Updated at 8 a.m ET: JOHANNESBURG -- Former President Nelson Mandela was released from the hospital Sunday after an overnight stay for minor diagnostic surgery to determine the cause of an abdominal complaint, a spokesman for the country's current leader said.

Spokesman Mac Maharaj said the 93-year-old Nobel peace laureate and anti-apartheid leader had undergone a laparoscopy, a procedure that involves surgeons making an incision in the belly to insert a thin, lighted tube to look at abdominal organs.

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"The doctors have decided to send him home as the diagnostic procedure he underwent did not indicate anything seriously wrong
with him," President Jacob Zuma's office added in a statement.

Earlier in the day, Zuma had released a statement saying that Mandela was "surrounded by his family and is relaxed and
comfortable."

"The doctors are happy with the progress he is making. We thank all South Africans for their love and support of Madiba. We also thank all for affording Madiba and his family privacy and dignity," said Zuma, referring to Mandela by his clan name.

In the latest health update, Defense Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said Mandela had had "investigative laparoscopy" -- where a tiny camera is inserted into the abdomen -- and denied reports that he had undergone surgery for a hernia.

 

"It wasn't the surgery that has been out there in the media at all," Sisulu told a media briefing in Cape Town. "He's fine. He's as fine as can be at his age -- and handsome."

The government has not revealed where Mandela is being treated, although reporters were being kept at a distance from Pretoria's "1 Military" hospital, which is officially responsible for the health of sitting and former presidents.

South Africa's former President Nelson Mandela hospitalized

Mandela, a Nobel peace laureate who spent 27 years in prison for fighting racist white rule, has officially retired and last appeared in public in July 2010. He became South Africa's first black president in 1994 and served one five-year term.

On Sunday, well-wishers prayed for Mandela at Regina Mundi church in Soweto, a former center of anti-apartheid protests and funerals.

In 1997, Mandela spoke at the church, calling it a "battlefield between forces of democracy and those who did not hesitate to violate a place of religion with tear gas, dogs and guns."

But despite widespread public affection, most accept that Mandela may not live for much longer.

"We wish him well," said Soweto resident Ronny Zondi. "But understanding his age, we've got to accept he might not be with us for long. We wish that God could keep him longer."

Mandela's last public appearance was in July 2010 at the final of the World Cup in Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium. He now divides his time between his home in Johannesburg's northern suburbs and his ancestral village of Qunu in the Eastern Cape.

The government's public comments on Mandela's hospitalization have been markedly more open than a year ago.

Then, Zuma's office took hours to confirm media reports of a sudden decline in Mandela's health, leading to a scrum of local and international reporters outside Johannesburg's Milpark hospital.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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DAMASCUS, Syria -- Syrians began voting Sunday on a new constitution that's meant by President Bashar Assad's regime to placate critics but seen by the opposition as a ploy to divert attention from a brutal government crackdown in which thousands have been killed.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. local time (9 p.m. ET), Al Jazeera reported.

Syria has defied international calls to halt attacks on rebel enclaves and at least 89 people were killed nationwide on the eve of the referendum.

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Assad presented the revised charter — which allows for at least a theoretical opening of the country's political system — as an effort to placate critics and quell the 11-month uprising against his rule.

The new charter would create a multiparty system in Syria, which has been ruled by the same family dynasty since Assad's father Hafez seized power in a coup in 1963. Such change was unthinkable a year ago.

After 11 months of bloodshed, however, Assad's opponents say the referendum and other promises of reform are not enough and have called for a boycott of the vote.

Assad was roundly criticized Friday at a major international conference on the Syrian crisis in Tunisia, where U.S., European and Arab officials began planning a civilian peacekeeping mission to deploy after the regime falls.

President Barack Obama said Friday of Assad's rule: "It is time for that regime to move on."

On Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Assad's crackdown belied promised reforms.

"That kind of logic unfortunately renders any kind of reform meaningless," he said. "To fight on the one hand with your people and then to claim that there is reform is contradictory."

Still, Assad enjoys substantial support in many parts of the country. Some have benefited from his policies, others fear chaos or sectarian civil war if he falls.

The insular nature of the regime makes the extent and character of that support hard to measure, and the regime has prevented most media from operating freely in the country during the uprising.

Syrian activists: The world has abandoned us

In the capital Damascus, where Assad retains support among religious minorities and the business class, many said they were eager to vote.

"This constitution is not for one faction against the other," said Suhban Elewi, a 55-year-old businessman who trades in antiquities. "It is for the nation and for all the Syrian people."

Elewi said he planned to vote yes, and dismissed opposition calls to boycott the vote.

"The country is going forward with them or without them," he said.

Posters around town urged people to vote. "Don't turn your back on voting," one said.

Another — showing the red, black and white Syrian flag — touted new constitution. "Syria's constitution: Freedom of belief," it said, referring to clauses protecting religious minorities.

Syrian Interior Minster Lt. Gen. Mohammed al-Shaar said more than 14,000 voting centers have been set up for more than 14 million eligible voters across the country.

But the suggestion of political reform led by Assad's regime rang hollow in many parts of the country, where government security forces continued their deadly crackdown on rebels seeking to end Assad's rule.

The violence could also prevent the vote taking place nationwide.

An activist in a neighborhood in the central city of Homs that government forces have besieged and shelled daily for one month laughed when asked about the vote.

"How can they ask us to talk about a new constitution when they are shelling our neighborhood?" said Abu Mohammed Ibrahim from the embattled neighborhood of Baba Amr via Skype. "They are hitting us with all types of weapons. What constitution? What referendum?"

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KAMPALA, Uganda -- An American television producer found dead on a hotel balcony in Uganda last week died after taking contaminated cocaine, police and a private investigator said on Saturday.

An official toxicology report confirmed the narcotic was in Jeff Rice's blood, dispelling initial suspicions the father of two known for his work on the U.S. show "The Amazing Race" had been poisoned by attackers.

Rice, who was found slumped over a table bleeding through the nose and mouth, died of asphyxiation, a post mortem showed. Drug users who fall unconscious risk inhaling vomit.

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"Rice ... used cocaine which had lethal additives and that's what killed him," Uganda police spokesperson Asuman Mugenyi told Reuters.

Brad Nathanson, a private investigator and friend of Rice, said he had been shown the toxicology report by police and there was no evidence of foul play in Rice's death.

"In fact it was as a result of buying bad drugs, cocaine to be specific ... it was a bad concoction," Nathanson told reporters.

"I have read the toxicology report ... it shows that there were small traces of cocaine in their blood and urine," he said, adding he had traveled to Uganda as a friend of the Rice family following rumors he had been poisoned, and not for payment.

