Loyalties questioned

29 July 2011 Last updated at 14:01 GMT By Ian Pannell BBC News, Misrata Opponents say there have always been questions over Gen Younes' loyalties The head of the Libyan rebel armed forces, Gen Abdel Fatah Younes, has been shot and killed by unknown assailants.

He was gunned down on his way to answer questions about the lack of military momentum by the opposition, but reports say he was suspected of having ties to the forces of Col Muammar Gaddafi.

Gen Younes was a lifelong Gaddafi loyalist, helping the Libyan leader seize power in a coup in 1969.

As the former head of the country's Special Forces and the sitting interior minister he was the highest profile defector to the new rebel council in Benghazi and was rapidly appointed as the chief of the rebel armed forces.

But suspicions lingered about his true allegiance, fed by claims in Tripoli that there was someone on the ruling council who was in effect a double-agent.

According to the New York Times, Col Gaddafi's daughter Aisha rather mischievously refused to rule out the name of Gen Younes as the culprit in an interview she gave in April.

But it was also the lack of momentum on the battlefield and the inexplicable bit-part played by Special Forces defectors who should have had more of a leading role on the frontline that also nurtured doubts.

Some rebel fighters refused to take orders from him, giving their loyalty instead to the general's rival, the rebel commander Khalifa Hifter, who could well be named to succeed his now dead adversary.

Gaddafi contacts?

Publicly Gen Younes was recalled for questioning about military operations, but there are allegations he was suspected of maintaining contacts with the Gaddafi regime.

So who killed him? Disgruntled rebel fighters, rivals looking for power or Gaddafi loyalists?

Although an arrest has been made, no names or motives have been made public and the circumstances surrounding the bodies remains unclear.

Nadia Darrez in her damaged home in the centre of Misrata

It makes for fine political theatre and it bears all the hallmarks of a Shakespearian tragedy (think Hamlet meets Macbeth).

If you are sitting in Tripoli this must be manna from heaven.

But if you are in Benghazi this is awful timing for a movement continually struggling to gain momentum on the battlefield.

And it could hardly be worse for those governments (Britain being the latest) who have staked their diplomatic credibility on the rebel government in Benghazi.

Tribal divisions

What matters now is the impact this has. The death taps into tribal divisions within the opposition and some members of the general's Obeidi tribe are already armed and angry at what has happened.

Just when the rebels are desperate to drive forwards on the battlefield it leaves them without a leader. And for those countries like Britain that have officially recognised the National Transitional Council as the legitimate government of Libya it feeds serious doubts and concerns about the rebels' ability to end this conflict and their ability to function as a cohesive government.

One of the main criticisms of the Nato-led operation is that it was hastily conceived without a clear strategy or exit-route. Nothing that has happened this week will allay those fears.

But the hatred of Col Gaddafi and the craving to see him overthrown may be strong enough to keep this disparate and often shambolic rebel alliance together.

No Plan B

For many, like Nadia Darrez, a young lawyer in Misrata, people have sacrificed too much and there is no going back, no Plan B.

She has been sifting through what remains of her family home on Tripoli Street, an address synonymous with the ferocious battle that took place in the city. The flat has been devastated; great holes have been punched through the walls and ceiling, the floor is littered with broken glass, masonry and bullets.

Nadia was born here. She had four brothers when this battle began. One was killed by Col Gaddafi's men. The other three are now volunteer soldiers of the rebel army.

There is little left here but anger, grief and a desire for justice.

"We need our fighters to capture him [Col Gaddafi] and all those around him and we're not going to stop this fight until this happens," she says.

What is unclear is whether that unity of purpose is enough to allow the rebels to prevail or even keep them united.

The West is frustrated by the slow progress of this conflict and whatever the facts about the mysterious death of Abdel Fatah Younes, it will give Britain and the rest of the Nato-led alliance little confidence that this five-month old conflict will end quickly or cleanly.

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Learning to cope

29 July 2011 Last updated at 01:08 GMT By Gavin Lee BBC News, Benghazi Many teachers have not been paid in months

How do you provide stability and education for children amid the turmoil of a civil war?

That is the challenge currently being grappled with in Libya.

In Benghazi, which the rebels have held for most of the five-month uprising, schools are struggling to provide anything like a normal education for their pupils.

As I stared out of the window of the Alsuisi family car, we passed upturned vehicles, a burnt tank and the bullet-ridden walls of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi's military barracks.

This is the morning school run for seven-year-old Awwab and his eight-year-old sister, Buruuj.

Acting differently

While the nearest frontline is now around 200km (125 miles) further west in Brega, the landscape has been deeply scarred here by the fighting that took place back in March.

The children's father, Dr Abdul Salem Alsuisi, told me that he wondered whether his children would be affected psychologically by this journey that they have to take everyday.

Few children are able to go to school in Libya

"First of all I was a bit worried, but now they have been accustomed to that. I think they feel sad at first and then they started enduring the situation and living normally. Especially when they started going to school," he said.

Awwab and Buruuj are among the lucky few that can still go to a school in Libya, as all of them across the country closed five months ago.

Here in Benghazi, a handful of schools have been reopened but for activities, rather than actual lessons. They are run by local unpaid teachers, such as Naeema Kawofya.

"The last time I was paid was May. The reason I want to continue teaching is that I don't want the children out in the street. I want them to go to school," she says.

She also says she notices that the children have started to act differently.

"Of course, they have been affected. Sometimes they don't want to come to school. They say 'maybe the mercenaries will kill us. I want to go and see my dad, I want to go and see my mum. What if Gaddafi kills us'.

"Some of them are very scared to come here and you can see it in their behaviour," she adds.

The main aim for the rebel authority, the National Transitional Council, is to have every school in Benghazi open for some activities by September and to pay the teachers.

In addition, there is the task of looking after children who have been turned into internal refugees by the conflict, often after having witnessed horrific events. 

At least 70,000 people are estimated to be living in makeshift camps in Benghazi after escaping from areas of intense fighting around Misrata and Brega. 

Drawing weapons

Some are staying in displacement centres, often offices abandoned months ago by foreign companies. 

Aid agencies are trying to provide activities for children displaced in the conflict

I visited one of the sites, 30 miles east of Benghazi on the barren plains of the east coast.

Families are staying in the empty labourers' quarters of a foreign fishing company, and many of the displaced children there have witnessed unimaginable violence.

Aid agencies and volunteers are working to provide activities for them.

Jenny Humphries, from Save the Children, says many of the children are deeply traumatised by what they have seen.

"What [we have] been doing is allowing them to express fears and concerns that they have through art and through drawing, and when we first started working with them some of their images were of quite horrific scenes of rockets and tanks and weapons and actual death scenes," she says.

The volunteers say the drawings over time have become less violent, less filled with hate.

But the question the children ask is still the same: when can they go home?

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Fractured front

30 July 2011 Last updated at 09:03 GMT By Shashank Joshi Associate fellow, Royal United Services Institute Abdul Fattah Younes defected after decades serving Col Gaddafi On Wednesday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague hailed the Libyan rebels' "increasing legitimacy, competence, and success".

