Syrian forces pound Homs, seven killed

NEW: A witness says tanks fired into homesNEW: At least seven people were killed, a human rights group reportsNEW: The U.N. chief urged an end to operations targeting civiliansThe clashes followed deadly protests Friday
(CNN) -- Syrian forces pounded the western city of Homs Saturday with jets and tanks, sustaining fire with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, activists told CNN.
At least seven people were killed in the clashes in Syria Saturday, six of them in Homs, according to the Local Coordination Committees (LCC) of Syria, an opposition group that organizes and documents protests in Syria.
Rami Abdel Rahman, president of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported at least four deaths in Homs Saturday.
He said the fierce fighting has been ongoing between armed military defectors and loyalist forces.
For weeks, the military has parked tanks at the entrance to Bab Amer, a Homs neighborhood known as the epicenter of anti-government activity, an activist told CNN Saturday. After the Saturday morning crackdown, the military established new checkpoints and a much heavier presence, the activist said.
He said he heard jets overhead around 9:30 in the morning. A few minutes later, tanks began firing into buildings and homes.
Security forces also cracked down in other Syrian cities Saturday, the LCC reported. There was heavy presence of troops in parts of Edleb and raids in Deir Ezzor.
CNN could not independently confirm the accounts because Syria has not granted international media access to the country.
The clashes erupted after Friday's massive demonstration in Hama where Syrians demanded an end to President Bashar al-Assad's rule and called for his prosecution.
Demonstrators also called on the United Nations to impose a no-fly zone, naval blockade and other measures to protect Syrian protesters.
Security forces fatally shot 35 civilians during protests across the nation Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. At least 100 others were wounded and 500 arrested in several provinces, the opposition group said.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned Friday's killings. He said the deaths of more than 3,000 people killed since the start of the Syrian uprising amounts to an "alarming" toll.
Ban appealed for an end to military operations against civilians.
Meanwhile, the state-run news agency SANA reported that funerals were held Saturday for 15 members of the security forces killed in clashes last week.
CNN's Arwa Damon contributed to this report.
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Qantas grounds fleet