Rice's assistant, identified as Kathryne Fuller, was found unconscious when Rice's body was discovered Feb. 18 at the Serena hotel in the capital, Kampala. She is now reported to be conscious but paralyzed down the right side of her body.

Early on, there had been speculation that the two had been poisoned, then that they might have been forced to consume the drugs, because of the high amount of cocaine in Rice's stomach. NBC News contributor Clint van Zandt said on the "TODAY Show" on Saturday that it seemed unlikely that Rice would have willingly taken that amount of cocaine. 

If Rice and Fuller were believed to have voluntarily consumed the drugs, Fuller could be prosecuted under Uganda's drug laws.

Ugandan police said on Saturday they had arrested a man who confessed selling drugs to the pair who had been in the east African country working on a documentary.

Fuller's father said he was "disappointed, sad" but would support his daughter, a South African.

"We all do stupid things in life. Unfortunately this is a large mistake but we can't exactly crucify her," Stewart Fuller said.

Fuller's family hopes to move her to South Africa for treatment.

Msnbc.com staff contributed to this report from Reuters.

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A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck southern Taiwan on Sunday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were reports of minor property damage but no immediate reports of injuries, The Associated Press said.

The quake was centered in a mountainous area about 19 miles from the coastal city of Pingtung, at a depth of 13.9 miles.

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Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said the quake struck at 10:35 a.m. (6:35 p.m. ET) Sunday and put the magnitude at 6.1. Taiwan television showed pictures of minor damage in the Pingtung area.

TV reports said high-speed rail service had been temporarily suspended out of the southern city of Kaohsiung, north of Pingtung.

Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan, but most are minor and cause little or no damage. However, a magnitude-7.6 earthquake in central Taiwan in 1999 killed more than 2,300 people.

Msnbc.com staff contributed to this report from The Associated Press.

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Britain is secretly seeking oil-drilling rights in Somalia as it offers the beleaguered country humanitarian and security aid, The Guardian of London reported Saturday.

But al-Qaida-backed terrorists and other Islamist groups say they will fight against any Western powers drilling for oil in Somalia.

Last week, British Prime Minister David Cameron hosted a 55-nation international conference that ended with promises of aid for the country he said was for two decades “torn apart by famine, bloodshed and some of the worst poverty on earth."

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The summit, the Guardian reported, followed a surprise visit by British Foreign Secretary William Hague to Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu,  where he discussed "the beginnings of an opportunity'' to rebuild the country.

The Guardian said that away from the summit, British and Somali officials held talks about Somalia’s oil reserves.

Abdulkadir Abdi Hashi, minister for international cooperation in Puntland, north-east Somalia, told the Guardian, "We have spoken to a number of UK officials, some have offered to help us with the future management of oil revenues. They will help us build our capacity to maximise future earnings from the oil industry."

Hashi said Somalia would talk to BP “at the right time” about technology needed to explore Somalia’s oil reserves.

Last month the Canadian company Africa Oil began exploration in the Puntland, the first drilling in Somalia for 21 years.

Hashi, who the Guardian said made the deal with Africa Oil, said the first oil was expected to be extracted within the next "20 to 30 days."

Africa Oil and its partners in the two Puntland licenses, Australia's Red Emperor and Range Resources, are targeting prospective resources of over 300 million barrels of recoverable oil.

The Guardian story comes amid reports from Reuters that an Islamist militia group in the semi-autonomous Puntland  merged with the al Shabaab rebel group, which wants to scrap the licenses of Western oil and gas firms drilling in Puntland.

The al Qaida-backed insurgents used Twitter to declare all oil and gas exploration and drilling licenses nullified. While they do not hold the administrative control in the region needed to enforce their demand, the militants could target installations operated by Western oil companies, Reuters said.

The union comes as the insurgents are being weakened, relinquishing ground to African Union troops around the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and losing territory to Kenyan and Ethiopian forces in parts of southern and central Somalia.

Puntland security officials have previously said the Islamist militia camped out in the Golis hills outside the port city of Bosasso is led by Yasin Khalid Osman.

"I ... the leader of Golis ranges Islamists have signed an agreement with al Shabaab leader Sheikh Muktar Abu Zubeir. We are now al Shabaab," a voice identifying itself as Osman said in an audio recording on al Shabaab's website.

"I urge residents to take part in the jihad against the Christian invaders and the Somali infidels that work with them," he said, referring to the foreign troops inside Somalia.

Osman rarely makes statements, and it was not immediately possible to verify his voice.

This article contains reporting by Reuters.

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BEIJING -- Chairman Mao famously said “women hold up half the sky,” but in today’s China they are standing twice as long in restroom lines.

It’s a universal problem: women waiting anxiously inside and outside public bathrooms while men can “finish the business” much more quickly. Women spend much more time in bathrooms than men, but they don’t necessarily enjoy the proportional number of facilities. The problem is particularly severe in China with a population of 1.3 billion, especially in big cities whose growth outstrips the amount of toilets.

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But some young women in the southern city of Guangzhou just couldn’t bear it anymore. They decided to cry out loud last Sunday in a campaign to “occupy male bathrooms” near a popular public park.

Li Maizi, the 23-year-old campaign organizer who insisted on using a pseudonym, told a local newspaper that the purpose was to raise the awareness of the public and the government.

“It seems like women and men are equal with the same amount of public bathrooms built for them. But the physical differences make them spend a different amount of time in the toilet – so it’s just not fair,” said Li.

Li, along with a few other young women, asked male passers-by who wanted to use the guy’s bathroom “do you mind waiting for a few minutes because the line in front of female toilet is too long?” They held signs reading “love women, starting with convenience” and “the more convenience, the more sexual equality.” Convenience in Chinese also means “to use a toilet.”

The women also handed out pink public letters to their male peers, calling for legislative steps to increase the number of public bathrooms for women to at least twice that of the opposite sex. They also demanded more unisex bathrooms in areas like railway stations and shopping malls.

The campaign was soon echoed by the public, and Sina Weibo, China’s most popular Twitter-like service, invited Li for a live chat on Thursday afternoon. Over 300 questions and comments were made, many from men who showed support. “I’m a man but I support you. All men have moms, wives, daughters and sisters. To occupy boys’ bathrooms is not the only goal. It should trigger the response from the government and the society,” said a Weibo user by the name of “Walking Camel.”

When asked where the idea of “occupying” originated, Li said she borrowed it from “Occupy Wall Street.” 

“It echoes the campaign over there, although we are not connected at all," she said.