On Thursday, with impeccable timing, it transpired that those rebels might have murdered their top military commander.

If Abdul Fattah Younes did indeed die at the hands of soldiers he nominally led, it would be little surprise.

Gen Younes was a man with many enemies.

He had defected to the rebels only after four decades of friendship with and service to Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi.

Rumours of his lingering ties to the regime seemed to have caught up with him after he was summoned by a panel of judges in Benghazi.

That came on the heels of severe criticism of his military leadership for a series of territorial losses early in the uprising.

The furious reaction from members of Gen Younes' Obeidi tribe, amongst the largest in eastern Libya, indicates the resurgence of tribal divisions hitherto papered over by the strenuous efforts of the broad-based National Transitional Council (NTC).

These will not shatter the NTC or lead to the collapse of Benghazi, but they point to longer-term problems for the anti-Gaddafi rebels.

Simplifying factor?

The first irony is that the assassination of Gen Younes will scarcely affect the military campaign. For a short period some months ago, the rebels' military command was anyway bifurcated between the defector Gen Younes and the war hero and long-time US resident Colonel Khalifa Hifter.

The NTC denied that these divisions mattered. And yet, shipments of rifles would never make it to official units, orders from Gen Younes would be amended by Col Hifter, and bitter debates over strategy and tactics got in the way of decision making.

Col Hifter or another commander will likely step into the breach and Gen Younes' death might, perversely, simplify things. But even if it doesn't, it might not matter much.

This is because Libya's revolution has already fractured into hundreds of semi-independent fronts, each driven by local fighters soldiering in local conditions.

The most important battlefield successes of the past month, those in the western mountains and around Tripoli, have had virtually nothing to do with Gen Younes' operational nous.

Rebels made gains in the west even as Gen Younes' death was announced in the east

That much should be clear from the widespread looting and executions - essentially, war crimes - by rebel soldiers in western towns like al-Qawalish and al-Awaniya, actions patently incompatible with the commitment to military professionalism and legality professed by the NTC.

As if to underline this detachment, between formal leadership and the various theatres of operations, even as news of Gen Younes' death was trickling out from Benghazi, major advances were being made in the plains south of the capital and near the border with Tunisia.

Seizures of the towns of Tekut, Hawamid, and Ghazaya now place rebel forces in a strong position to sever supply lines into Tripoli, hastening what they hope will be an organic urban uprising.

Just as Misrata was liberated from within (though not without some assistance from the east), this war will likely be won more than 800km (500 miles) away from the political wrangling of Benghazi and the frustrating stalemate around the oil town of Brega.

Factional animosities

But the second irony is that Gen Younes' death threatens to unpick the NTC's credibility and cohesion at exactly the moment of its latest diplomatic triumph - fresh endorsement from Britain, the last major rebel ally to recognise the opposition as Libya's legitimate representatives.

Continue reading the main story

The concern that emerges most sharply from this incident is not so much that the NTC will splinter before Tripoli falls, but that it might do so after”

End Quote The NTC, though lax in investigating and stopping battlefield transgressions by its own soldiers, has earnestly sought to include representation from across Libya's regions and tribes. It is now at pains to placate Gen Younes' Obeidi tribe and counter the regime's narrative that the revolution is simply a tribal, rather than democratic, movement.

That narrative is exaggerated propaganda, intended to discredit the opposition. But the resurgence of at least some tribal and factional animosities has been apparent for months.

In the west, it is evident in the revenge attacks on the pro-Gaddafi Mashaashia tribe. In the east, it was clear from the spontaneous shows of force by the Obeidi tribe after Gen Younes' death, including the establishment of roadblocks in Benghazi and an attack by tribesmen on the hotel where the NTC had just given a press conference.

These latent divisions were well known. They underpinned the British and American decisions to refrain from directly arming the opposition. But as deeply embarrassed as the rebels' international backers will be at these episodes, they see no alternative but to work through the NTC, having invested so much in the removal of Gaddafi, and absent any other viable partners.

The concern that emerges most sharply from this incident is not so much that the NTC will splinter before Tripoli falls, but that it might do so after.

If it struggles to represent the full spectrum of political forces in a transition period, in the face of armed factions demanding political sway, Gen Younes' killing might not be the last political assassination amongst the self-described Free Libya Forces.

Shashank Joshi an Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a defence think-tank in London, and a doctoral student of international relations at Harvard University.

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Thriving Tripoli

30 July 2011 Last updated at 15:35 GMT By James Reynolds BBC News, Tripoli The Abu Saleem market is bustling prior to the start of Ramadan The government keeps a close eye on the foreign reporters who report from Libya's capital. We all stay in the same hotel, we're not allowed to go into town on our own.

We're often taken by our escorts/translators to pro-Gaddafi rallies, where we're free to interview the colonel's supporters. But getting an idea of what ordinary daily life is like is much more difficult.

On the Friday before the start of Ramadan, we're driven to the Abu Saleem part of town and given an hour to walk around the marketplace. We do so free from escorts and translators.

Even so, those who oppose Col Gaddafi may still feel too intimidated to speak freely - in this city, public criticism of the leader is unwise.

The marketplace is busy with shoppers getting ready for the start of the Islamic holy month. Many stalls sell clothes - including Chelsea and Arsenal football shirts. One shop sells mugs with pictures of Col Gaddafi and his family (about $3 each).

Umm Ahmed is shopping for clothes at a stall on the edge of the market.

"Happy ... very happy ... because our Guide is very good," she says in English. The "Guide" is one of the titles Libyans use for Col Gaddafi.

Further inside the market, Ramadan Fitouri sits on a stool opposite his shop. He sells evening dresses for women to wear at weddings (he doesn't sell actual wedding dresses - there are special bridal shops for those).

Mr Fitouri used to get his new dresses delivered once every two weeks from Turkey and Syria. Now, because of Libya's conflict, he gets his deliveries only once a month.

"It takes longer and it's more expensive," he explains.

Mr Fitouri has put up his prices by 20%. A glittery blue dress on a mannequin outside the stall now costs the equivalent of $60.

Plenty of choice

But right now, he has few shoppers. The country is at war - so weddings get put off.

"People feel afraid, not ready to do their ceremony - they postpone," he says quietly.

Further along, the Shaban sisters are doing their pre-Ramadan shopping. Huda, 19, has bought a shirt and jeans and is looking to buy a pair of shoes to match her new outfit. Her younger sister Hada, 16, has bought a headscarf.

The sisters have plenty of choice in the market. The stalls are full of goods - a sign that shopkeepers are still able to get hold of supplies, even if it costs them a bit more.

"Prices have gone up 15% but we can handle it," said Huda, who is a medical student.

"We love Muammar Gaddafi," adds Hada unprompted. She is still in secondary school.

"Is it possible to be happy when there is a war going on?" I ask them.

"We get used to it - it's been six months now," laughs Huda.

"We're happy all the time... I love clothing," agrees Hada.

The Shaban sisters have been enjoying their shopping spree

"We want our leader," says Huda enthusiastically, "We die for him, I love him so much."

