Somalia: Cameron Pledges Post-Conflict Support

David Cameron has warned that failure to properly support the rebuilding of Somalia will lead to "terrorism and mass migration" as he hosted an international conference on the country's future.

Almost 50 governments and global bodies including the IMF and World Bank gathered at the meeting in London to hear Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud outline his plans to stabilise the country after two decades of brutal civil war.

Opening the conference, the Prime Minster hailed the progress made in the African nation, but demanded action to ensure the momentum is maintained.

That will allow many Somalis who fled the bloodshed to the UK and elsewhere to return home, he pointed out.

A year on from the first such UK-hosted meeting of international backers, a government has been installed and more territory grabbed back from the control of al Shabaab Islamist militias.

The capital Mogadishu is starting to return to more normal life - with petrol stations, supermarkets and international flights returning for the first time since 1991 - despite continued terrorist attacks like the suicide car bomb which killed several civilians last week.

The PM arrives at the meeting with Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud

But the president faced "one of the most difficult tasks of any leader anywhere in the world", Mr Cameron said, to overcome the "huge challenges" that remained including poverty, corruption, sexual violence against women and securing wider support for the government beyond the capital.

"Despite the gains made against al Shabaab, the recent tragic and despicable attacks in Mogadishu - including one just last weekend - remind us how much work there is still to do in the fight against terrorism and extremism.

"These challenges are not just issues for Somalia. They matter to Britain - and to the whole international community.

"Why? Because when young minds are poisoned by radicalism and they go on to export terrorism and extremism, the security of the whole world is at stake.

"And to anyone who says, this isn't a priority or we can't afford to deal with it, I would say that is what we've said in the past and look where it has got us: terrorism and mass migration.

"We made that mistake not just in the Horn of Africa, but also in Afghanistan in the 1990s and we must not make it again," Mr Cameron said.

(L-R) William Hague, David Cameron and the Somalian President at the summit

Ending poverty and the lure of payment by extremists was "the best antidote to extremism", the PM told representatives.

But help had to go well beyond humanitarian aid, he said, pledging £10m of UK support for developing Somalia's armed forces, £14.5m to boost police numbers and train judges and financial support for a maritime radio system to counter piracy.

"I hope that others here will contribute too and the countries in the region will stay the course and work with Somalia while it builds up its own forces," Mr Cameron added.

At present, the country relies on the help of Ethiopian and African Union military support to combat al Shabaab.

The PM said the international community had to send a "strong signal" to world financial institutions to help Somalis deal with debt and get access to finance now it has a government recognised by the US and other key players for the first time in more than two decades.

And al Shabaab extremists who renounced violence should be able to join the political process.

Earlier Mr Cameron had talks with young members of the Somali diaspora. He said he wanted to make their country safe enough for those who wished to return and help with the rebuilding process.

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Somalia: Optimism Endures Among The Rubble

The customers at Ahmed Jama Mohamed's restaurant in the Somali capital Mogadishu sip lattes just yards from the rubble caused by another suicide bomber.

But despite the constant physical reminder and the barbed wire surrounding the restaurant, they are stoic and mostly optimistic about what the future holds for their war-ravaged country.

Some are returning exiles, finally coming home after years of being away because of the instability and dangers of staying at home.

Sonkor Geyre left his job in Chicago to restart his career in Somalia 14 months ago.

"As soon as I got the chance, I took it and I don't regret it," he said.

He now teaches at the city's university. He's sharing a meal with another who fled the extremists to live in America - but Abdullah Jama is only visiting Mogadishu.

He won't be coming home permanently to live anytime soon.

"Al Shabaab is everywhere, there is too much corruption, there are bombs all the time and they need to sort out the governance," he said.

Yes, there are bombs still. There was another suicide bombing in the capital on Sunday which killed at least eight.

A few weeks earlier, around half a dozen gunmen stormed the capital's main court building killing another 20 people.

Somalia has elected its first permanent government for more than 20 years

But the terror incidents are far fewer than they were a year ago when there was fighting in the streets.

The 18,000 African Union troops in the country have been mostly successful in driving out al Shabaab extremists from the capital and reclaiming territory they previously held in the major cities.

But there are clearly still terror cells operating and able to mount attacks almost at will.

Nonetheless, the capital and the country appear to have renewed hope of a better future ever since the election - less than a year ago - of their first permanent government and president in more than two decades of hostilities.

World leaders are gathering in London to try to work out how best to help Somalia now. There are signs of reconstruction already in Somalia but much more needs to be done.

The security there is fragile and eminently reversible unless the Somali National Army continues to be bolstered by the thousands of international troops who also train and mentor them.

