Four Lebanese citizens, and one each from Britain, Greece and Italy, were captured from Nigeria’s northern Bauchi state on February 16. All seven were employees of Setraco, a Lebanese construction company.

The Greek foreign ministry in an announcement said it believes its national is dead.

“The available information suggests that the Greek citizen, who was kidnapped on February 16 by a terrorist organization in Nigeria is dead. The Foreign Ministry has informed his family.”

An Italian foreign ministry statement said: “Our checks conducted in co-ordination with the other countries concerned led us to believe that the news of the killing of the hostages seized last month is true.”

Following reports of the deaths of hostages in Nigeria, the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, said:

This was an act of cold-blooded murder, which I condemn in the strongest terms.

Ansaru issued a communique saying it had killed the hostages because of attempts by Nigerian and British governments to free them.

The group published photos along with the statement that allegedly showed the bodies of all seven victims.

Greece and Italy have both denied the claim that any claim that any government forces attempted to free the hostages.

The Greek foreign ministry also said the “”Based on the information we have, there was no rescue operation nor any contact with the terrorist organization at any stage,” it added.

Ansaru has been linked to several kidnappings, including the May 2011 abductions of a Briton and an Italian working for a construction firm in Kebbi state, near the border with Niger, according to Al Jazeera.

In Monday’s deadliest attack, a string of roadside bombs and a car bomb, followed by a suicide attack targeting emergency responders, in the town of Taji killed at least 42 people and wounded 40 others, according to two medical officials, according to Al Arabiya.

In Baghdad, car bombs targeted an interior ministry office that issues government ID cards to residents of the city’s mainly Shia Sadr City neighbourhood. At least 16 people were killed in that attack, according to Al Jazeera.

The attacks came a day after a spate of bombings across Iraq killed at least 17 people and wounded nearly 100 others, Al Arabiya reported.

Monday’s toll was the highest since June 13 when 84 people were killed. Unitl now nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Al-Qaeda’s front group in Iraq has warned in recent days that it seeks to retake territory in the country.

 Al-Qaeda in Iraq is regarded by Iraqi officials as significantly weaker than at the peak of its strength in 2006 and 2007, but it is still capable of launching spectacular mass-casualty attacks.

At least 30 people lost their lives on Wednesday when four bombs hit Shia pilgrims across Baghdad as they gathered to mark the anniversary of the death of Shiite imam Moussa al-Kadhim, a great-grandson of Prophet Muhammad, according to Al Jazeera.

In the southern city of Hillah, two bombs, including one detonated by a suicide car bomber,  killing 22 people and wounding 38. Two more car bombs killed four people in the mainly Shia city of Balad,  Al Arabiya reported.

Al-Qaeda’s Iraqi affiliate, Islamic State of Iraq, claimed responsibility for the attack on the religious office, according to AP. 

On Sunday at least six people were killed when two mortar bombs struck a Baghdad square packed with Shia Muslim pilgrims.

Earlier this month, 26 people were killed and more than 190 wounded when a bomb denotated by suicide bomber exploded outside a Shia religious office in the capital.

Violence in Iraq has decreased  since its peak in 2006-2007, but attacks persist, especially in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad.

Political tensions have been high in Iraq since the last US troops pulled out in December, with the country’s fragile government, divided among Sunni, Shia and ethnic Kurdish blocks.

Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi is due to attend Tuesday’s parade marking the 22nd anniversary of the unification of north and south Yemen, according to Al Jazeera.

Yemen’s defense minister, Mohammed Nasser Ahmed, was there at the time of the explosion but escaped unharmed, an official told AFP.

Nobody know yet if the parade will take place as planned.

 Monday’s attack is most deadly since President Hadi took power in February with who has vowed to fight al-Qaeda’s increasing presence in the county.

 The suicide bombing comes 10 days into a massive army offensive against al-Qaeda in Yemen’s restive southern Abyan province, where the jihadists have seized control of a string of towns and cities in attacks launched since May last year, according to Al Jazeera.

Since the offensive began, 213 people have been killed, according to a tally compiled by AFP, including 147 al-Qaeda fighters, 31 military personnel, 18 local militiamen and 17 civilians.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned  al-Qaeda which has “attacked Damascus and  Yemeni capital of Sana’a”, adding that “the blood which was shed in Yemen and the blood that was shed in Syria are one and the same.”

“A few days ago there was a huge, serious, massive terrorist attack. I believe that there must be al Qaeda behind it. This has created again very serious problems,”

“At least 55 people were killed and 400 others were wounded in blasts in Damascus on May 10, in the deadliest attacks in the Syrian capital since an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began early last year,” he added.

Ban also talked about the two attacks against unarmed UN monitors trying to reduce the violence in the country.

There are 257 unarmed UN monitors in Syria to observe an  truce brokered by UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan.

“We are trying out best efforts to protect the civilian population.”  The UN chief said at least 10,000 people had been killed in the conflict while opposition groups put the figures to more than 12,000.

A week ago, Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari said there had been an increase in “the scale and frequency of terrorist activities and operations in Syria” since a tenuous April 12 truce took hold.

He accused “some regional and international states” of sending fighters, funds and arms to “terrorist groups” in Syria.

Jaafari told the U.N. Security Council that 12 foreign fighters had been killed and 26 detained in recent clashes with Syrian forces associated with Al Qaeda.