This feeling is so strong that Huda, the 19-year-old medical student, even signed up for a two-week military training course in Sirte, the hometown of Col Gaddafi. Her course included weapons training.

"It's fun - it's like the movies," she says.

"Do you ever think you will really have to shoot a gun?" I ask her.

"For my leader, yes, I can do anything."

Across the road from the main market, Amir Maeza works as a pharmacist. He says that male chemists in Libya work at night so that their female colleagues can work during the day. I ask him about the effects of the war on his business.

"There is no war as you see in the capital. Nothing has happened. Everything works okay until now," he replies. The shelves behind the counter are filled with packets of pills and medicines.

Mr Maeza's familiy lives with his family in Tripoli. He says that he has no contact with Libyans in the rebel-held east of the country.

"I feel so sorry because in the final we are all Libyans," he says, "What is wrong, what is right - it doesn't matter. In the last we are Libyans. That's what really hurts."

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Syria troops 'kill many' in Hama

31 July 2011 Last updated at 09:05 GMT Hama has seen some of the biggest protests yet Syrian tanks have stormed the northern city of Hama, killing at least 45 civilians, a leading rights group says.

Hama has been in a state of revolt and virtually besieged for the past month.

Earlier, a doctor confirmed that 24 people had been killed and residents reported "intense gunfire" as Syrian forces moved in from several sides.

The army is signalling that it will not tolerate large-scale unrest ahead of the month of Ramadan, when protests are expected to grow, correspondents say.

Activists say more than 1,500 civilians and 350 security personnel have been killed across Syria since protests began in mid-March.

The protests show no sign of letting up despite a government crackdown that has brought international condemnation and sanctions.

Centre of protests

According to activists on the ground, troops and tanks began their multi-pronged assault at dawn, smashing through hundreds of barricades erected by locals to reach the centre of Hama.

"[Tanks] are firing their heavy machineguns randomly and overrunning makeshift road blocks," a doctor in Hama told Reuters by phone, with machinegun fire in the background.

He said the death toll was rising rapidly, adding that three of the city's hospitals had received 24 bodies - 19, three and two respectively.

Speaking in London, Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the latest toll, based on his contacts with Syrian doctors, was 45 dead and several more wounded.

Residents of northern Hama told Reuters that tank shells were falling at the rate of four a minute there. They also confirmed deaths in the area.

Electricity and water supplies had been cut, they said, in a tactic regularly used by the military when storming towns to crush protests.

Security forces snipers were reported to have taken up positions on high buildings, the BBC's Jim Muir reports from Beirut in neighbouring Lebanon.

Continue reading the main story

Hama - a bastion of dissidence - occupies a significant place in the history of modern Syria. In 1982, then-President Hafez al-Assad, father of Bashar, sent in troops to quell an uprising by the Sunni opposition Muslim Brotherhood. Tens of thousands were killed and the town flattened. The operation was led by the president's brother, Rifaat.

Similarly, current President Bashar Assad has turned to his own brother, Maher, who commands the army's elite Fourth Division, to deal with the unrest.

Hama, with a population 800,000, has seen some of the biggest protests and worst violence in Syria's 2011 uprising. It was slow to join in, but has now become one of the main focuses of the revolt, and is largely out of government control.

Earlier this month, the US and French ambassadors broke protocol and staged solidarity visits to the city. The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said there must not be "another Hama", meaning, another massacre.

One local activist said that five tanks had been abandoned by their crews in two parts of town, and that protesters had attacked and burnt down three police stations, our correspondent says.

One resident, who has been speaking to others around Hama, told the BBC World Service that the three main hospitals were overwhelmed with more than 200 wounded people.

"They are treating people in the halls of the hospitals. A lot of injured people [have been] taken to homes and doctors are treating them there," he told the World Today programme.

He said the protesters had done nothing to provoke the military action.

"For three months, Hama has had huge demonstrations. More than 250 people have been killed, and nothing, no shot has come out from Hama people. Just barricades and stones and wood, that's all," he said.

"It's just a 100% civilian uprising."

Hama was the scene of the suppression of an uprising against President Assad's father in 1982. The city has seen some of the biggest demonstrations of the recent unrest.

Mass arrests

Elsewhere on Sunday, three people were killed by security forces at Harak in the southern Deraa region, and six in the eastern city of Deir al-Zour and, rights campaigner Rami Abdel Rahman said.

On Saturday, troops shot dead three people who threw stones at a military convoy sent to quash the near-daily protests in Deir al-Zour, he said.

A total of 20 people were killed and 35 wounded on Friday as hundreds of thousands of protested in cities across Syria, rights groups said.

More than 500 people were arrested in a single operation in the Qadam neighbourhood of the capital Damascus, they added.

Since the start of the unrest, more than 12,600 have been arrested and 3,000 others are reported missing.

The government blames armed Islamist gangs for the unrest, but correspondents say the protests appear largely peaceful, with only isolated cases of residents arming themselves against the military assault.

Most foreign media is banned from the country, making it difficult to verify reports.

Syria's anti-government protests, inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt, first erupted in mid-March after the arrest of a group of teenagers who spray-painted a revolutionary slogan on a wall. The protests soon spread, and human rights activists and opposition groups say 1,700 people have died in the turmoil, while thousands more have been injured. Although the arrest of the teenagers in the southern city of Deraa first prompted people to take to the streets, unrest has since spread to other areas, including Hama, Homs, Latakia, Jisr al-Shughour and Baniyas. Demonstrators are demanding greater freedom, an end to corruption, and, increasingly, the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad. President Assad's government has responded to the protests with overwhelming military force, sending tanks and troops into at least nine towns and cities. In Deraa and Homs - where protests have persisted ? amateur video footage shows tanks firing on unarmed protesters, while snipers have been seen shooting at residents venturing outside their homes. Some of the bloodiest events have taken place in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour. In early June, officials claimed 120 security personnel were killed by armed gangs, however protesters said the dead were shot by troops for refusing to kill demonstrators. As the military moved to take control of the town, thousands fled to neighbouring Turkey, taking refuge in camps. Although the major cities of Damascus and Aleppo have seen pockets of unrest and some protests, it has not been widespread - due partly to a heavy security presence. There have been rallies in the capital - one with an enormous Syrian flag - in support of President Assad, who still receives the backing of many in Syria's middle class, business elite and minority groups. The Assad family has been in power for 40 years, with Bashar al-Assad inheriting office in 2000. The president has opened up the economy, but has continued to jail critics and control the media. He is from the minority Alawite sect - an offshoot of Shia Islam ? but the country's 20 million people are mainly Sunni. The biggest protests have been in Sunni-majority areas. Although the US and EU have condemned the violence and imposed sanctions, the UN Security Council has been unable to agree on a response. Some fear the country could descend into civil war if the government collapsed, while others believe chaos in Syria ? with its strategic location and its web of regional alliances - could destabilise the entire Middle East.BACK {current} of {total} NEXT

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Top Libya rebel 'shot by Islamist militia'

30 July 2011 Last updated at 11:59 GMT Younes was buried in the rebel capital, Benghazi Libyan rebel commander Gen Abdel Fattah Younes was shot dead by a militia linked to his own side, a rebel minister has said.