NEW: PM Gillard: "We need this dispute to be brought to an end"Australian pilots' union says Qantas's move is "a maniacal overreaction"Qantas boss says the unions' "extreme claim" left the airline no choiceTravelers booked on Qantas flights are advised not to go to the airport
(CNN) -- Australian airline Qantas grounded all its aircraft Saturday in response to a labor dispute, in a step that will disrupt travel for thousands of people.
Flights in the air will complete those journeys, the airline said in a statement, but there will be no further domestic or international departures worldwide.
The industrial action involves three unions representing air and ground staff. Qantas, the flag carrier for Australia and its largest domestic and international airline, said that all employees involved in the strike would be locked out from Monday evening.
"Pilots, licensed engineers and baggage, ground and catering staff are essential to Qantas operations and the lock-out will therefore make it necessary for all Qantas aircraft to be grounded," the airline said.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard told reporters the dispute had "escalated in a dramatic way" during the day.
As a result, the government had asked Fair Work Australia -- an independent national workplace relations tribunal -- to terminate the industrial action and resolve the dispute itself, she said. A hearing is taking place Saturday night.
"My message to Qantas, the employees and trade unions is: Australians do want to see this dispute sorted out. Qantas is an iconic Australian brand, it is the employer of thousands of Australians, thousands of people rely on it for their livelihoods and we do need this dispute to be brought to an end," she said.
The move comes at an embarrassing moment for Australia, which is hosting dozens of heads of government and their staff for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth.
Gillard said government workers would help those whose flights home were booked with Qantas to make alternative plans.
Speaking at a news conference in Sydney, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said it was a hard decision to ground the fleet but that the airline had been left with no alternative in the face of the unions' "extreme claim."
Staff involved in the industrial action will be locked-out for as long as it takes, he said, and the unions "will have to decide how badly they want to damage Qantas."
Grounding its fleet will have a daily financial impact of about 20 million Australian dollars ($21.4 million), Qantas said.
Customers booked on Qantas flights should not go to the airport until further notice, the airline said. It will offer travelers full refunds or the chance to rebook.
Flights with subsidiaries Jetstar and QantasLink, as well as Qantas flights across the Tasman Sea operated by Jetconnect and freight services, are not affected by the grounding, it said.
The unions involved in the dispute reacted angrily to Joyce's statement.
Richard Woodward, vice president of the Australian and International Pilots' Union (AIPA), branded it "a maniacal overreaction."
The decision to ground the Qantas fleet, stranding thousands of passengers around the world, was unnecessary and grossly irresponsible, he said in a statement, adding: "Alan Joyce is holding a knife to the nation's throat."
Speaking to CNN, he accused Qantas management of "complete brinkmanship" and said the company's action -- only announced Saturday -- had been planned for months.
The Transport Workers Union of Australia said in on online statement: "Today's unwarranted and disgraceful snap announcement by Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is designed to destroy Qantas as we have always known it."
The union accused Qantas management of "untruths and subterfuge" in its dealings with staff, in a statement earlier this week.
The airline plans to outsource ground jobs, the union says, at a cost of thousands of Australian jobs.
The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers union (ALAEA) accused Qantas of lying to the media and putting profits first, in a statement on its website earlier this month.
It said the union's industrial action was aimed at ensuring Qantas "will have less money to set up the overseas operations that will cannibalise Qantas routes and our job security."
Qantas says the weeks-long dispute with staff has already affected more than 70,000 passengers and cost it about 15 million Australian dollars ($16 million) a week in lost revenue.
London's Heathrow airport said only a handful of long-haul Qantas flights had been scheduled to fly Saturday and Sunday, and it had been able to contact passengers to rebook their travel.
Qantas, which has its headquarters in Sydney, is the second oldest airline in the world, having marked the 90th anniversary of its foundation last year.
It employs about 32,500 people and flies to more than 180 destinations worldwide, according to the company website. For the financial year ending June 2010, it made a post-tax profit of 116 million Australian dollars.
CNN's Laura Smith-Spark, Hugh Williams and Elizabeth Joseph contributed to this report.
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Singer Adele to undergo throat surgery

The 2011 American Music Awards announced that Adele, 23, leads artists with four nominations.Adele, 23, will have throat-related surgeryShe's canceling her remaining live appearances for the yearA full recovery is expected
(CNN) -- British singer Adele is going to have throat-related surgery and is canceling her remaining live appearances for the rest of the year, Columbia Records said Friday.
"She is to undergo surgery to alleviate the current issues with her throat and a full recovery is expected," the record company said in a statement. "As a result, doctors have ordered her to rest her voice and completely recuperate before looking to schedule any work commitments."
Ticket holders will receive a refund from the point of purchase, the record label said.
Earlier this month, the 2011 American Music Awards announced that Adele, 23, lead artists with four nominations -- for favorite pop or rock female artist, favorite pop or rock album (for "21"), favorite adult contemporary artist, and artist of the year.
In July, the soulful singer's "21" was ranked the year's biggest album to date, with over 2.5 million sold since it was released in late February. Also in July, the disc was a consistent best-seller -- it has spent 10 nonconsecutive weeks at Number One and has never ranked lower than Number Three on the albums chart.
CNN's Denise Quan contributed to this story.
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TSA officer faces dismissal over 'get your freak on, girl' note