Following the live chat, Weibo launched an online survey, “Are you happy to use a unisex public bathroom?” But out of 13,000 respondents within one day, only 35 percent of the males and 14 percent of the females said “yes.”

In a phone interview with NBC News, Li said the government has responded to her efforts. The Guangzhou City Administration Committee said it plans to bring the issue up in the legislative process to build 1.5 times more female bathrooms than male.

Li wasn’t too happy with this result. “It’s just not enough. They should build at least twice the female restrooms than male ones,” she told NBC News, “and we have support from many, many people.”

Li plans to continue her campaign in other big cities like Beijing and Shenzhen.

The government of British Columbia, Canada has published new regulations governing the handling of sled dogs — a move prompted by a grisly 2010 case in which a tourism company near Whistler killed as many as 100 animals that became "surplus" amid slumping business.

The Sled Dog Code of Practice is a step — a small one, according to critics — toward addressing problems in competitive and entertainment dog sledding that is mostly unseen.

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"The problem with this whole issue is these (breeding and training) operations are out of the public eye," said Debra Probert, executive director of the Vancouver Humane Society. "People see the dogs in public, but they don’t see what goes on behind the scenes."

The sled dog slaughter came to light only when one of the employees of Howling Dog Tours Whistler Ltd. who were charged with killing the dogs by shooting them and slitting their throats applied for compensation from the Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia because he said he was suffering trauma from the task. The WorkSafeBC document explaining the decision to approve the compensation was leaked, making incident public in gruesome detail.

Animal rights critics have long criticized major dog sled races — especially the 1,100-mile Iditarod across Alaska, which begins March 3. Mushers are adamant that dogs love the work, that they are bred to do it, and that no one loves the dogs more than they do. But critics say pushing the dogs to run 100 miles a day for two weeks is brutal. One or more dogs die in the race nearly every year, despite the volunteer veterinarians who attend to the animals.

The new British Columbia regulations are primarily focused on the breeding, training, transportation and euthanizing of the animals. They spell out requirements for pens and tethers, exercise, socializing, grooming and nail care. And they say that euthanizing should not be a means of culling or population control.

The standards disappointed some animal advocates, including the Vancouver Humane Society, which had advocated banning sled dog racing.

And some were outraged that the regulations spell out how sled dog owners should euthanize dogs if they cannot race anymore and can't be placed in a new home. A diagram illustrates the proper way to position a gun at a dog’s head to ensure a clean kill.

The Humane Society's Probert said that in any case the regulations and standards “have no teeth” because no resources were allotted for their enforcement.

Nonetheless, the British Columbia regulations move the province ahead of other Canadian jurisdictions, where no specific regulations exist.

Within the United States, Alaska currently has among the weakest legal protections for animals, with only a few lines in state law that require "minimum conditions" for "adequate" nutrition and care.  

Just last month, an Alaska court found a sled dog breeder guilty of cruelty to animals after local authorities found 19 dead dogs and 168 more severely malnourished at his operation in Willow. Frank Rich was sentenced to 180 days in jail after pleading guilty to two counts of animal cruelty.

A task force has just started formulating standards to elaborate on the law.

"The challenge is to make them broad enough to encompass all sorts of dog lifestyles," including athletes like sled dogs, said Jay Fuller, veterinarian for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. "We’d like to make clear standards for what is acceptable." 

There is no question of barring dog sledding, which is protected by state law, he said.

“Any regulations we adopt have to be consistent with state law, and the law says (the competitions) are OK,” Fuller said.

"What I hope is that there will be a universal standard of care for all dogs," said Maureen O’Nell, executive director of the Alaska Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals, who is taking part in the meetings. She said that sled dogs are a particularly sensitive case, and some would like to create special rules for them.

"The mushers are a strong community and I think there has been hesitation to what might somehow be perceived as anti-mushing,” she said.

After the dog slaughter case in British Columbia, which emerged shortly after Whistler hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics, the dog sledding business took a hit.

"When the incident occurred … it was a black eye not only for dog sledding but for Whistler," said Craig Beattie, general manager of Canadian Snowmobile, a Whistler company that provides outdoor adventures, including dogsledding tours. In order to reassure customers, he opened up his company's kennels to them and promised them full refunds if they felt there was anything amiss.

He said the standards mandated by the government were already in place for their sled dogs, and he said he hopes they will be enforced elsewhere.

"I think it will be way better for the animals, and for the people," said Beattie. "Obviously, the negativity will decrease toward the dog sledding."

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Updated at 1:26 p.m. ET: ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan -- Crews on Saturday began demolishing the compound where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in May, eliminating a concrete reminder of the painful and embarrassing chapter in the country's history. 

Two residents told The Associated Press the government brought in three mechanized backhoes Saturday afternoon and began destroying the tall outer walls of the three-story compound after sunset. They set up floodlights so they could work after dark.

The residents spoke on condition of anonymity because they were afraid of being harassed by government authorities.

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A senior Pakistani government official later told NBC News the compound was "80 percent demolished."

Future plans for the lot include the construction of "a nice park" -- with green areas and benches -- that will be built "within a month," a senior government official told NBC News.

The demolition team conducted its work under heavy security. A large team of police set up an outer cordon around the compound to keep spectators away, said an Associated Press reporter who managed to get close enough to see the demolition work under way.

A ring of army soldiers set up an inner cordon and warmed themselves against the winter chill by lighting a bonfire.

The backhoes broke through tall outer boundary walls that ringed a courtyard where one of the U.S. helicopters crashed during the operation to kill the al-Qaida chief. They then began to tear down the compound itself.

Earlier, several Pakistani soldiers arrived in the area and moved heavy machinery near the building, fueling rumors of an imminent demolition, local residents in Bilal town in Abbottabad district told NBC News. 

Some residents said Pakistani security forces and police were already deployed in the area to stop people trying to go toward the compound. But, they said, fresh contingents of troops arrived and cordoned it off from all sides Saturday evening.

One resident said power supply to the city had been suspended and all routes to the area blocked by the security forces.

The compound has been a painful reminder for Pakistan, which was embarrassed by the unilateral U.S. operation that killed bin Laden.

Residents of the normally sleepy town of Abbottabad were divided on what the government should do with the compound in the aftermath of the raid. Some thought it should be destroyed, but others believed it should be turned into a tourist attraction to help the town earn money. There was always the danger, however, that it could also draw al-Qaida supporters.

American officials said they buried bin Laden's body at sea to avoid giving his followers a burial place that could become a makeshift shrine.

Many U.S. officials expressed disbelief that bin Laden could have lived in Abbottabad for around six years without the Pakistani government knowing. But the U.S. has not found any evidence that senior Pakistani officials knew the al-Qaida chief's whereabouts.