New President Hassan Sheik Mohamed has a mountain of challenges to overcome ranging from education, tackling corruption, enforcing human rights and ensuring female empowerment, but he has to first of all make sure he stays alive.

Only two days after taking office, the extremists tried to kill him. He has to stay constantly alert but exudes an air of comfortable confidence.

"Every day, every hour al Shabaab is working on trying to spill Somali blood," he told me a few days ago in the capital.

"But our security forces are also working every hour and every day to stop them - and we will."

His job this week is to convince the international donors he can actually follow through on his plans.

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Colombia: Defrocked 'Nuns' Found With Drugs

Three "nuns" on a flight from Colombia to the Caribbean island of San Andres have been stopped by police on a hunch because of their suspicious habits.

The young women were asked to step to one side when they arrived at their destination because, police captain Oscar Davila said, they seemed nervous and the fabric did not look right.

The women all burst into tears after their arrest

The hunch was correct and police found more than 4lb of cocaine (2kg) strapped to the legs of each woman.

The women - none of whom was a nun - apparently burst into tears on being caught.

They told officers they had been forced to carry the drugs because of financial hardship.

The women were arrested and detained on drug trafficking charges.

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Kerry In Moscow For Crucial Syria Talks

By Katie Stallard, Moscow Correspondent

US Secretary of State John Kerry is in Moscow for crucial talks with President Putin on Syria.

Mr Kerry will first meet Vladimir Putin and then his Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov in what he has described as a "long overdue" visit to Russia, but which is being briefed by State Department officials as an attempt to shift Moscow's stance on the Assad regime.

Russia has vetoed three UN Security Council resolutions proposing sanctions on the regime and remains emphatically opposed to any suggestion of military intervention in the conflict.

A foreign ministry statement on Monday expressed concern at what Moscow said were signs that international public opinion was being prepared for the possibility of armed intervention and said it was examining reported Israeli air strikes near Damascus on May 3 and 5.

The spokesman warned that further military action in the country could destabilise the region, and drew attention to claims that Syrian rebel forces have used the nerve agent Sarin.

President Putin was re-elected a year ago

Vladimir Putin's spokesman told reporters on Monday that the president had spoken to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu about events in Syria and the situation in the Middle East, but declined to reveal details of the call.

Mr Kerry's visit coincides with the first anniversary of President Putin's return to the Kremlin, in a year that has seen relations between the two strained on a number of fronts, not least US criticism of Russia's record on human rights.

A senior US State Department official told the AFP news agency there were signs Russia was prepared to engage in discussion over Syria but acknowledged there would be other issues on the agenda too.

The official said: "Our counterparts here have made clear they are ready to engage on Syria, but they have many issues they want to talk about."

A second official said: "It is a time to talk to the Russians to understand that, from our side, we remain committed (to a political solution) and if they are as well then we need to think about how to work operationally to make that happen.

Israel has played down reports of air attacks against Syria

"I don't know if we will get an agreement or not, but we certainly think it is worth testing and trying to find some ways forward."

Mr Kerry laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a memorial by the Kremlin wall to the fallen soviet soldiers of World War II before his meeting with President Putin.

Sergei Markov, a former United Russia member of parliament, who is vice-chancellor of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, told Sky News this was an opportunity to improve relations between the two.

He said: "At the moment Russian-American relations are very bad, but both presidents do want to improve the situation. This is a new stage.

"The fact that the secretary of state is meeting the president is not unusual - the secretary is a messenger of the president, so it is really is a dialogue between presidents."

Unverified video purportedly showing explosions in Damascus

But he warned the chances of a breakthrough on Syria were slim.

"There are very small chances to reach a deal on Syria because there are too many contradictions in their positions.

"Russia has military interests in Syria; it has a military base there and several arms contracts. The US seems to have found the only country with which we have a good relationship in the region - there are countries with a worse democratic record in the region - why doesn't the US meddle in their internal politics?

"Russia opposes the changing of regimes by force. If the US changes the regime in Syria, they might want to do the same with Iran, and then who is next, Belarus?  Russia doesn't want this."

Mr Kerry is also set to meet civil society activists at the US ambassador's residence in Moscow on Wednesday, to hear their concerns about democratic progress in Russia - a move which is unlikely to endear him to the government.

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Moscow: Man Burrows Out Of Jail 'With A Spoon'

A man charged with double murder has escaped from a maximum security jail in Moscow - apparently by digging a hole in the ceiling of his cell with a spoon.

Oleg Topalov, 33, became only the fourth man in two decades to escape from the notorious Matrosskaya Tishina prison after pulling himself through the hole onto the roof and climbing over a perimeter fence.