Passenger Jill Filipovic found this note in her luggage last weekend.Baggage screener found vibrator in bag, left note saying "Get Your Freak On, Girl"Passenger tweeted about note to open "a bigger conversation about privacy rights"TSA says it has "zero tolerance for inappropriate behavior," initiates removal processWoman says she does not want employee to get fired, laments "media circus"
(CNN) -- An airplane baggage screener faces dismissal for leaving a note in a passenger's bag that said "Get Your Freak On, Girl" after discovering a vibrator.
The Transportation Security Administration "has initiated action to remove the individual from federal service," an agency spokesperson said. "Like all federal employees, this individual is entitled to due process and protected by the Privacy Act. During the removal action process, the employee will not perform any screening duties."
The agency randomly selects checked baggage for screening on flights originating in the United States. Lawyer and writer Jill Filipovic tweeted a picture of the note Monday and later blogged about it on Feministe.
"This is what TSA will do when they inspect a bag you checked and find a, um, 'personal item,' " she wrote. "Total violation of privacy, wildly inappropriate and clearly not OK, but I also just died laughing in my hotel room."
The TSA identified and removed the employee from screening operations, the TSA said Wednesday on its blog. After completing an investigation, action was initiated to remove the individual from federal service.
"TSA views the handwritten note to be highly inappropriate and unprofessional and apologizes for this unfortunate incident," the spokesperson said. "TSA has zero tolerance for inappropriate behavior by our employees as occurred in this instance. When this is brought to our attention TSA takes swift and appropriate action."
An agency official reached out to Filipovic to apologize personally, the agency said. At this point, though, she said she wishes the story would go away.
"It's easy to scapegoat one individual here, but the problem with the note is that it's representative of the bigger privacy intrusions that the U.S. government, through the TSA and other sources, levels every day," she wrote Wednesday after learning of the employee's suspension.
"As much as this is a funny and titillating story, when I put the note on Twitter for what I thought was a relatively limited audience, I was hoping it would open up a bigger conversation about privacy rights (or lack thereof) in post-9/11 America. It unfortunately hasn't done that, and instead has turned into a media circus," she said.
"The note was inappropriate, the agent in question acted unprofessionally when s/he put in my bag, there should be consequences and I'm glad the TSA takes these things seriously. But I get no satisfaction in hearing that someone may be in danger of losing their job over this. I would much prefer a look at why 'security' has been used to justify so many intrusions on our civil liberties, rather than fire a person who made a mistake."
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Intense earthquake rattles Peru

At least 88 homes collapsed The quake strikes some 32 miles south-southwest of IcaNo tsunami warning has been issued
(CNN) -- A 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Peru on Friday, leveling buildings and leaving some homeless.
No tsunami warning has been issued.
The quake hit roughly 178 miles south-southeast of Lima, the country's capital, at an estimated depth of almost 22 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It took place about 32 miles south-southwest of Ica, which suffered significant damage from a devastating quake in 2007.
The National Civil Defense Institute of Peru reported that crews were sent to the provinces and districts affected to help the victims and asses the situation.
The institute said 83 people were assisted for injuries, 1,200 were affected because their homes were damaged and 640 were displaced from their homes.
The agency said at least 88 homes collapsed.
The National Civil Defense Institute said power has been restored in some places.
A series of aftershocks were also felt Friday night.
In 2007, an 8.0-magnitude quake struck southwestern Peru, killing more than 500 people and injuring more than 1,000.
The most serious damage from that quake occurred in towns and cities along the country's Pacific coast south of Lima, including Chincha, Canete, Pisco and Ica.
CNN's Nelson Quinones contributed to this report.
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Klum on meeting Seal: 'It was kind of like two magnets'