The U.S. did not give Pakistan advance warning of the raid, which lasted about 40 minutes, because it was worried someone in the country's military or shadowy intelligence agency would tip off bin Laden.

The operation was a serious blow to the already troubled U.S.-Pakistan relationship. Pakistan responded to the raid by kicking out more than 100 U.S. troops training Pakistanis in counterterrorism operations and reduced the level of intelligence cooperation.

Drone crash
Ties between the U.S. and Pakistan have also been strained by American drone strikes targeting Taliban and al-Qaida militants in the country's northwest tribal region near the Afghan border.

A suspected U.S. drone crashed Saturday in the North Waziristan tribal area, the main sanctuary for militants along the border, said Pakistani intelligence officials and local residents.

The unmanned aircraft went down near Mir Ali, one of the main towns in North Waziristan, said the intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The drone caught fire after it hit the ground and was believed to have crashed because of technical problems, they said.

Local resident Nasir Khan said he saw the burning debris from the roof of his home in the Machi Khel area. It was about 500 yards from his house.

Pakistani officials often criticize drone strikes as a violation of the country's sovereignty, but the government is widely believed to have supported the covert CIA-run program in the past. That cooperation has come under strain as the relationship with the U.S. has deteriorated.

The U.S. refuses to speak openly about the program, but officials have said privately that the strikes have killed senior Taliban and al-Qaida commanders.

The Associated Press and NBC's Mushtaq Yusufzai contributed to this story.

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Updated at 5:36 p.m. ET: A gunman shot dead two American military officials inside the heavily guarded Afghan Interior Ministry in the center of the capital Kabul on Saturday in an alarmingly brazen attack, as protests raged across the country for a fifth day over the burning of the Muslim holy book at a NATO base.

The Americans, who were U.S. Army officers serving as advisers to the Afghan security forces, were sitting at their desks inside the government ministry building when they were killed, NBC News reported. They were shot in the back of the head, Western officials speaking on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press.

U.S. officials said the assailant — who has not been identified by name or nationality — remained at large and a manhunt was under way.

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Underscoring the gravity of the attack and apparent security breach, Gen. John Allen, the commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, ordered all NATO personnel recalled from Afghan ministries "for obvious force protection reasons."

"We are investigating the crime and will pursue all leads to find the person responsible for this attack. The perpetrator of this attack is a coward whose actions will not go unanswered," Allen said in a statement.

The U.S. servicemen — a lieutenant colonel and a major — were found dead on the floor of an office that only people who know a numerical combination can get into, Afghan and Western officials told the AP.

"There is CCTV there and special locks. The killer would have had to have the highest security (clearance) to get to the room where they were killed," an Afghan security source told Reuters.

NATO spokesman Lt. Col Jimmie Cummings said "initial reports say it was not a Western shooter." He declined to provide further information.

In an e-mail sent to Western officials in Kabul from NATO headquarters, the attack was described as “green on blue,” which is the military term used here when Afghan security forces turn their weapons on their Western military allies, The New York Times reported.

The Afghan Taliban claimed that two of their fighters had managed to enter the building in Kabul and kill four "high-ranking U.S. advisers," according to NBC News. U.S. military officials confirmed only two deaths and the Taliban claim could not be independently verified. The Taliban often exaggerate claims of responsibility for terror attacks.

"Our suicide bomber Abdur Rahman along with another fighter managed to enter the interior ministry and open fire at the Americans. Before carrying out the suicide attack, Abdur Rahman told us on telephone that he had killed four high-ranking Americans. The second fighter successfully escaped the building and has joined his fighters now," the Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said in a phone call to NBC from an undisclosed location.

He said it was revenge for the desecration of holy Quran by the U.S. forces.

In Washington, Pentagon press secretary George Little said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was informed of the shooting Saturday morning. "This act is unacceptable, and the United States condemns it in the strongest possible terms," Little said.

He said Afghan Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak called Panetta to apologize and to offer his condolences.

"Secretary Panetta appreciated the call and urged the Afghan government to take decisive action to protect coalition forces and curtail the violence in Afghanistan after a challenging week in the country," Little's statement said. "Minister Wardak said that President (Hamid) Karzai was assembling the religious leaders, parliamentarians, justices of the Supreme Court and other senior Afghan officials to take urgent steps to do so."

In Kabul, Allen met with Afghan Interior Minister Bismillah Mohammadi, who pledged "complete cooperation in investigating today's tragedy and in taking stronger measures to protect ISAF personnel," Little said.

President Barack Obama called Allen after Saturday's shootings and the White House said the president supported the steps taken to protect U.S. service members in Afghanistan.

"We welcome President Karzai's statement ... encouraging peaceful expressions, and his call for dialogue and calm. The United States remains committed to a partnership with the government and people of Afghanistan, as we work to realize our shared goal of disrupting, dismantling and defeating al-Qaida and strengthening the Afghan state," the White House statement added.

If the shootings are linked to Afghan forces, new questions will arise about Taliban infiltration as well as their ability to secure Afghanistan once NATO combat forces withdraw in 2014.

NATO is supposed to be moving away from a combat role to an advise-and-assist mission as early as next year. That will require NATO to place more staff in ministries.

"The fact that NATO is recalling staff from ministries suggests they are worried about a deep malaise in the Afghan security forces, that they expect more of these attacks," said Kamran Bokhari at STRATFOR global intelligence firm.

Quran protests
Saturday's attack comes as tensions between the Afghans and the Americans are high following the burning of copies of the Muslim holy book at a U.S. base that sparked days of deadly protests.

At least 28 people have been killed and hundreds wounded since Tuesday, when it first emerged that Qurans and other religious materials had been thrown into a fire pit used to burn garbage at Bagram Air Field, a large U.S. base north of Kabul. Among those dead were two U.S. soldiers who were killed Thursday by one of their Afghan counterparts while a riot raged outside their base in the eastern province of Nangarhar.

President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials apologized and said the burning of Qurans was a terrible mistake, but the incident has sent thousands to the streets in this deeply religious country.

In Kunduz, the capital of Kunduz province in northeast Afghanistan, more than 1,000 protesters demonstrated. At first they were peaceful, but as the protest continued they began throwing stones at government buildings and a U.N. office, said Sarwer Hussaini, a spokesman for the provincial police. He said the police were firing into the air to try to disperse the crowd.

The U.N. confirmed in a statement that its Kunduz compound was attacked, but said all its staff in Kunduz and in the country were unhurt and accounted for. The statement thanked Afghan security forces for their quick response to the assault.

NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube and The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Updated 3:28 p.m. ET: The Red Cross said on Saturday it was still unable to evacuate civilians from the embattled Baba Amro district of Homs, as the Syrian military took its bombardment of the rebel-held area into a fourth week.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said there were "no concrete results" from its negotiations with both Syrian authorities and opposition fighters.

"Unfortunately we will not be able to enter Baba Amro today. We continue our negotiations, hoping that tomorrow (Sunday) we will able to enter Baba Amro to carry out our life-saving operations," said spokesman Hisham Hassan.

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Opposition activists in Homs complained they saw no help coming from an international "Friends of Syria" conference in Tunis on Friday and said the world had abandoned them to be killed by security forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

"They (foreign leaders) are still giving opportunities to this man who is killing us and has already killed thousands of people," said Nadir Husseini.

Despite the bloodshed, Assad is staging a referendum on Sunday on a new constitution that he says will pave the way for a multi-party parliamentary election within three months.

Security forces killed 61 people on Saturday, including 19 in Homs, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Sources close to the ICRC negotiations said talks failed due to confusion amid heavy shelling and bad communications with fighters and state forces. Much of Homs, and other opposition areas in Syria, are in a communications blackout with phone and internet connections cut off.

Damascus said it condemned all statements at the Tunis conference, which it dubbed "the enemies of Syria meeting."

"Syria deplores all voices calling for financing the armed groups which could lead to support for terrorism and hurt the interests of the Syrian people," Syria TV reported.

State news agency SANA reported the funerals of 21 members of the security forces killed by "armed terrorist groups" in Homs, Deraa, Idlib and areas near Damascus.

At the conference in Tunis, Western and Gulf Arab nations mounted the biggest push in weeks to end the violence, calling on Assad to cease all violence and allow access for humanitarian supplies.

Saudi Arabia's finance minister called the idea of arming the opposition an "excellent idea".

But activists in Homs, a city of over 800,000, said the Tunisia meeting was a failure that brought no relief from the bombardment.

"I don't understand what they are waiting for. Do they need to see half the people of Syria finished off first?" said a doctor speaking anonymously from the restive town of Zabadani.

"The people of Zabadani resent what happened in Tunis. We need them to arm the revolution."

The ICRC said its local partner, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, had been able to carry out two evacuations in areas of Homs other than Baba Amro on Saturday.

But Husseini said people in Baba Amro were suspicious of the the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and did not want to work with a group "under the control of the regime."

Rebels plead for weapons to make their vision of post-Assad Syria happen

The ICRC said the Red Crescent was independent and its members were risking their lives to help people affected by the violence.

A video uploaded by activists showed smoke curling up from buildings hit by rocketfire in Homs' Khalidiya district. Nearby, crowds carried six bodies wrapped in white shrouds, shouting "We swear to God we will not be silent about our martyrs."

"We have hundreds of wounded people crammed into houses. People die from blood loss. We just aren't capable of treating everyone," said Husseini.

Russia and China, which did not attend the Tunisia meeting, oppose Security Council action and there is little appetite for military intervention in Syria.

The opposition has called for a boycott of the referendum, deriding Assad's reform pledges and demanding that he step down.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu questioned how the vote could take place in the midst of so much violence.

"On one hand you say you are holding a referendum and on the other you are attacking with tank fire on civilian areas. You still think the people will go to a referendum the next day in the same city?" he asked at a news conference in Istanbul.

Davutoglu, whose country has turned strongly against its former friend since the Syrian revolt began in March, said Syria should accept an Arab League plan that calls on Assad to quit.

In Baba Amro, activist Omar in Homs said the referendum meant nothing to the opposition and those hit by unrest.

"No one is going to vote. This was a constitution made to Bashar's tastes and meanwhile we are getting shelled and killed. More than 40 people were killed today and you want us to vote in a referendum? ... No one is going to vote."

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday it was time to stop the killing of Syrians by their own government.

"All of us seeing the terrible pictures coming out of Syria and Homs recently recognize it is absolutely imperative for the international community to rally in sending a clear message to President Assad that it is time for a transition."

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Updated at 12:09 a.m. ET: JOHANNESBURG -- Former South African President Nelson Mandela was hospitalized Saturday for a test to determine what is behind an undisclosed stomach ailment, and the country's current leader said the much beloved 93-year-old icon was in no danger.

Mandela, a Nobel peace laureate who spent 27 years in prison for fighting racist white rule, has officially retired and last appeared in public in July 2010. He became South Africa's first black president in 1994 and served one five-year term.

Mandela "has had a long-standing abdominal complaint and doctors feel it needs proper specialist medical attention," President Jacob Zuma said in a statement Saturday morning, asking that Mandela's privacy be respected.

---

In a follow-up statement later, Zuma added that Mandela had undergone a planned, undisclosed "diagnostic procedure."

Mandela "is fine and fully conscious and the doctors are satisfied with his condition, which they say is consistent with his age. He was in good health before admission in hospital but doctors felt the complaint needed a thorough investigation," Zuma said.

Zuma said Mandela was expected to be discharged from the hospital Sunday or Monday.

The statements did not say at which hospital Mandela was being treated, apparently to protect his privacy, but that did not stop journalists from camping out at a military hospital in the capital, Pretoria, on the chance he might be there. In 2011, Mandela spent a few days in a private Johannesburg hospital with an acute respiratory infection.

CLICK HERE FOR IMAGES FROM MANDELA'S LIFE

The South African military, which took charge of Mandela's health care after he was hospitalized last year, and a spokesman for Mandela's office said they would have no statement Saturday.

ANC spokesman Keith Khoza said Zuma's office also had reassured ANC officials.

Mandela "just had abdominal pains for some time now and the doctors decided a while ago that perhaps they should admit him, with a view to check those abdominal pains, so it wasn't an emergency admission," Khoza told reporters. "He's fine, he's in good health."

Well-wishers like Derek Kemper, a 47-year-old emergency services consultant, said they hoped Mandela would soon recover.

Kemper said he fought the ANC as a soldier for the apartheid state. On Saturday, Kemper was touring Soweto, the famed Johannesburg township set aside for blacks under apartheid and still largely black and poor, with a group of other whites. Kemper marveled at how far the country had come, and credited Mandela.

"He had the wisdom to try to reunite the country." Kemper said, speaking in front of a Soweto home where Mandela once lived that has been turned into a museum celebrating Mandela's life.

Kemper said he believed that even though Mandela has largely retired from public life, he has a moderating influence on younger black South Africans who may be impatient with the pace of change in a country where the black majority remains poor. Kemper said he worried about whether the commitment to reconciliation would outlive Mandela.

