Syrian security forces during the crackdown on dissent.

    It passed a resolution to "urgently dispatch an independent international commission of inquiry" and demanded an end to the violence against protesters.
The commission will "investigate violations of international human rights law in Syria since July 2011".
The UN says more than 2,200 people have died since protests began in mid-March.
There were 33 votes in favour of the resolution on Syria, four against - reportedly including China, Russia and Cuba - and nine abstentions.
The UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, Navi Pillay, opened the emergency session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday.
She told delegates that "the gravity of ongoing violations and brutal attacks against the peaceful protesters in [Syria] demand your continued attention", adding that security forces were employing excessive force, including heavy artillery.
The emergency session had the backing even of Syria's neighbours such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva.

Evidence from UN human rights experts that Syrian troops have been using tanks and snipers against unarmed demonstrators, even knives to finish off the injured, has caused shock and outrage worldwide.
But calls by the US and UK for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down irritated some member states; in the end, Russia and China voted against the resolution, calling it one-sided and over politicised, our correspondent says.
Those two countries are permanent members of the UN Security Council, and could veto any further UN action - such as sanctions - against Syria.
The big question now is whether Syria will co-operate with the UN investigators, our correspondent adds.
 
'Your turn Bashar'
A UN humanitarian mission is in Syria in order, the UN says, "to assess such needs as food and medicine".
It visited the central city of Homs on Monday, but was advised to leave for security reasons when protests started, it added.
Human rights activists said three people were killed when security personnel and militia opened fire on crowds who had gathered to welcome the UN team.
Inspired by the recent events in Libya, many protesters chanted: "Gaddafi is gone, it's your turn Bashar."
On Monday, Ms Pillay said the current death toll of 2,200 people included more than 350 killed since the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Later, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said it was "troubling" that President Assad had not kept his word about halting military operations.
Syria's protests first erupted in mid-March. The demonstrators are demanding the removal of President Assad, whose family have been in power for 40 years.
As well as civilians, human rights groups say 500 soldiers have been killed and thousands arrested since March. The government has blamed the unrest on "armed criminal gangs".

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