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Model, TV host, fashion designer and mother of four Heidi Klum is Piers Morgan's guest Friday at 9 p.m. ET.Heidi Klum said Seal proposed to her in front of an igloo he had builtThe couple has four children; Klum said love and respect help them maintain a happy marriageShe calls "Project Runway" her great business success, says her passion is designEditor's note: Watch the full interview with Heidi Klum on Friday night. "Piers Morgan Tonight" airs weeknights on CNN/US at 9 ET and on CNN International at 0200 GMT (live simulcast), 1200 GMT and 2000 GMT / HKT 1900.
(CNN) -- When R&B singer Seal and Heidi Klum met in a New York City hotel lobby, the supermodel told CNN's Piers Morgan, "it was kind of like two magnets."
The model-turned-mogul, TV superstar and mother of four is a guest on Friday's "Piers Morgan Tonight."
Klum said that she was sitting in the lobby with a mutual friend of hers and Seal's, and that Seal didn't even recognize the internationally famous model. Klum told the story of the couple's engagement, in which the singer had an igloo built on a mountaintop in the Canadian Rockies, to which he whisked her by helicopter.
"And then we get there," Klum said. "We hop off and the helicopter leaves, and there we are in the middle of nowhere. It was beautiful. And then he had his guitar with him. And he sang a song for me and he went down on his knee."
Klum described the igloo as "a full-on igloo with a bed inside with pillows and blankets and candles and rose petals."
When Morgan asked Klum how the couple manages to sustain such a happy relationship, Klum said "I just think because we love each other. We have fun with each other. We respect each other. I let him do his thing, even though that's hard for me sometimes."
Klum, 38, admitted that she had to forgo her propensity for controlling things and "learned how you have to, like, let him do his creative thing, because I am quite bossy in my industry."
When Morgan asked if the couple was planning on having more children, Klum answered, "No, we have four children, and we're complete now."
With the ninth-season finale of "Project Runway" coming up, Klum told Morgan she never imagined the series would last so long.
"No way," she said. "No. You just don't when you get into something like that. You know, when we first created 'Project Runway,' it was Harvey Weinstein, Desiree Gruber, my publicist for the last 15 years and myself, and we just shopped it around. We went to all these different networks and tried to explain to them what we wanted to do was a show about fashion."
Klum said that she had a hard time convincing networks that they had a hit for them.
"Everyone was like, 'Well, why is that interesting? Why would we want to watch how people make clothes?' " Klum said. When "Project Runway" finally found a network to call home, she said, what really led to success was word of mouth.
Klum told Morgan that audiences love the show "because it's really about talent."
When Morgan asked Klum if she grew up dreaming of being a model, the Germany native told the CNN host that as a child, she didn't even know that modeling was a career option.
"I didn't even know that that was a job, to be honest," she said. "I wanted to be a fashion designer."
Klum called her entrée into fashion modeling "pure luck" and likened it to "winning the lottery" when she told Morgan the story.
"I entered a competition," she said. "I, literally, out of a fashion magazine, cut out a coupon with my girlfriend, sent some random photos in that she took of me, entered this competition. And it went on for six months. It was a model search."
Klum, who also host's "Germany's Next Top Model" in her native country, told Morgan that she counts getting "Project Runway" on the air among her most cherished business successes. She also called designing her real passion and said she continues to design: There's a Heidi Klum for New Balance line of apparel and sneakers, Wildlife by Heidi Klum is sold on QVC, Heidi Klum on AOL, Shine by Heidi Klum, a fragrance with Coty, and more.

Klum, who has lived in the United States since 1994, became an American citizen before the 2008 presidential election so she could vote for Barack Obama. She holds dual citizenship and remains a German.
"I've been paying quite a few taxes in this city -- in this country," she said. "And I felt that it would be right for me to vote for the next president."
Watch Piers Morgan Tonight weeknights 9 p.m. ET. For the latest from Piers Morgan click here.
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Autistic boy found after several days in the woods