Ali Tarhouni said Gen Younes was killed by members of the Obaida Ibn Jarrah Brigade, which is an Islamist group.

Gen Younes defected to the rebels in February after serving in the Libyan leadership since the 1969 coup which brought Col Muammar Gaddafi to power.

Meanwhile Nato says it bombed Libyan state TV transmitters overnight.

The Libyan Broadcasting Authority said three of its technicians were killed and 15 other people injured in the attack in the capital, Tripoli.

The alliance said it had disabled three satellite transmission dishes through a "precision air strike".

It said the operation was intended to stop "inflammatory broadcasts" by Col Gaddafi's government.

Continue reading the main story Ian Pannell, BBC News, Misrata

The more information that comes to light about the murder of Abdel Fattah Younes the more troubling the affair becomes.

According to Ali Tarhouni, a minister with the National Transitional Council, members of the Obaida Ibn Jarrah Brigade, an Islamist group allied with the rebels, killed the general and two other commanders and burned their bodies.

This will feed growing doubts about the armed opposition, about its ability to govern and fight as a cohesive group and about the influence of Islamist factions.

The Libyan government in Tripoli has constantly warned that the rebels are under the influence of al-Qaeda. Although there is no evidence of this, it has called the murder of Gen Younes a "slap in the face" for Britain after it officially recognised the council in Benghazi as the government of Libya.

Nato said the strike would "reduce the regime's ability to oppress civilians" but also "preserve television broadcast infrastructure that will be needed after the conflict".

Libyan state TV was still on air following the Nato statement.

'Slap in the face'

Oil minister Tarhouni told reporters in Benghazi a leader of the militia had provided information on the circumstances of Younes' death.

Mr Tarhouni said Younes and two of his aides were killed after being recalled to the rebel stronghold for questioning.

Younes' shot and burned body, and the bodies of his aides, were found on the edge of Benghazi on Friday.

"His lieutenants did it," Mr Tarhouni said, adding that the killers were still at large, Reuters news agency reported.

The minister did not provide a motive for the killing, which he said was still being investigated.

Col Gaddafi's government said the killing was proof that the rebels were not capable of ruling Libya.

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said: "It is a nice slap [in] the face of the British that the [rebel National Transitional] council that they recognised could not protect its own commander of the army."

Continue reading the main story Helped Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi take power in the 1969 coup that ousted King IdrisClose advisor to the Libyan leader for four decades, rising to the post of general and training Col Gaddafi's special forcesAppointed interior ministerQuit the government on 22 February 2011 and defected to the rebels - one of the earliest such moves by a senior officialAppointed as the opposition's military chief in April, but faced mistrust due to his past ties to Col GaddafiMr Ibrahim also said Younes was killed by al-Qaeda, repeating a claim that the group is the strongest force within the rebel movement.

"By this act, al-Qaeda wanted to mark out its presence and its influence in this region," he said.

"The other members of the National Transitional Council knew about it but could not react because they are terrified of al-Qaeda," he added.

Middle East analyst Shashank Joshi said the concern that emerges most sharply from the incident is not so much that the National Transitional Council will splinter before Tripoli falls, but that it might do so afterwards.

The general - Col Gaddafi's former interior minister - joined the rebels at the beginning of the Libyan uprising in February.

The BBC's Ian Pannell in the rebel-held city of Misrata says the death will feed international suspicions that the rebels cannot be trusted.

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Israeli orchestra to play Wagner

25 July 2011 Last updated at 08:27 GMT Musical director Roberto Paternostro said he never had any doubts about the project The Israeli Chamber Orchestra will break with tradition to play a work by Hitler's favourite composer, Richard Wagner, in Germany.

Roberto Paternostro will conduct classical piece Siegfried Idyll on Tuesday at Bayreuth's Wagner festival.

It is rare for Israeli musicians to play the anti-Semitic composer's work, which was appropriated by the Nazis.

Paternostro said that while Wagner's ideology was "terrible", the aim was "to divide the man from his art".

An unofficial ban on Wagner was introduced in 1938 by the Palestine Orchestra - now the Israel Philharmonic - after Jews were attacked by the Nazis in Germany.

Musical director Paternostro said it had been "a very difficult and rocky path" but that "there wasn't a moment when I had any doubts about this project".

"I know that in Israel this isn't accepted," added Paternostro, who is Jewish and whose mother survived the holocaust.

"But many people have told me it's time we confront Wagner, especially those in the younger generation."

It was too soon for the orchestra to perform Wagner in Israel and they had not rehearsed the work there, he added.

Standing ovation

Hitler was a passionate admirer of the work of Wagner - who lived from 1813 to 1883 - as well as his theories on Germanic racial purity.

Daniel Barenboim conducted Wagner at the annual Israel Festival in July 2001

The Israeli Chamber Orchestra's performance forms part of a fringe festival linked to Bayreuth's annual Wagner opera festival which begins on Monday with a production of Tannhauser.

In July 2001, conductor Daniel Barenboim led a German orchestra in performing a piece from Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde, at the annual Israel Festival.

At the end of a concert in Jerusalem, Israeli Barenboim told the audience the orchestra would be playing the piece and that anyone who objected could leave.

Some angrily protested and left the hall but at the end of the performance, the audience gave it a standing ovation.

In December, pianist Barenboim told reporters: "We need one day to liberate Wagner of all this weight."

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Iran man 'pardoned' from blinding

31 July 2011 Last updated at 08:37 GMT Ameneh Bahrami said she had reprieved the man "for my country" An Iranian man who was ordered to be blinded for carrying out an acid attack on a woman has been pardoned by his victim, state television has said.

Ameneh Bahrami had demanded qisas, a rarely used retributive justice under Sharia law, but the report said she had foregone that right at the last minute.

A court had backed Ms Bahrami's demand in 2008 that Majid Movahedi be blinded.

He attacked Ms Bahrami in 2004 after she had refused his offer of marriage, leaving her severely disfigured.

Rights group Amnesty International had lobbied against the sentence, calling it "cruel and inhuman punishment amounting to torture".

Mother's praise

The state television website reported: "With the request of Ameneh Bahrami, the acid attack victim, Majid (Movahedi) who was sentenced for 'qisas' was pardoned at the last minute."

The Isna news agency quoted Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi as saying: "Today in hospital the blinding of Majid Movahedi was to have been carried out in the presence of an eye specialist and judiciary representative, when Ameneh pardoned him."

Isna quoted Ms Bahrami as saying: "I struggled for seven years with this verdict to prove to people that the person who hurls acid should be punished through 'qisas', but today I pardoned him because it was my right.

"I did it for my country, since all other countries were looking to see what we would do."

Ms Bahrami was quoted on Iranian TV as saying: "I never wanted to have revenge on him. I just wanted the sentence to be issued for retribution. But I would not have carried it out. I had no intention of taking his eyes from him."

Mr Dolatabadi told Isna that Ms Bahrami had demanded "blood money", or compensation, for her injuries.

He praised her "courageous act" of pardon, adding: "The judiciary was serious about implementing the verdict."