But Kefiloe Molepo, a 19-year-old student who grew up just around the corner from Mandela's home, said there was little cause for concern. Molepo, walking home from church, said he was raised on stories about Mandela, who he said was a friend of his great-grandfather.

"When he was set free, he didn't think of vengeance," Molepo said. "He wanted peace for the nation."

In 1993, after white extremists killed Chris Hani, a black leader who at the time was second only to Mandela in popularity, Mandela went on national television to call for calm. Mandela wrote later that he was among those who feared Hani's death would spark a race war, and his measured words were credited with averting further violence.

Today, white extremists have been largely sidelined. And black militants like Julius Malema, head of the ANC's youth wing, grab headlines but struggle to draw crowds.

Christian Bohm, a 32-year-old Swedish telecommunications company employee who was visiting the Mandela museum Saturday, said Mandela had set an example for the world for how leaders can pursue justice.

"South Africa is very privileged to have had such a leader," said Bohm, comparing Mandela to India's Mahatma Gandhi.

Hassan Burma was visiting Soweto from South Sudan, Africa's newest nation.

South Sudan broke away from Sudan last year, and its leaders must now cope with the devastation of decades of civil war. Burma said Mandela has shown Africa has different possibilities.

"What he did wasn't just for South Africa," Burma said. "It is for all the African nations."

Mandela's public appearances have become increasingly rare, though he did appear at the closing ceremony of the World Cup in July 2010. Mandela also held a private meeting with Michelle Obama when the U.S. first lady traveled to South Africa with her daughters last year.

Mandela has taken up permanent residence at his home in Qunu, in the southwestern region of South Africa where he was raised. Earlier this year, Mandela came to his Johannesburg home for what Zuma's office said would be a brief stay while maintenance was done at his Qunu home. Zuma's office said then that Mandela was in good health.

Mandela's last surviving sibling, a sister, died last month near Qunu. Makhulu Nothusile Bhulehluthi was 82. Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela, their father, had several wives and 31 children.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Updated at 11:18 a.m. ET: SANAA, Yemen -- A suicide car bomb claimed by al-Qaida killed at least 26 people outside a presidential palace in southern Yemen Saturday, hours after Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was sworn as Yemen's new president with the job of bringing stability to an increasingly chaotic nation.

The car was driven at a palace in the port city of Mukalla, Yemen's fourth-largest city, far from the capital Sanaa where Hadi was sworn in. Dozens were injured, and the governor of Hadramout province said most of the dead were members of the national army, the Republican Guard.

"Al-Qaida is responsible for the suicide bombing in Mukalla in retaliation for the Republican Guard's crimes," an al-Qaida source told Reuters. Sanaa, scene of much fighting in recent months between factions of the army supporting protesters and units loyal to Saleh, was relatively quiet, however.

---

After taking the oath, Hadi had singled out al-Qaida, whose active Arabian Peninsula branch is based in Yemen, as a top priority for his new administration: "Continuing the war against al-Qaida is a national and religious duty."

The former army general was elected as the sole candidate to replace Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had led Yemen for three decades but was pushed out by months of street protests sparked by the Arab Spring, and supervise a transition to democracy.

While the street protests and bouts of bloody repression by security forces have subsided, Yemen remains in turmoil from mass poverty, unemployment and corruption, rebellions in the north and south, and the threat from al-Qaida.

Saudi Arabia and the United States long saw Saleh as the main bulwark against al-Qaida in Yemen, which sits on one of the world's main oil shipping routes, but threw their weight behind a power transfer deal as protests against him grew.

Hadi said in a speech that Yemen must draw a line under a year of protests and violence and turn its attention to economic problems and the job of returning those displaced by the crisis to their homes.

Jamal Benomar, U.N. envoy to Yemen, said: "Yemenis want an end to the crisis, and to turn a new page. Now it's time to rebuild, for consensus and concord ... and to bring people into an inclusive political process."

The U.S. ambassador to Yemen, Gerald Feierstein, said: "We are seeing the beginning of a process that I believe will deliver great results over the next two years."

Hadi now has the job of overseeing a two-year political transition that foresees parliamentary elections, a new constitution and a restructuring of the military, in which Saleh's son and nephew still hold power.

"I stand here at a historic moment ... I look to the Yemeni people and give them thanks. The crisis reached every city and village and house, but Yemen will continue to go forward," Hadi said.

If we don't deal with challenges practically, then chaos will reign."

Hadi's inauguration ceremony is scheduled for Monday. Saleh, who returned to Yemen early Saturday after seeking treatment in the United States for injuries suffered in an assassination attempt last year, is due to attend.

After Hadi's speech, protesters in the southern city of Aden clashed with security forces, killing one soldier, a local security official said. Two soldiers and two protesters were injured, medics added.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Uganda police are keen to interrogate a South African woman who was found unconscious in a hotel room along with the body of American television producer Jeff Rice, NBC News reported.

Kathryn Fuller, a production assistant, was found last week in the same room with Rice, a freelance producer for the American reality TV show “Amazing Race.” She was taken to The Surgery, a hospital in Kampala.

"We sent a team of detectives there today (Friday) but found that she was still too weak and so could not interrogate her. The team may return tomorrow," Deputy Kampala police spokesperson Ibin Ssenkumbi said.

---

Police on Wednesday said forensic tests indicated that Rice died of a cocaine overdose and that Fuller had also taken the drug. 

Police were still grappling with a request by Fuller's relatives to have her transferred to South Africa for more advance medical treatment, according to NBC News. The relatives pledged to bring her back to Uganda once she improves.

"We have not yet recorded a statement from her and are waiting for her to improve. Additionally, her travel documents are still missing and that complicates matters," Ssenkumbi said.

Kathryn's father, Stewart Fuller, flew to Uganda and has asked police to allow him transfer her to South Africa. But police said they were finding the request a difficult one, given the circumstances.

Senior Uganda police officers, including the national police chief, Lt. Gen Kale Kayihura, on Thursday checked on Fuller at the medical facility.

A decision on her transfer would depend on doctors' assessment of her condition, police said.

'Amazing Race' producer Jeff Rice found dead in Uganda

Fuller and Rice, police said, checked into the Kampala Serena Hotel last Friday, having moved from the Lake Victoria Serena Resort. On Saturday morning, Rice was found dead on a sofa on the balcony of their hotel room while Fuller was unconscious on the floor.

The two had flown into the country on Feb. 15 to work on a documentary, according to ABC News.

Ugandan police say it appears the two voluntarily ingested the drug.

"There was no struggle. These were two people in their room, and there was not a single sign of a struggle. Not even a single bruise on Rice's body," police spokesman Asuman Mugenyi told ABC.

