A Somali Islamist commander, thought to be Al Qaeda’s man in Mogadishu, has ordered his fighters to attack African Union (AU) peacekeepers in rare taped comments intended to bolster an anti-government insurgency.

Lebanon’s powerful Maronite patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir has been thrust to the forefront of a bitter struggle between pro- and anti-Syrian political camps as a line for a presidential election looms.

Syrian archaelogists have uncovered a 2nd century necropolis and statues in the central town of Palmyra, along with several skeletons, museum director Walid Assaad told AFP on Thursday.