Ms Bahrami said she had never received any money from the man's family, saying she was seeking only compensation for medical fees, which she put at 150,000 euros ($216,000: ?131,000).

She said: "He wont be freed. He has a sentence, which he has to serve for 10-12 years of which he has done seven. Unless the full compensation is paid, he won't be freed."

Isna quoted Ms Bahrami's mother as saying: "I am proud of my daughter... Ameneh had the strength to forgive Majid. This forgiveness will calm Ameneh and our family."

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Police raid ex-Fatah man's home

28 July 2011 Last updated at 12:18 GMT Mohammed Dahlan is Fatah's former head of security in the Gaza Strip Palestinian police have raided the house of former Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan, in one of their biggest security operations in the West Bank for years.

Mr Dahlan was expelled from the party last month over allegations of corruption and trying to undermine the leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas.

The raid came hours after his appeal against the expulsion was rejected.

Mr Dahlan denies the corruption claims. No formal charges have been laid.

Equipment seized

Scores of Palestinian police and security forces surrounded Mr Dahlan's Ramallah home at 0700 (0400 GMT), reports said.

They forced their way in, arrested several of his bodyguards and seized weapons, computers and vehicles from the house, witnesses said.

The Palestinian interior ministry said such private bodyguards constituted an illegal armed gang, the BBC's Jon Donnison reports from Ramallah.

Mr Dahlan - who has parliamentary immunity as an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council - was understood to have been locked in a room of his house while security forces conducted the searches, the AFP news agency reported.

Dahlan had returned to Ramallah to appeal against his expulsion from Fatah

The 49-year-old was once the powerful internal security minister and seen as a potential Palestinian leader. But his reputation never recovered from the defeat of his security forces in Gaza by Hamas in 2007.

On 12 June, the Fatah Central Committee (FCC) voted to expel him from the party amid claims that he was plotting an internal coup against Mr Abbas.

Mr Dahlan alleges that there is a witch hunt against him by people who feel he is a threat to the leadership of President Abbas, our correspondent Jon Donnison says.

The decision to expel Mr Dahlan must now be approved by a two-thirds majority of the Fatah Revolutionary Council.

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Libya taunts UK over rebel death

30 July 2011 Last updated at 10:57 GMT Abdel Fattah Younes had defected from the government in February Libya's government has taunted the UK over the death of rebel military commander General Abdel Fattah Younes.

It has been claimed the former Libyan government minister was shot by an Islamist militia linked to the rebels.

A Libyan government spokesman said the incident showed the UK government had made a mistake by recognising the rebel council as the sole authority in Libya.

He said it was "a nice slap to the face of the British" that the rebels were unable to protect their army chief.

On Saturday, the rebels' Oil Minister, Ali Tarhouni, told reporters in Benghazi that a leader of the Obaida Ibn Jarrah Brigade had provided information on the circumstances of Gen Younes's death.

But he did not provide a motive for the killing, which he said was still being investigated.

On Wednesday, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the UK would recognise the Libyan National Transitional Council of the rebels as the "sole governmental authority", as it expelled Gaddafi-regime diplomats from the UK.

Gen Younes and two aides were killed by gunmen after being recalled from the front line of fighting.

Hundreds of mourners carried a coffin containing the general's body into Benghazi's main square on Friday.

Col Muammar Gaddafi's government in Tripoli said the killing was proof the rebels were not capable of ruling Libya.

'Nice slap to face'

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said: "It is a nice slap to the face of the British that the council that they recognised could not protect its own commander of the army."

Speaking before Mr Tarhouni's comments, Mr Ibrahim suggested Gen Younes had been killed by al-Qaeda and repeated a claim that the group was the strongest force within the rebel movement, which is based in the east of the country.

"By this act, al-Qaeda wanted to mark out its presence and its influence in this region," he said.

"The other members of the (rebel) National Transitional Council knew about it but could not react because they are terrified of al-Qaeda."

Gen Younes - a former interior minister who had served at the heart of Col Gaddafi's regime since the 1969 coup - joined the rebels at the beginning of the Libyan uprising in February.

On Wednesday, the Libyan charge d'affaires in the UK was called to the Foreign Office to be told he and other diplomats must leave.

Instead the UK will ask the National Transitional Council to appoint a new diplomatic envoy.

It follows similar moves by the US and France. The UK had previously said it recognised "countries not governments".

Meanwhile, Nato said a "precision air strike" had disabled three Libyan state TV satellite transmission dishes.

Nato said the operation was intended to stop "inflammatory broadcasts" by Col Gaddafi's regime.

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Lebanon frees 'slanderous' singer

28 July 2011 Last updated at 17:40 GMT By Owen Bennett-Jones BBC News, Beirut Zeid Hamdan was accused of insulting the president in his lyrics Lebanon has freed singer Zeid Hamdan, detained on Wednesday over a song deemed insulting to President Michel Suleiman, a former army chief.

Slandering the president carries a maximum two-year sentence in Lebanon. Officials reportedly took exception to the lyrics: 'General go home'.

A Facebook campaign calling for his release has attracted 2,500 supporters.

Some reports say the presidency heard of the Facebook group and ordered his release but that was officially denied.

'Bit of advice'

It was four years ago that Zeid Hamdan decided to write a song about President Suleiman, former commander-in-chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces.

He has performed the song ever since and last year an Italian director made a video of it and posted it on a DVD to a Lebanese advertising agency.

That is when the problems began. A vigilant customs officer watched it and there was one line he didn't like.

"At the end of the song, I say 'General go home'," Hamdan told the BBC.

"[The authorities said] it's the worst thing you can tell him, you are asking him to leave power. So it's worse than an insult," he recalled.

Hamdan explained that it was not an insult - just a bit of advice. Unconvinced, the officials asked him to three interrogations, including one on Wednesday morning, when he was arrested.

As he was put into handcuffs, Hamdan managed to pass his mobile phone to his lawyer.

"I gave him my Facebook code and asked him to do an announcement to my Facebook profile, which he did. People created a group to release me and in a few hours I had 2,000 people.

"Somehow most of my friends were very active and helped the noise to spread."

By the end of the day, a judge called him from his cell and ordered that he be freed.

"He said call your parents and he told me sarcastically - go home."

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Mass protests held across Syria

29 July 2011 Last updated at 17:21 GMT As with last week's protests, the biggest rally appeared to be in Hama Tens of thousands of Syrians have again turned out for Friday protests against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

Troops fired live ammunition and tear gas at protesters, killing two people and wounding dozens, activists said.

There have been reports of fighting in the eastern city of Deir al-Zour between military intelligence agents and residents after five protesters were killed overnight.

Earlier, state media said a blast hit an oil pipeline near the city of Homs.

The attack was the second of its kind this month. State news agency Sana called the explosion a terrorist attack by a group of "saboteurs".

But activists told the BBC they did not have the capability to carry out such an attack.

Ramadan soon

Protest organisers say that this week's demonstrations are aimed at other Arab countries under the slogan, "Your silence is killing us".

Human rights groups said that troops opened fire on protesters in the Mediterranean city of Latakia, killing at least one protester and that another person was killed during a protest in the southern city of Deraa - where the protests first erupted in mid-March.