Eight-year-old Robert Wood Jr., was found Friday, five days after he vanished during a family hike in a Virginia park.NEW: An ER doctor says it is "amazing" the boy survived so long on his ownThe 8-year-old wandered away from his family while on a hike6,000 volunteers and 300 rescuers searched for himHe was spotted in a creek bed at a quarry, a sheriff's lieutenant says
(CNN) -- An 8-year-old autistic boy who went missing from a central Virginia park five days ago was discovered alive Friday at a nearby quarry, authorities said.
"Robert is a very strong and determined little boy," Robert Wood Sr. said in a statement released hours after his son was found. "We never gave up hope that he would return home safe."
A citizen involved in a large-scale search spotted Robert Jr. about 2 p.m. Friday in a creek bed just off a roadway at a Martin Marietta quarry, said Hanover County Sheriff's Lt. Col. David Hines.
Found curled in a fetal position, the boy was "in serious but good shape," Hines added. "Whenever a child is missing, everyone steps up. And that's what happened today."
Robert was taken by helicopter to the Children's Hospital of Richmond, where he was reunited with his family about 3 p.m.
Dr. Christopher Woleben told CNN late Friday that the boy -- who cannot speak, due to his autism -- was "awake, alert (and) surprisingly interactive" when he got to the emergency room.
"He was excited to see his mother, smiling every time he saw her," Woleben said. "He did have some signs and symptoms consistent with cold exposure, and we did a pretty thorough medical investigation."
The boy wandered away Sunday while on a hike with his father, father's girlfriend and his younger brother at the 80-acre North Anna Battlefield Park, according to CNN affiliate WTVR. The park is in Doswell, about 45 miles north of Petersburg and 80 miles south of Washington.
In subsequent days, approximately 6,000 volunteers had joined roughly 300 rescuers looking for young Robert in and around the Civil War battlefield. The boy was found between 3/4 of a mile and one mile from where he was last seen, according to Hines.
The lieutenant colonel said authorities had to turn volunteers away because of the strong desire to help, applauding their service.
So, too, did Robert Wood Sr. He thanked those who had helped, and offered thoughts and prayers, and assisted in other ways.
"The support we have received is overwhelming," the father said.
Barbara Locker, the boy's mother, said in a statement Friday that her child was "here and safe" and "a strong little fella."
Woleben, the emergency room physician, called it remarkable that Robert -- given his age, diagnosis, as well as the conditions outside -- appeared so positive and alert after his discovery.
"It is an amazing story that he was able to survive that amount of time on his own," the doctor said.
Read more about this story from CNN affiliate WTVR.
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ICC discusses Gadhafi sons surrender

Saif Gadhafi to turn himself in? NEW: The prosecutor promises no deals for Gadhafi son's surrenderThe International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for Gadhafi's arrestThe court is having "conversations" about Saif al-Islam's surrenderAl-Islam's whereabouts are unknown
(CNN) -- The International Criminal Court is having "informal conversations" about the surrender of Moammar Gadhafi's son, Saif al-Islam, who is wanted for crimes against humanity, the court's chief prosecutor said Friday.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo would not say with whom the court is talking. He also said the court does not know al-Islam's whereabouts.
If Saif al-Islam Gadhafi is brought before the court, Moreno-Ocampo said, he will "have all the rights and be protected," and will be allowed to present his defense.
"We believe we have a strong case," the prosecutor told CNN in an exclusive interview from The Hague. "We believe he should be convicted."
The court believes Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, his father, and his brother-in-law Abdulla al-Sanussi are responsible for crimes against humanity in Libya, including murder and persecution across the country beginning in February amid anti-government demonstrations, Moreno-Ocampo said.
Al-Sanussi served as the head of intelligence for Moammar Gadhafi, who was captured by opposition fighters and killed last week.

Turkey suicide bomb attack kills three

A female suicide bomber killed two other people and herself, reports sayAt least 20 people were hurt in the attackBingol province is in eastern Turkey
Istanbul (CNN) -- A female suicide bomber killed two people and herself in an attack Saturday in Turkey's eastern Bingol province, the Turkish state-run Anatolia news agency reported.
Bingol Governor Mustafa Hakan Guvencer said 20 people were also hurt when the woman detonated her explosives in the town of Bingol, the agency said.
He told the agency that one of the two victims killed was a woman.
Turkish Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin said the injured were being treated in hospital.
Turkey has suffered a number of violent incidents in recent weeks.
An attack 10 days ago in the country's southeastern Hakkari province, blamed on Kurdish separatists, left 24 soldiers dead and 18 injured.
Last month, at least three people were killed by an explosion in the heart of the Turkish capital, Ankara. A Kurdish rebel splinter group later claimed responsibility for the attack.
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Obsessions: Tripping on Hunter S. Thompson