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A Dutch politician wants his government to publicly rebuke Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum for claiming that forced euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands and that the elderly are being killed against their will.

The Dutch Embassy in Washington has declined to comment on Santorum’s recent remarks, The New York Times reported this week. An embassy spokeswoman said the Dutch government wanted to stay out of the American presidential campaign, the Times reported.

On Thursday, Dutch Member of Parliament Frans Timmermans, a leading member of the opposition left-leaning Labor Party in The Hague, blasted his government’s silence.

---

He wrote in a post on his Facebook page that he wanted Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal to rebuke Santorum for his “scandalous accusations,” The Times reported.

“This cannot be allowed to rest,” he wrote, according to The Times.

Earlier this month, Santorum brought up the subject of euthanasia at a forum hosted by conservative leader James Dobson.

“They have voluntary euthanasia in the Netherlands, but half the people who are euthanized every year, and it’s 10 percent of all deaths, half of those people are euthanized involuntarily in hospitals, because they are older and sick,” Santorum said. “So elderly people in the Netherlands don’t go to the hospital. They go to another country. Because they’re afraid because of budget purposes they will not come out of that hospital if they go in with sickness.”

Santorum also said some Dutch wear bracelets saying, “Don’t euthanize me.”

Santorum’s campaign did not respond to a request from The Times to explain his remarks.

FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan project that monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by U.S. politicians, said Santorum “grossly mischaracterized” euthanasia practices in the Netherlands.

It said the former Pennsylvania senator overstated the rate of euthanasia. Government statistics show euthanasia is climbing but represented only 2.3 percent of all deaths in the Netherlands in 2010, it said.

FactCheck.org said Santorum’s claims that the elderly are being killed against their will and wear “do not euthanize me” bracelets are false.

Dutch euthanasia review boards found nine cases in 2010 where doctors “had not acted in accordance with the due care criteria,” mostly for how the procedure was performed — not because it was against anyone’s will, FactCheck.org said. It added that the Dutch government and medical association say no such “Don’t euthanize me” bracelets exist.

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MIAMI – "If they're going to kill you, they're going to kill you," said Luz del Carmen Sosa, a reporter in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and mother of two, who spends most of her day running from one murder scene to another. "Even if you arrive surrounded by police, security escorts, whoever wants to hurt you will hurt you."

Just 20 miles from Ciudad Juarez, photojournalist Alejandro Hernández Pacheco did get hurt. On July 26, 2010, Hernandez was part of a TV news crew videotaping at a prison in the city of Gomez Palacio when he was kidnapped at gunpoint, along with two colleagues.

"They took us to a place that was covered with dried blood, with teeth and hair stuck to the walls," said Hernandez. He stopped himself from describing the room any further, saying it brings back terrifying memories.

---

"They hit us until they tired," he said, adding that the gunmen also threatened to burn him alive. "They hit me in the head with a piece of wood, on my back, my knees, my ankles."  The men were released five days later.  Authorities believe the kidnappers were members of the notorious Sinaloa cartel.

Mexico has become a killing field for reporters, according to a study released this week by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. The organization’s "Attacks on the Press in 2011" study shows 48 Mexican journalists have disappeared or have been killed in the last five years across the country.

CPJ's survey found the increase in crimes against media workers began with the start of Mexican President Felipe Calderon's escalated war against narcotics traffickers, a crusade which has led rival cartels to fight for control of the profitable drug routes into the United States. 

‘Nothing has changed’
Pressure from international press organizations like CPJ prompted the Calderon administration to launch an initiative to protect the country's journalists. London-based writers group PEN has called for "immediate and definitive action" to end the killings of journalists in Mexico. 

But the killings and kidnappings continue.

"Nothing has changed," Hernandez said.  "No one is going to protect them [journalists], they have no one to turn to for protection, but themselves."

In Ciudad Juarez, a city that sees an average of eight murders a day, Sosa says journalists put competition for exclusive stories aside and call each other when news breaks, so they can travel to cover developments as a group. A 23-year veteran crime reporter of the award-winning El Diario, Sosa and other experienced journalists have also gotten used to giving up their byline for a simple "staff" byline  when they write a story that may infuriate a cartel leader or government official.  

Self-censorship
Journalists complain the threats have led to the spread of self-censorship.  Mexico City-based correspondent Ana Arana said much of the country is suffering from what she calls "news black holes."

Arana runs Fundacion MEPI, an independent investigative nonprofit. In an effort to determine how pervasive self-censorship has become, the group studied the coverage of drug-related crimes by 11 regional newspapers, as well as the national edition of Milenio and El Universal in 2010 and then again in 2011.

MEPI found that in Nuevo Laredo and other crime-ridden cities, the press was barely covering gangland executions and other drug-related crimes. And if they published stories on those types of crimes, they did so without mentioning suspects.

"We don't know how bad things are in some regions of the country because of self-censorship," said Dallas Morning News reporter Alfredo Corchado, who has been covering Mexico for many years. "Who can blame Mexican journalists for self-censoring themselves when the government is incapable of protecting them, or even solving one case of colleagues killed," he added.

Some Mexican authorities seem to be censoring their information too, according to many reporters. "What we are seeing is that the government forces are slow to respond, or against sharing statistics or details about specific drug violence," said Arana.

That increasingly leaves the public depending on social media for information. Many turn to Facebook and Twitter for the latest on crime hot spots. But even that source of information is being curtailed, especially after the murder of Marisol Macias Castro.

The 39-year-old Twitter user posted notes on the criminal activities of local cartel members last September. She was found decapitated shortly after. Two other murders have also been linked to the use of social media to denounce a drug cartel.

‘Not going to retire because I'm scared’
While the risk of reporting worsens, many won't give up their dangerous profession.  Sosa has told her children, now 17 and 20 years old, she does not want a funeral when she dies, because she has seen so many she has developed an aversion to them.

But she says the drug war violence won't force her to quit. "I'm not going to retire because I'm scared or because I'm tired," she said. "This is what I know how to do and this is what I love doing." 

Hernandez also refused to give up being a journalist, but 19 months after being kidnapped he now practices his profession in the U.S.  He was granted political asylum and now works as a photojournalist for a TV network in Texas, where he lives with his wife and three sons.

But those still reporting from Mexico have to continue to brave the dangers.

Culiacan reporter Javier Valdez Cardenas survived a grenade attack in the course of his work. Last year, he was the awarded the CPJ's International Press Freedom award. In his acceptance speech last September, he spoke about the grim tragedy continuing to unfold in his country.

"Mexico is living a tragedy that should shame us,” said Cardenas.  “The youth will remember this as a time of war. Their DNA is tattooed with bullets and guns and blood, and this is a form of killing tomorrow."