The only object he could have used to dig the hole was a spoon, a law enforcement source told the Interfax news agency.

Investigators have accused prison staff of a "dishonest or careless attitude to their work that was made use of by the prisoner Topalov."

A prison service spokesman told the RIA Novosti news agency Topalov "escaped through a hole in the cell ceiling that he had made and made his way onto the roof.

"From the roof he escaped over the main fence."

Matrosskaya Tishina prison is where lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died in 2009

Topalov was charged with murdering two people and with arms trafficking.

He had been held on remand since October 2011 and his case was sent to court last month, the Investigative Committee said in a statement.

Reports said Topalov shared a cell with around seven other prisoners.

Matrosskaya Tishina prison is located in northeastern Moscow and was opened in 1946.

It has its own hospital where lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died in 2009 after being transferred from Butyrka jail in a case that sparked international outrage.

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Cleveland Case Evokes Previous Kidnappings

The rescue of three women from a house in Cleveland, Ohio, is the latest in a series of high-profile cases involving females being held captive for several years.

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight had apparently been at the suburban property since they vanished around a decade ago.

Amanda Berry (L) and Gina DeJesus

Jaycee Dugard was found on August 26, 2009, 18 years after she was kidnapped aged 11 in California.

She had been seized by Phillip Garrido and his wife Nancy while on her way to school in South Lake Tahoe in June 1991.

Miss Dugard was kept in a hidden backyard behind Garrido's house, and had two children with him.

She was rescued after Garrido's parole officers became suspicious. The Garridos were jailed for life.

Elizabeth Smart was rescued in 2003

Elizabeth Smart was 14 when she was taken from the bedroom of her home in Utah in June 2002 and repeatedly raped by a self-styled prophet during nine months of captivity.

Miss Smart was rescued in March 2003 less than 20 miles from her home. Her abductor, Brian David Mitchell, was jailed for life in 2011.

Austrian Natascha Kampusch was kidnapped at the age of 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil in March 1998.

He held her captive in the cellar of a house in Strasshof, just outside Vienna for eight years before she managed to escape in 2006.

Natascha Kampusch escaped her captor in 2006

Priklopil committed suicide on the night that Miss Kampusch escaped by throwing himself under a train.

Elisabeth Fritzl was imprisoned and raped over a period of 24 years by her father Josef Fritzl, who kept her in the cellar of the family home at Amstetten, 60 miles west of Vienna. She bore him seven children.

The case came to light in April 2008 when one of the children became ill and was taken to hospital.

Josef Fritzl was jailed in 2009 for life - a sentence carrying a minimum term of 15 years in Austria.

Josef Fritzl was jailed for life in 2009

He was found guilty of murder for the death of one of Elisabeth's babies, as well as incest, sequestration, grievous assault and 3,000 instances of rape.

In Italy in June 2008, Maria Monaco, 47, was set free after being locked in by her family for 18 years.

Police found her living in "horrendous hygiene conditions" in a rural home outside Santa Maria Capua Vetere, north of Naples.

She had been held since 1990 when her family learned she was pregnant and she refused to divulge the name of the father.

An unidentified nine-year-old Japanese schoolgirl was snatched in November 1990 and spent nine years trapped on the second floor of her abductor's home in Kashiwazaki, north of Tokyo.

She was freed aged 19, in January 2000, after health officials were called to the house by the man's mother.

The kidnapper was in 2003 sentenced to 14 years in prison.

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North Korea 'Has Removed Missile Threat'

North Korea has moved two missiles that last month sparked worldwide fears over a possible test firing, according to the US.

An anonymous US defence official told the AFP news agency the Musudan missiles are no longer considered an imminent threat.

South Korea has not confirmed they have been moved from their launch site, but says it is closely "tracking" all activity in the area.

The easing of tensions comes ahead of a US-South Korea summit in Washington, thought to be intended as a strong signal of unity to the North Korean regime.

President Barack Obama and new South Korean leader Park Geun-Hye, the country's first female leader, are scheduled to hold a joint press conference.

The situation on the Korean peninsula has been at boiling point since December when North Korea test-launched a long-range rocket.

In February, it conducted its third nuclear test, which drew fresh UN sanctions.

North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un then ramped up his rhetoric in April, warning foreigners to leave his country to avoid getting caught up in "thermonuclear war" and causing neighbouring countries such as Japan to deploy defensive missiles.

South Korean leader Park Geun-Hye is visiting the US this week

The US also sent B-2 stealth bombers to the region in a show of solidarity with South Korea.

