Fifa boss to mediate in row between Togo and Caf

By Matthew Kenyon BBC African Service The Togo squad came under fire on their way to Cabinda Fifa president Sepp Blatter is to mediate in the row over Togo's exclusion from the Africa Cup of Nations, according to the Confederation of African Football (Caf). Togo pulled out of the recent tournament in Angola after two members of the squad were killed in an attack. Caf banned the Hawks from the next two Nations Cups because the decision to withdraw came from the government. The move sparked protests in Togo and elsewhere across Africa. Togo's case had been due to be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland. But that process has now been put on hold, with talks between the two parties due to be held on 7 May. The decision to ban Togo sparked protests across the continent "The arbitration procedure has been suspended considering that the parties wish to solve the dispute by mediation," CAS said in a statement. Caf said that Sepp Blatter, the head of world football's governing body Fifa, would lead the talks. Neither Fifa nor the Togolese Football Federation were immediately available for comment. The attack on Togo's team convoy took place as they travelled to their base in the northern Angolan enclave of Cabinda. Two members of the party died and one was seriously injured and after several days of confusion the team was called home to take part in national mourning. The attack was claimed by the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (Flec).

Pakistan Taliban commander 'killed in air strike'

　　

　　

　　

　　A senior Taliban commander is likely to have been killed by an air strike in Pakistan's north-west, officials say.

　　The interior minister said he assumed Maulana Faqir Mohammed was dead after helicopters hit a building in Mohmand region, killing at least 16 militants.

　　Faqir Mohammed - one of the Pakistani Taliban's top figures and commander in the Bajaur tribal area - has been the focus of recent Pakistani action.

　　A number of Taliban leaders have been arrested or killed in recent weeks.

　　Washington has been urging Pakistan to act against Afghan Taliban members taking shelter in the tribal areas along the border.

　　The Pakistani military said recently that the Bajaur area, on the border and once a haven for Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, had been cleared of insurgents.

　　Last refuge

　　Speaking in Islamabad, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said he could not confirm the death of Maulana Faqir Mohammed, but expected he was killed in the strike.

　　"We had real-time intelligence that Faqir Mohammad was in a meeting with another commander, Qari Zia-ur-Rehman, in the basement of this hideout at the time of the attack," Mr Malik said, quoted by Reuters news agency.

　　"I would be surprised if he's alive. I hope we'll have confirmation in a day or so."

　　Mr Malik did confirm the death of one senior Taliban figure in the raid, Fateh Mohammed, a military commander in the Swat valley area.

　　Faqir Mohammed staked a claim to be the overall leader of the Pakistani Taliban after the movement's figurehead, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in a US drone attack, reports the BBC's Ilyas Khan, in Islamabad,

　　After the fall last week of Damadola, the Taliban's last stronghold in Bajaur, he was reported to have slipped into the Mohmand region along with hundreds of Taliban fighters.

　　Qari Zia-ur-Rehman is said to be the top leader of the Taliban in Kunar and Nuristan provinces in Afghanistan.

　　It is widely believed he has been hiding in Bajaur, and is wanted by Pakistanis and US forces operating in Afghanistan.