The main opposition Syrian National Council outlined on Friday its vision for a post-Assad Syria, and appealed for the weapons required to make that happen.

The SNC announced it was proposing an interim presidential council of national leaders and a truth and reconciliation committee at a meeting of the “Friends of Syria” group of 70 Western and Arab nations in Tunisia Friday.

---

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said ahead of the meeting that rebel fighters would become “increasingly capable,” saying they will “from somewhere, somehow, find the means to defend themselves as well as begin offensive measures."

And, in her opening remarks to the conference, Clinton said the regime of President Bashar Assad had "ignored every warning, squandered every opportunity and broken every agreement."

The Friends of Syria group is demanding an immediate cease-fire so humanitarian aid can be delivered to Syrians who have suffered under a yearlong assault, especially those in the city of Homs, which has been under bombardment for three weeks.

"If the Assad regime refuses to allow this life-saving aid to reach civilians, it will have ever-more blood on its hands," Clinton said, noting the same was true of nations like Russia and China, which are supporting Assad.

Clinton: Syria rebels will get arms 'somehow'

According to a copy of his speech to the meeting, SNC leader Burhan Ghalioun called for the continuation of the uprising until Assad was ousted or handed over power as per an Arab League plan.

BBC News reported that the SNC said countries should be allowed to supply arms to aid rebel fighters if President Bashar Assad’s government refuses to stop attacking civilians and accept the terms of an Arab League peace deal.

Red Cross tries to help injured reporters in Homs, Syria

However a Syrian opposition source told Reuters on Friday that Western and other countries were already turning a blind eye to weapons purchases by Syrian exiles.

The source said exiles were already smuggling light arms, communications equipment and night vision goggles to rebels inside Syria.

Syrian opposition supporters were also trying to find ways to bring anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons to the Free Syrian Army, which is composed mainly of Syrian soldiers who have defected and volunteer civilians, the source added.

Hamas ditches Assad
The Hamas prime minister of Gaza Ismail Haniyeh said after Friday prayers at Egypt's Al-Azhar Mosque that Hamas commends "the brave Syrian people that are moving toward democracy and reform."

Assad has long hosted and supported leaders of the Islamic militant movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, but the group has significantly reduced the presence of its exiled leaders in Syria since the start of the 11-month-old uprising against the Syrian regime.

Some of the top Hamas leaders are now spending most of their time in Qatar, Egypt and Lebanon, as the group tries to distance itself from Assad's brutal crackdown on opponents.

As efforts were being made to get weapons to the rebels, Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called on the world to find ways to deny the Syrian government "the means with which to perpetrate atrocities against the Syrian people."

"We must seek ways and means of enforcing an arms embargo upon the regime," Davutoglu told the Friends of Syria meeting Friday.

There was drama as the conference got under way at the Palace Hotel in Tunis, when several hundred pro-Assad protesters breached the grounds, forcing Clinton to be diverted to her hotel and delaying her appearance at the meeting. Police wielding batons stopped them getting inside the hotel itself and drove them out the parking lot after about 15 minutes.

GOP rivals back arming Syria's rebels

According to the copy of his speech, Ghalioun said that after Assad was gone there should be the "formation of a presidential council composed of national leaders and the formation of a transitional government of political, military and technocratic figures who have not fought against the revolution."

NYT: US should help Syria rebels, McCain says

He also proposed the creation of a council that would address the abuses of the Assad regime and prevent any political or sectarian reprisals.

"The committee will work to reconcile and restore the sense of nationalism and human values that have been lacking during this crisis," he said. The transitional period would end with elections to a parliament that would draw up a new constitution.

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Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani said in a speech at the meeting Friday that an Arab force should be created to impose peace in Syria and allow aid to get in.

"There is a need to create an Arab force and open humanitarian corridors to provide security to the Syrian people," he said.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Seven people have been arrested in the United States on charges of trafficking in endangered rhinoceros horns, federal officials said.

The most recent arrest took place Wednesday night when Jin Zhao Feng, a Chinese national, was taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport, Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, said Thursday.

Authorities suspect him of overseeing the shipment of dozens of rhino horns from the U.S. to China.

---

The arrests were the result of an 18-month investigation that was called "Operation Crash" — the term for a herd of rhinoceroses — and scrutinized an international smuggling ring that trafficked in sawed-off rhinoceros horns. The horns are used by some cultures for ornamental carvings, good luck charms or believed medicinal purposes, including cancer.

"The rhino is an animal of prehistoric origin that is facing possible extinction because of an illegal trade for its horns on the black market that is driven by greed," said Ignacia S. Moreno, assistant attorney general for the Justice Depatment's Environment and Natural Resources Division.

Spike in rhino poaching threatens survival of species

All species of rhinoceros are protected under U.S. and international law, and all black rhinoceros species are endangered, federal officials said.

Rhino horns are composed of keratin, the same type of protein that makes up hair and fingernails. Rhinoceros horn is a highly valued and sought-after commodity despite the fact that international trade has been largely banned since 1976.

According to a report by NBC's Rock Center, an average-sized rhino horn in Vietnam can sell for as much as a quarter of a million dollars, which makes rhino horn gram for gram more valuable than gold or cocaine.

The arrests were initially reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Three of the alleged traffickers caught in Southern California were Jimmy Kha, 49, his girlfriend Mai Nguyen, 41, and Kha's 26-year-old son Felix. Each faces four counts of rhino horn trafficking in violation of federal laws protecting rare and endangered species.

Investigators reportedly seized several rhino horns, more than $1 million in cash, $1 million in gold bars, diamonds and Rolex watches during the raids, NBCLosAngeles.com reported.

One of the alleged suppliers, Wade Steffen, was arrested in Hico, Texas, and charged in Los Angeles, federal prosecutors said.

The Khas began receiving packages from Steffen and another alleged supplier in 2010. Seventeen packages were opened under federal search warrants and 37 rhinoceros horns were found, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

South African town dehorns rhinos in attempt to ward off poachers

A search of Steffen's luggage at the Long Beach Airport on Feb. 9 turned up $337,000 in cash.

According to NBCLosAngeles.com, the rhino horns seized as part of the raids were reportedly destined for buyers in Vietnam and China.

In New Jersey, Amir Even-Ezra was arrested Feb. 18 on a felony trafficking charge after purchasing rhino horns from a New York resident in New Jersey.

Antiques expert David Hausman was charged in U.S. District Court in Manhattan with illegally trafficking rhinoceros horns and with creating false documents to conceal the illegal nature of the transaction, prosecutors said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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