Despite the tensions, many analysts view the North's actions as a ruse intended to secure a loosening of sanctions and make Kim Jong-Un appear strong in the eyes of his people.

But the threat in the region is still being taken seriously amid concern that any misunderstanding could have serious consequences.

Pyongyang's rhetoric continued again this week as it issued a fresh warning over a smaller, joint anti-submarine exercise by the US and South Korea.

North Korean troops near the disputed Yellow Sea border have been ordered to strike back if "even a single shell" drops in their territorial waters.

US officials admit the situation is far from resolved.

"It's premature to make a judgement about whether the North Korean provocation cycle is going up, down or zigzagging," said Danny Russel, the senior director for East Asia on President Obama's National Security Council.

In an interview with US broadcaster CBS ahead of her summit with Mr Obama, President Park said any attack by the North would be met with a harsh military response.

"Yes, we will make them pay," she said, adding that Seoul would no longer engage in a "vicious cycle" of automatically meeting the North's provocations and threats with negotiations and assistance.

"It is time for us to put an end to that cycle."

Despite the President's comments, experts believe talks with the North are still the most likely way to defuse the crisis.

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Cleveland: Women's Families 'Never Gave Up'

The story of the three women found in Seymour Street, Cleveland, on Monday began in August 2002 when Michele Knight disappeared.

Ms Knight, aged around 20 at the time, was reportedly last seen at a cousin's house near West 106th Street and Lorain Avenue, Cleveland.

The authorities thought that she had run away after losing custody of her son but her family were not convinced, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

A few months later, in April 2003, Amanda Berry, 16, went missing. She had phoned her sister to say she had been offered a lift home from her job at Burger King at the junction of Lorain Avenue and West 110th Street.

In April 2004, 14-year-old Gina DeJesus went missing after leaving Wilbur Wright Middle School in Parkhurst Drive.

She was reportedly seen in West 105th Street which links Parkhurst Drive to Lorain Avenue.

Now, more than 10 years after the first woman disappeared they have turned up just over five miles away at 2207 Seymour Drive, Cleveland.

In the intervening years the families and friends of the three girls never gave up hope of finding them.

Amanda Berry (L) and Gina DeJesus

The search for Ms Berry and Ms DeJesus remained high profile in the local media with coverage of anniversaries and developments.

Police received tip-offs from prison inmates who claimed to know where Ms Berry was buried but all leads proved fruitless.

A childhood friend of Ms DeJesus, Kayla Rogers, told the Plain Dealer newspaper: "I've been praying, never forgot about her, ever."

Ms Berry's cousin Tasheena Mitchell told the newspaper she couldn't wait to have her in her arms.

"I'm going to hold her, and I'm going to squeeze her and I probably won't let her go," she said.

Ms Berry's mother, Louwana Miller, died in March 2006.

She had spent the previous three years looking for her daughter, whose disappearance took a toll as her health steadily deteriorated, family and friends said.

Councilwoman Dona Brady said she had spent many hours with Miller, who never gave up hope that her daughter was alive.

"She literally died of a broken heart," Ms Brady said.

Jennifer Picart, Ms Berry's friend and co-worker at Burger King, said: "I've been waiting for her to come home for a long, long time ...

"I was there, I was the last person she talked to. I felt horrible because I felt like it was my fault if I could have stopped it she would have been home."

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Prisoner X 'Unwittingly Sabotaged Israeli Op'

A man who died in an Israeli jail was arrested after unwittingly interfering in a secret intelligence operation to recover the bodies of three soldiers, according to an Australian news report.

Ben Zygier, who had Australian and Israeli citizenship, was arrested in January 2010 and held in secret under the name of Prisoner X on unspecified security charges.

A judicial inquiry in Israel found Mr Zygier, 34, who allegedly worked for the Israeli secret service Mossad, hanged himself in a high-security jail cell the same year.

Australian state television said Mr Zygier unintentionally sabotaged a secret Mossad mission in 2007 to exhume the bodies of three Israeli tank crewmen captured and killed by Syrian forces during Israel's invasion of Lebanon.

The ABC report quoted a former commander in Lebanon's Bekaa valley as saying that Zygier had revealed his name and that of a Lebanese agent for Israel to Lebanese intelligence.

Ziad al Homsi, former mayor of a Lebanese village, told ABC that he had been approached by Mossad in 2007 and flown to China on the pretext of attending a mayoral convention.

He was introduced to a Syrian man who said his brother in Europe was working to return the bodies of the Israelis captured during the so-called Battle of Sultan Yacoub in the Bekaa Valley.