Heavily armed troops backed by armoured vehicles pushed back protesters in the coastal town of Baniyas and fired tear gas in several other locations, the AP news agency said, citing local activists. There were also marches in the countryside around Damascus despite an intense crackdown there, it added.

The reports are difficult to verify as few foreign reporters have been allowed into the country.

Syrian forces are trying to quell the unrest ahead of Ramadan, which starts this weekend, activists say.

Last night, security forces shot dead three civilians in Deir al-Zour and two in a Damascus suburb, near the town of Zabadani, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The demonstrations have been met by a fierce crackdown that has killed more than 1,500 civilians and seen 26,000 people arrested.

More than 12,600 are still in detention, the Avaaz rights group says, and 3,000 others are missing, with family members unable to establish if they are still alive.

Pipeline blast The blast took place in the village of Tell Kalakh, near Homs in western Syria

The governor of Homs, Syria's third largest city, said many residents heard the pipeline explosion at around 0400 (0100 GMT).

"This terrorist operation, a subversive operation of the highest order, took place in a farming area, causing extensive damage," Ghassan al-Adel told Sana.

The blast left a crater 15m (50ft) wide and oil gushing from the broken pipe, the Sana news agency said.

Two weeks ago, on 13 July, a fire damaged a gas pipeline near the town of Mayadin in the country's main oil and gas-producing region of Deir al-Zour province, activists said at the time.

Oil production in Syria stands at about 350,000 barrels per day, according to official data. It is a key source of income for the Syrian economy, hard hit by more than four months of unrest.

Syria's anti-government protests, inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt, first erupted in mid-March after the arrest of a group of teenagers who spray-painted a revolutionary slogan on a wall. The protests soon spread, and human rights activists and opposition groups say 1,700 people have died in the turmoil, while thousands more have been injured. Although the arrest of the teenagers in the southern city of Deraa first prompted people to take to the streets, unrest has since spread to other areas, including Hama, Homs, Latakia, Jisr al-Shughour and Baniyas. Demonstrators are demanding greater freedom, an end to corruption, and, increasingly, the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad. President Assad's government has responded to the protests with overwhelming military force, sending tanks and troops into at least nine towns and cities. In Deraa and Homs - where protests have persisted ? amateur video footage shows tanks firing on unarmed protesters, while snipers have been seen shooting at residents venturing outside their homes. Some of the bloodiest events have taken place in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour. In early June, officials claimed 120 security personnel were killed by armed gangs, however protesters said the dead were shot by troops for refusing to kill demonstrators. As the military moved to take control of the town, thousands fled to neighbouring Turkey, taking refuge in camps. Although the major cities of Damascus and Aleppo have seen pockets of unrest and some protests, it has not been widespread - due partly to a heavy security presence. There have been rallies in the capital - one with an enormous Syrian flag - in support of President Assad, who still receives the backing of many in Syria's middle class, business elite and minority groups. The Assad family has been in power for 40 years, with Bashar al-Assad inheriting office in 2000. The president has opened up the economy, but has continued to jail critics and control the media. He is from the minority Alawite sect - an offshoot of Shia Islam ? but the country's 20 million people are mainly Sunni. The biggest protests have been in Sunni-majority areas. Although the US and EU have condemned the violence and imposed sanctions, the UN Security Council has been unable to agree on a response. Some fear the country could descend into civil war if the government collapsed, while others believe chaos in Syria ? with its strategic location and its web of regional alliances - could destabilise the entire Middle East.BACK {current} of {total} NEXT

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Charm offensive

27 July 2011 Last updated at 04:07 GMT The Algerian government is working to prevent North Africa's revolutionary tide from reaching its shores. Political analyst Hamoud Salhi considers for the BBC's Focus on Africa magazine its chance of success.

For months now, Algerian authorities have been busy pre-empting a potential threat of revolution.

The success of popular movements in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt sent alarming signals to government circles that Algeria was next in line to experience revolutionary change.

The effect has been so strong that local governments in the eastern part of Algeria have instructed police to relax street regulations, including allowing motorists to drive without a proper vehicle tax document.

Continue reading the main story 34% salary increase for civil servantsSubsidies on flour, milk, cooking oil and sugarTax waiver for imported cooking oil and sugarStreet regulations relaxed in some areasState of emergency liftedPolice have also been told to ignore illegal street traders and refrain from collecting taxes from shopkeepers if they claim their business has been affected by the activities of such traders.

So far the policy of appeasement and concession has worked well for the Algerian government. But for how long?

There are severe housing shortages in Algeria, accompanied by high consumer prices and low salaries. According to the International Monetary Fund, unemployment rates have reached 25% among 24 year olds, widening gaps between social classes.

Large revenues generated from favourably high prices of oil have enabled the government to divert people's anger and win their silence - at least for now.

Pleasing the people

The Algerian government, led by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, has embarked on a series of initiatives to win over the public.

In early May, the government revised this year's national budget, allocating 25% of the total to pay for public sector workers' salaries and subsidies on flour, milk, cooking oil and sugar.

Nine people were injured when riots broke out in the Algerian capital, Algiers, in May

This is on top of a 34% increase in salaries for civil servants given earlier this year.

The new budget law extended a tax waiver on cooking oil and sugar imported from abroad until the end of the year. Previously, the government had introduced several programmes to benefit the youth, including low-interest loans for opening a business and affordable housing.

But in a recent interview, an Algerian official described the government's actions as "a circus", saying it is "doing everything to avoid angering the people".

In early February, the government also lifted a 19-year-old state of emergency law that forbade demonstrations and restricted the formation of political associations.

This month the president is expected to release 4,000 Islamists from prison. Most of them have been held since 1992 when a conflict erupted between Islamists and the military.

President Bouteflika has also launched an ambitious reform agenda that would culminate next year with an amended constitution, new electoral laws and a press code, along with several other key changes aimed at curtailing corruption and easing bureaucratic hurdles.

To ensure the participation of all political forces, Mr Bouteflika nominated his former adviser General Mohammed Touati and Mohammed Ali Boughazi, the former cabinet minister, to organise and lead a national dialogue on reforms.

Both leaders were selected for their connections to the Berber political parties and Islamist leaders, respectively.

Lessons from Libya In some areas, police have been told to stop collecting taxes from shopkeepers

But concessions, appeasement and reforms are not the only means the government has used to fend off threats of revolutionary change. Propaganda is the other.

In its coverage of Libya, Algeria's official media has highlighted the threats of terrorism, foreign intervention and the overall collapse of the systemic order with images of mass killings and destroyed infrastructure.

But Algeria has not necessarily weathered the storm. The government has had success managing the current crisis but it has to do more.

Further success will depend on the extent to which the president is willing to push for the resolution of what many Algerians consider the core of the country's malaise: Poor living conditions for the vast majority of people and a lack of a transparent and fair political representation.

The current system has long been criticised for lacking popular legitimacy and for being overly controlled by the military. Restricting the role of the military and opening the system could be central to restoring a new and legitimate order.

Making the economic development of the country an urgent priority is also key. If the existing socio-economic problems continue, the population will have no choice but to turn to the inevitable: Revolution.