“We have a list that contains 12 names of foreign terrorists killed in Syria, including one French citizen, one British and one Belgian,” Jaafari told the 15-member council.

He said a list of the 26 foreigners detained had been sent to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and to the Security Council, according to AFP.

Ban said President Bashar al-Assad has still not implemented a peace plan agreed with UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.

US and Russian officials have also said they believe al Qaeda and other violent militants are now operating in the country. Earlier this week Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister said, “Al Qaeda stands behind the terror attacks in Syria,” referring to the Damascus blasts.

State-run Syrian TV SANA reported that the voter turnout in the election was 51 per cent, however, only limited results have been diclosed.

Assad suggested in the interview that the West was behind an uprising against his rule and told Rusiian TV: “Whatever happens in the Middle East, the chaos that is now being created, the terrorism, will have a negative effect on Europe as well, because it is not far from our region.”

“For the leaders of these countries, it’s becoming clear that this is not ‘Spring’ but chaos, and as I have said, if you sow chaos in Syria you may be infected by it yourself, and they understand this perfectly well,” Assad said.

Referring to the opposition Free Syrian Army fighting the regime he said, “It is not an army an it is not free,” accusing them of  geting money and weapons from abroad from various countries. “It is a group of criminals who have for years broken the law and received convictions. There are also religious extremists like from Al-Qaeda.”

Assad also noted that there were many foreign mercenaries fighting the with the opposition that have been captured and soon would be inofrmation about them would be released by the government to show to the world.

Meanwhile,  more than 200 U.N. observers have been deployed throughout Syria to monitor the cease-fire agreement, which has been repeatedly violated since it took effect on April 12.

Assad said that since the observers’ arrival, there had been a reduction in conflict between the two sides but an increase in “terrorist attacks”.

He blamed the West of ignoring opposition violence, he said: “The West only talks about violence, violence on the government side. There is not a word about the terrorists. We are still waiting.”

Assad’s remarks came as six UN monitors who were caught up in violence in the northern town of Khan Sheikhoun. None of the observers were wounded, but they had to spend the night with rebels in the area which handed them back to their UN colleagues on Wednesday, according to Al Jazeera.

In Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy Seals (photo from White House situation room), 13% of Muslims hold a favorable view of al Qaeda, 55% an unfavorable view, and roughly three-in-ten (31%) offer no opinion.

Support for the organization is in the single digits among Turkish and Lebanese Muslims. In Jordan, just 15% express a positive opinion, essentially unchanged from last year, but down significantly from 34% in 2010.  Al Qaeda receives its highest ratings in Egypt, where 21% hold a favorable and 71% an unfavorable opinion.

Before his death, support for bin Laden had waned considerably among Muslims around the world.  Perhaps the most striking decline occurred in Jordan, where in 2005 61% had expressed confidence in bin Laden to do the right thing in world affairs.  The next year, this number plummeted to 24% following al Qaeda suicide attacks in the nation’s capital, Amman.  By 2011, only 13% expressed confidence in him.

Support for bin Laden also declined steeply over time among Muslims in Indonesia and Pakistan, as well as the Palestinian territories.  Palestinians, however, remained more supportive than other publics – in 2011, 34% still expressed confidence in the al Qaeda leader.

The survey was conducted between March 19 to April 13, 2012,

A few weeks ago, a court sentenced the his wives to 45 days in prison for entering Pakistan illegally. It ordered their deportation after the end of the prison term, which began on March 3 when they were detained.

The Ministry of  Interior, responsible for the family, issued a statement saying it had “passed orders for the deportation of 14 members of OBL family in pursuance of the Court orders.”

The Interior Ministry added that the 14 members of bin Laden’s family were deported to the country of their pick. Not many information is available about the family, but officials state he had 3 wives and at least 8 children when the house was raided by Americans.

The deportation was at first due to have occurred after the family members had completed their sentence last week, but the move dragged on because legal formalities were not complete, amid suggestions that Saudi government was reluctant to accept the family, according to Arabnews.

Now that the family is outside Pakistan, they may release information they have about how bin Laden had managed to avoid capture in the country for nearly a decade.

Pakistani officials describe Bin Laden’s long presence in the hill-town of Abbottabad as a security slip and reject suggestions that they were complicit in hiding him there.

The United States and Pakistan are presently trying to repair their relationship, which has deteriorated by the bin Laden incident during the last year.

According to the published report of 2011 made by the UN Secretary General to the Security Council, the Mesopotamian, innocent children of Iraq are being used by Al-Qaeda followers to not only spy against security forces and civilians, but are also used, to carry out attacks and plant explosives against the hope of peace in that region of the world.

The Irish poet, Louis McNeice, wrote at the peak of World War II, his poem, “Prayer before birth”, depicted how the world’s tyranny inhale the innocence from fragile children.

Indeed, according to several reports received by the UN from different reliable sources, such as “Civil Society groups, National Authorities and Security Forces” in Iraq, that Al-Qaida, targets and recruits by force, delicate, defenseless children under the age of 14, whom are in vulnerable positions: orphans, in the street and mentally challenged. The Al-Qaida refers to those children as “Birds of Paradise”- suicide children bombers, one would suppose.

“Prayer before birth” written in 1944, explains what an unborn child is thinking about today. “I am not yet born; O hear me” the poem began. O let the world hear the cry of a pure child. A cry of hunger for peace, and till that day arrives, which will take time, a child therefore, prays to “Let them not make me a stone and let them not spill me. Otherwise kill me”.