Prisoner X was held in Ayalon prison

The three were named as Israeli-US citizen Zachary Baumel and his fellow Israeli crewmen Yehuda Katz and Zvi Feldman.

Mr al Homsi told the ABC that he suspected he had been ensnared in a Mossad operation. He was eventually told by others involved that the missing men were buried in Lebanon.

"At the last meeting they informed me about the location of the corpses exactly. I had to find a way to get the bodies and keep them," Mr al Homsi said.

He was given no details on how the remains would be turned over to a separate Mossad team.

The mission failed, Mr al Homsi said, after he was arrested on May 16, 2009 by Lebanese special forces and later jailed for 15 years for spying for Mossad. He served three years.

Mr Zygier's crime was to inadvertently reveal Mr al Homsi's identity to a Lebanese man he was trying to turn into a double agent, but who worked for Lebanese intelligence, the ABC report said.

The case was kept secret until February when it was exposed by Australian television, sparking a media debate about Mr Zygier's intelligence role and the nature of his alleged crime.

Mr Zygier, acting alone, was trying to trying to turn around a fading career with Mossad, by whom he was recruited in 2004 after taking Israeli citizenship in the mid-1990s, the ABC report said.

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Ohio Women Found: Police Praise Amanda Berry

Three brothers have been arrested after three women who went missing separately about a decade ago in Cleveland, Ohio, were found alive in the same house.

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight disappeared in nearby areas of the city between 2002 and 2004. Officers believe they were tied up during years of being held captive.

The three, who vanished in their teens or early 20s, were rescued after a neighbour heard Ms Berry's screaming and went to help.

"Due to Amanda's brave actions, these three women are alive today," Cleveland police chief Michael McGrath told reporters.

The suspects have been named as Ariel, Pedro and Onil Castro, who are aged 52, 54 and 50.

The property was just a few miles from where the women vanished.

Ms Berry in hospital with her sister and a young girl also found with her

Police said they went to the home in 2004 for an unrelated investigation when school bus driver Ariel Castro had apparently left a child unattended on a bus, but no-one answered the door.

Officers also visited it in 2000 when Ariel Castro reported a fight in the street, but no arrests were made.

The women appeared to be in good health and have now been released from hospital after going there for checks and are back with their relatives.

Authorities said they had no intelligence the trio were in the house, and police believe a six-year-old girl also found at the property is Ms Berry's daughter.

Ariel Castro is one of three brothers arrested

FBI special agent Stephen Anthony said: "The nightmare is over. These three young ladies have provided us with the ultimate definition of survival and perseverance. The healing can now begin."

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson said there were still "several unanswered questions" about the case, and authorities stressed that as the investigation was on going, many facts could not be discussed.

Ms Berry, who was 16 at the time, disappeared on April 21, 2003, when she called her sister to say she was getting a lift home from her job at a Burger King outlet.

Ms DeJesus went missing aged 14 on her way home from school about a year after Ms Berry's disappearance.

The third woman, Ms Knight, had been missing since 2002. She is believed to have been 20 at the time.

The long nightmare for the trio ended when Ms Berry reached through a crack in the front door and called for help.

A poster with images of Amanda Berry

Neighbour Charles Ramsey heard her screaming and tried to get her out through the door, but could not pull it open.

So he kicked the bottom open and she crawled through carrying a little girl.

Another neighbour Anna Tejeda said Ms Berry was nervous and crying, and dressed in pyjamas and old sandals.

Ms Tejeda said she gave her telephone to Ms Berry, who then called police.

In a recording of the 911 call, she told the emergency dispatcher: "I'm Amanda Berry. I've been kidnapped. I've been missing for 10 years. I'm free. I'm here now."

She said she had been taken by someone - and begged officers to arrive at the home on Cleveland's west side "before he gets back".

When police arrived, they found the two other women who were allegedly being held captive. They were also rescued.

Gina DeJesus went missing on her way home from school

Mr Ramsey explained how he rescued Ms Berry, saying: "I hear this girl screaming and she's going nuts.

"So I come outside and I know there's nobody supposed to be screaming next door to my house because there's no girl that lives in that house.

"When I came to the front door and looked at her she said 'My name is Amanda Berry - please get me out of this house'.

"She told the police, 'I ain't just only one, there's some more girls up in that house. So they go on up there ... and when they came out it was just astonishing."

Kayla Rogers, a childhood friend of Ms DeJesus, told The Plain Dealer newspaper: "I've been praying, never forgot about her, ever.

"This is amazing. This is a celebration. I'm so happy. I just want to see her walk out of those doors so I can hug her."

The three women disappeared in nearby areas of the city

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