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Johnny Depp, with Hunter S. Thompson in 1998, said the famed writer was, "hyper, hypersensitive, hence the self-medication."Everyone who tries to emulate Thompson's Gonzo genius falls short to a certain extent"The Rum Diary" is supposed to be Thompson finding his path to self destructionWe don't know how much of "The Rum Diary" he composed in the late '50sEditor's note: Mike Hayes is the social media editor at BuzzFeed.

(CNN) -- I have never been whacked out on LSD.

However, if I had ever had the chance to meet Hunter S. Thompson, a real acid pro, my fantasy is that during a brief conversation in which he got to know me a little bit I'd feel comfortable asking him at the end of our talk: Do you think I could handle acid?

Even after I regaled him with the story of when friends of mine tried it in college, then wandered around the New York Botanical Gardens and invented the rock n' roll backpack -- which is a standard backpack with a radio boombox in it -- he would say no, you personally shouldn't take LSD, you suppressed malcontent. Hopefully, this would all just sound like a sort of guttural gesture, because that would be subtle enough.

There's a definite chance that not only would HST think I couldn't handle the drugs, but he might hate me entirely. I can't imagine someone who covered the Hells Angels, shark fishing competitions, got to threaten the life of the man he hated more than anyone else on Earth (Richard Nixon) and helped get Jimmy Carter elected president enjoying the company of me, a person who basically gets paid to tweet for a living?

I am not alone in my enduring fascination with Thompson. Today the movie about the novel Thompson started writing in 1959 at the age of 22-years-old, "The Rum Diary" starring Johnny Depp, will be released. The film offers plenty of opportunities to remember the renegade journalist, such as Jann Wenner's recent piece titled "Hunter S Thompson Was My Brother in Arms."

I get the continued curiosity. And while it's fine that I can't write or take drugs like Thompson, I actually did try to be like him once.

In 2008, after reading "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved," the piece in which he invented Gonzo journalism, I wrote a three-part series for Yahoo! Sports called "The Odyssey To The Infield" in which I attended all three legs of the Triple Crown Of Thoroughbred Racing in person. My experience was maniacal enough, but I wrote in a style that was caught up in the decadence and truly ignoring of the depraved.

I too overindulged in gambling, alcohol, and some frat boy misogyny, took a full can of beer projectile to the collar bone and hung around women in fancy dress that were too blind drunk to know that they were knee deep in mud. Yet with all that I still couldn't capture his frenetic style.

I was impressed by my own momentum but could never let it come unhinged, and if HST himself read this report he would probably be nauseous at how upbeat it was.

It's cool that I failed, because everyone who tries to emulate his Gonzo genius falls short to a certain extent.

Recently, when she thrust herself into the annals of The Gathering Of The Juggalos, Emma Carmichael from Deadspin wrote an excellent analysis on the currency of women's breasts at the debauched music and arts festival held in some back corner of southern Illinois (see: "Dropping In On The Demented Utopia Of The Gathering Of The Juggalos").

It was fine Gonzo reporting; she had the Juggalo clown make-up and everything, but ended up with the determination that she couldn't be one of these people. I can't help but wonder if Thompson fraternized with the crazies on the aptly named "drug bridge" at The Gathering if we would have ended up making them his people -- and then they probably would have set off many, many explosives together.

I suspect "The Rum Diary" will be released to mixed reviews. I wager most of the criticism will be directed at the fact that 48-year-old Depp is attempting to play a 23-year-old. And the Thompson fans who see the film will get the subtext that this book is supposed to be Thompson on the brink of finding his path to self-destruction.