Only time will tell if the Algerian government has saved Algeria and itself from any radical change.

Hamoud Salhi is professor of political science at California State University (US), and formerly a television and newspaper analyst.

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Egypt Islamists lead Cairo rally

29 July 2011 Last updated at 21:40 GMT The protest is one of the largest since the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak Tens of thousands of people have packed Cairo's Tahrir Square, after the first call by Islamist leaders for nationwide demonstrations since President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in February.

Many protesters - dominated by Muslim Brotherhood supporters - are calling for an Islamic state and Sharia law.

Correspondents say the rallies will be a worrying development for secularists.

The Brotherhood is the most organised political force in Egypt, although it was not prominent in the revolution.

Tensions have been running high between Egypt's Islamist and secular groups, who are at odds over the transition to democracy in the Arab world's most populated country.

Casualties

Later there were a number of casualties when violence broke out in a separate incident in Sinai.

"We have two bodies of civilians in the morgue now and 12 police conscripts being treated for injuries in hospital," Hisham Shiha, Egypt's deputy health minister, told state television.

Around 100 armed men drove around the city of El-Arish, shouting Islamic slogans, and firing into the air, before attacking a police station.

Terrified residents fled into their homes. One of those killed was a 13-year-old boy, according to reports in the local media.

Turning point?

Among the earlier protests in Tahrir Square, liberal groups called for guarantees of a constitution that will protect religious freedom and personal rights, whereas Islamists demanded speedy elections and a recognition of Islam - in one form or another - in the new Egyptian state.

Now the Islamists want their voice to be heard and are showing their muscle for the first time since Mr Mubarak stepped down on 11 February, says the BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo.

Although the Muslim Brotherhood can turn out huge crowds by rallying its supporters at mosques, it does not necessarily represent the majority of Egyptians and is predicted to win around 20% of the vote in an election, our correspondent says.

There was little sign of any secular groups at Friday's rally, he says, adding that it will be interesting to see how they re-group after today's events.

Since early July, the mainly secular protesters had camped out in Tahrir Square - the epicentre of protests that toppled Mr Mubarak - to denounce the ruling military council over the slow pace of reform.

Islamist groups had for the most part stayed away from the sit-in. Last week, they held their own demonstration and accused the Tahrir protesters of going against the country's "Islamic identity", the AFP news agency reports.

But with Islamists and the more conservative Salafist groups now filling Tahrir Square, it could mark a turning point in Egypt's post-revolution period, our correspondent says.

Later on Friday, witnesses in el-Arish reported men in trucks and on motorbikes firing their assault rifles into the air and forcing frightened residents into their homes.

The men are reported to have been confronted by policemen and soldiers.

"We have two bodies of civilians in the morgue now and 12 police conscripts being treated for injuries in hospital," Hisham Shiha, Egypt's deputy health minister, told state television.

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Iraq 'more deadly' than year ago

30 July 2011 Last updated at 15:18 GMT Nearly a dozen civilians die violent deaths in Iraq every day A top US adviser on Iraq has accused the US military of glossing over an upsurge in violence, just months before its troops are due to be withdrawn.

Iraq is more dangerous now than a year ago, said a report issued by the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Stuart W Bowen Junior.

He said the killing of US soldiers and senior Iraqi figures, had risen, along with attacks in Baghdad .

The report contradicts usually upbeat assessments from the US military.

It comes as Washington is preparing to withdraw its remaining 47,000 troops from Iraq by the end of the year, despite fears that the Iraqi security forces might not be ready to take over fully.

Assassinations

"Iraq remains an extraordinarily dangerous place to work," Mr Bowen concluded in his quarterly report to Congress. "It is less safe, in my judgment, than 12 months ago."

The report cited the deaths of 15 US soldiers in June - the bloodiest month for the American military in two years - but also said more Iraqi officials had been assassinated in the past few months than in any other recent period.

While the efforts of Iraqi and American forces may have reduced the threat from the Sunni-based insurgency, Shia militias are believed to have become more active, it said.

Responsibility for training Iraqi forces will fall to the US State Department after the pullout

They are being blamed for the deaths of American soldiers, and for an increase in rocket attacks on the Baghdad international zone and the US embassy compound.

Additionally, the report called the north-eastern province of Diyala, which borders Iran, "very unstable" with frequent bombings that bring double-digit death tolls.

Mr Bowen accused the US military of glossing over the instability, noting an army statement in late May that described Iraq's security trends as "very, very positive" - but only when compared to 2007, when the country was on the brink of civil war.

A spokesman for the US army in Iraq declined to respond.

Stay or go?

The findings come in the middle of what the inspector called a "summer of uncertainty" in Baghdad over whether American forces will stay past a year-end withdrawal deadline and continue military aid for the unstable nation.

Although the US is preparing to withdraw all its remaining troops by the end of the year, in line with mutual agreements, the Obama administration has offered to leave 10,000 to help train the Iraqi forces.

That is politically highly controversial in Baghdad, where Nouri al-Maliki's Shia-dominated government, dependent on support from strongly anti-American elements, has not been able to produce a clear answer, says the BBC's Jim Muir from Beirut.

The situation is clearly very much better than it was at the height of the violence in 2006-7, our correspondent says.

In fact, the overall figures for Iraqi civilian deaths in the first six months of this year, collated by Iraqi Body Count, show a very slight improvement over last year.

But patterns of violence have changed, he adds. There are fewer big bomb explosions, but more targeted killings of Iraqi officials or security forces.

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Egypt changes Mubarak trial venue

31 July 2011 Last updated at 01:50 GMT Hosni Mubarak is currently in a hospital in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh Egyptian authorities say the trial of deposed President Hosni Mubarak's trial will be moved from a Cairo convention centre, for security reasons.

The trial, due to open on Wednesday, will now be held at a police academy further from the city centre.

Mr Mubarak, 83, has been under arrest at a hospital in the coastal resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh since April.

He is charged with corruption and ordering the killing of protesters before he was toppled in February.

Appeals court president Abdel Aziz Omar said Mr Mubarak's trial was being moved "because it is difficult to guarantee the protection of the other place".

The police academy auditorium where the trial will now be held can hold 600 people, Assistant Justice Minister Mohammed Munie told Egypt's Mena news agency.

A cage for the defendants has already been prepared, he said.

Protesters still demonstrating in Egypt have made swift prosecution of officials from the former regime a key demand.

Family trial

Doctors have said Mr Mubarak's condition is poor, that he has lost weight from refusing food and is suffering from depression. But the government has said he is well enough to be moved to Cairo for trial.

Mr Mubarak is expected to be tried alongside his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, and former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly, as well as six senior police officials.

Adly has already been sentenced to 12 years in jail for corruption.

The justice minister has said Mr Mubarak could face the death penalty if found guilty of murder.

Mr Mubarak was deposed on 11 February, after 18 days of mass demonstrations in which some 850 people were killed.

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Tomb raider

30 July 2011 Last updated at 00:05 GMT By Katia Moskvitch Technology reporter, BBC News Interactive 3D film about a theory of the construction of the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Egypt has now migrated on to the home desktop

A mouse click - and a member of a pharaoh's burial procession turns around.

One more click - and the animated figure invites you inside the snaking, narrow corridors of one of the world's most magnificent structures - the Great Pyramid of Khufu, also known as the Great Pyramid of Cheops.

Peering into the screen through his funky red and blue 3D glasses, ancient Egypt enthusiast Keith Payne is gripped by the centuries-old story unfolding before his eyes as if through a time-travel lens.

"This is amazing!" he says. "I think that being able to use a 3D simulation tool to explore Khufu's pyramid is really a whole new way of both learning and teaching.

Jean-Pierre Houdin's controversial theory is totally different from all other hypotheses

"Being able to pause the narration and virtually take control of the camera to go anywhere in the scene and explore for yourself, and then return to the documentary where you left off is a way of learning that was never really available before now."

This interactive journey, first presented to the public in a 3D theatre in Paris, has now migrated onto the home desktop.

To watch the film, users simply download a plug-in and don a pair of 3D glasses - although the software gives the sensation of depth without them too, to a lesser extent.

And it works with 3D TVs, too.

Controversial theory Continue reading the main story

It is a theory that explains how the Egyptians, who had no iron, no wheels and no pulleys, were able to build such a massive structure”

End Quote Mehdi Tayoubi Dassault Systemes With help of cutting-edge 3D technology, the video lets users take a peek inside the 146m-high Great Pyramid, the last of the seven wonders of the ancient world still standing.

The scene appears as it might have 45 centuries ago - full of the loyal people of the second ruler of the fourth dynasty.

But the film is not pure entertainment - besides the educational aspect, it tries to explain one of the theories behind the pyramid's construction.

Lying north of modern-day Cairo, the largest and oldest of the three pyramids of the royal necropolis of Giza is believed to have been built as Khufu's tomb.

Inside, it contains three burial chambers - one underground, a second known as the Queen's Chamber which was possibly intended for the pharaoh's sacred statue, and the King's Chamber.

This latter is located almost exactly in the middle of the structure, and it is there where the pharaoh's granite sarcophagus lies, but no mummy has ever been found.

What we don't know is how this colossal monument, made of two million stone blocks that weigh an average of 2.5 tonnes each, was actually built.

The interactive 3D film outlines one hypothesis.

The enigma of the Great Pyramid's construction has intrigued people for centuries and sparked many theories

"It is a theory that explains how the Egyptians, who had no iron, no wheels and no pulleys, were able to build such a massive structure," says the project's interactive director Mehdi Tayoubi from French software firm Dassault Systemes.

Continue reading the main story

Until we can do some non-invasive means of confirming or denying his hypothesis, we will have to leave it as just a theory”

End Quote Prof Peter Der Manuelian Harvard University "Most of all, it explains how they managed to get huge beams weighing around 60 tonnes each all the way up to the King's Chamber."

The idea has been drafted by French architect Jean-Pierre Houdin.

It differs sharply from another popular theory which suggests that ancient engineers used an outside stone ramp, spiralling its way to the top. No physical evidence to support such a system has ever been found.

Instead, Mr Houdin insists that the ramp was inside the pyramid - hence it is invisible from the outside.

The computer simulations done with Dassault Systemes seem to support this belief.

Djedi, a tiny robot, has been exploring the Great Pyramid of Khufu for the past two years

But not everyone agrees. Professor of Egyptology at Harvard University, Peter Der Manuelian points out that this theory too lacks solid proof.

"Mr Houdin has worked very hard to try to explain many of the features inside the Great Pyramid, he's certainly a dedicated researcher," he says.

"But until we can do some non-invasive means of confirming or denying his hypothesis, we will have to leave it as just a theory."

But the architect insists that there is some scientific backing to his thoughts.

For instance, in 1986 a French team used microgravimetry - a technique that measures the density of different sections of a structure to detect hidden chambers.

The resulting scan showed a curious pattern - a hollow that seems to wind the walls up the inside of the pyramid.

Infrared imagery

And it is possible to get even more evidence, says Mr Houdin.

The theory suggests ancient builders used an internal and not external ramp

Cracking the ancient monument open not being an option, his team decided to measure the reaction of the pyramid to exterior factors - such as heat.

To do that, they got in touch with specialists in infrared imagery from the University Laval in Canada who have decided to set up special cameras around the pyramid.

"In Egypt, air temperatures vary greatly between day and night - and rocks in the pyramid react accordingly," explains Mr Houdin.

"If the pyramid is a solid structure, then according to our computer simulations, in the summer at noon it will be hotter at the top as there's less mass, and cooler at the bottom, where the cold ground helps to cool it from below.

"But if there's an internal ramp, it will be the other way around - the pyramid will be cooler at the top."

Setting up a few cameras may seem simple enough, but for this next step to succeed, the joint international venture must be okayed by the Egyptian authorities - who have so far been reluctant to give any kind of positive response.

Djedi robot Continue reading the main story

The Great Pyramid is a truly unique and wonderful structure - the shafts and "doors" do not exist in any other ancient Egyptian building”

End Quote Shaun Whitehead Djedi project leader Besides the infrared proof, one other explorer could also help reveal what is hidden in pharaoh Khufu's eternal resting place.

Meet Djedi - a tiny robot that has been exploring the pyramid for the past two years.

Its name, although reminiscent of the Star Wars warriors, belongs to an ancient Egyptian magician whom Khufu consulted when building the pyramid.

The project is a separate one from Jean-Pierre Houdin's construction analysis, but has also been developed with help of Dassault Systemes - and in collaboration with an international team of researchers.

Djedi's mission is to continue the work of its predecessors.

After the pyramid's main chambers were discovered, researchers were puzzled by one interesting fact.

They found two straight narrow shafts 20cm by 20 cm that connected the King's Chamber with the outside world which were thought to have been used for ventilation.

There are two similar shafts that go from the Queen's Chamber, but never reach the walls, mysteriously stopping seemingly nowhere.

In 2002, a robot crawled to the stone in the end of the shaft and boldly drilled a hole in it, transmitting live images so the entire world could witness the moment of unveiling.

But that mission failed.

The King's Chamber sits in the middle of the Great Pyramid with the Queen's chamber below it

A second door, unseen for more than 4,000 years, blocked the way - and Djedi now has to drill a hole in that too.

"The Great Pyramid is a truly unique and wonderful structure - the shafts and "doors" do not exist in any other ancient Egyptian building," says the project leader Shaun Whitehead.

"Finding out why they are there will give us a greater insight into the techniques and motivation of an amazing civilisation from 4,500 years ago."

The robot crawls forward as a mechanical inchworm, armed with an endoscopic "snake camera" that can look into difficult to reach spaces.

It is also equipped with a drill, hopefully long enough to reach and pierce the second door.

And it has already sent back some exciting images.

In May 2011, Djedi found what looked like ancient graffiti in-between the two doors.

As these two separate, but interrelated projects progress, we may be on the very edge of uncovering some our past's greatest secrets.

The 3D film takes viewers back to ancient Egypt, as it was 45 centuries ago

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