A time in his life when fear and loathing was just the fear. It was a time, pre- Nixon, when Thompson pictured himself writing books of varying degrees of madness, and not necessarily covering political campaigns of varying degrees of mad politicians.

We don't know how much of "The Rum Diary" he composed in the late '50s and how much he wrote later on (the novel wasn't actually published until 1998), but I like to think that whatever was written by early-20s Thompson was written by a guy that already believed strongly in the notion that his own career momentum should take him down the path of madness, for better or worse.

Something that would be more awesome than meeting Thompson and having him insult me and write me off like one of the debauched hack journalists in "The Rum Diary," would be meeting him and having him love me.

Maybe he'd like that I work at job where I get to post stuff like Photos Of Hunter S. Thompson Partying and supercut video of people doing Hunter S. Thompson impressions?

Maybe Hunter would even like Twitter? As Johnny Depp said earlier this week, "He was a very gentle guy. Hyper, hypersensitive, hence the self-medication."

Maybe I could get a cool Thompson nickname like Depp, who Thompson called "The Colonel."

Of course, if he liked me, we might end up dropping acid together and developing fuel-intake technology for the rock n' roll backpack. And then there's a good chance I'd lose my mind.

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Fans block Chelsea's Stamford Bridge bid

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Stamford Bridge in west London has been Chelsea's home since 1905Chelsea lose vote to buy back their Stamford Bridge stadiumA group of the club's fans who own the freehold opt against handing it backThe 'Chelsea Pitch Owners' have owned the freehold since 1997Club says they are losing $56 million of revenue a year due to limited capacity

(CNN) -- Chelsea have warned a group of supporters they are slowing the progress of the English Premier League outfit after they opted not to return the freehold to the club's Stamford Bridge stadium.

The ground, in the west of the English capital, was sold to a fans' organization called the Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO) in 1997 to protect it from falling into the hands of developers if the club ran into financial trouble.

But only 61.5% of CPO's shareholders voted to sell the freehold back to the club -- less than the 75% needed to authorize the move.

Explainer: Chelsea's bid to leave Stamford Bridge

Chelsea, who are currently third in the Premier League, are keen to explore the possibility of building a new ground with a bigger capacity than Stamford Bridge, which currently holds only 42,000 supporters.

While we will remain as ambitious as ever, this decision could slow down our progress
Chelsea statement

In a letter to CPO, Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck said that a new ground could help the club raise an extra $56 million of revenue each season but that the redevelopment of Stamford Bridge was necessary to help pay for it.

But many fans were not happy at the club's plans to move away from the site and Chelsea fell short of the vote required.

The club are owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich but limited space around their ground means expansion is difficult. Two of the club's rivals, Manchester United and Arsenal, have stadiums that hold 76,000 and 60,000 respectively.

A statement on the Chelsea's official website read: "Chelsea FC is naturally disappointed with the result. A large number of fans supported our proposals but it was always going to be difficult when we had to have a 75 per cent majority of voting shareholders accepting them.

"We approached this process with transparency and the will to do what is best for Chelsea Football Club and while we will remain as ambitious as ever, this decision could slow down our progress."

Buck added: "Obviously we are disappointed but we recognise and we respect totally that the shareholders of Chelsea Pitch Owners have spoken.

"We will meet with Mr Abramovich (Chelsea's Russian owner) and the rest of the board and we will decide what action, if any, we will take going forward.

'"I don't view this as an us and against you, we against they situation. We are all Chelsea fans and I can only hope that on Saturday we can get together and support this club and beat Arsenal."

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Sgt. on trial for alleged sport killings

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Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, seen here in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, in 2010, now faces murder charges.A court martial began Friday for Staff Sgt. Calvin GibbsHe is the highest ranking soldier charged in connection with alleged "kill squad"Prosecutors allege Gibbs and other soldiers targeted Afghan civiliansGibbs has pleaded not guilty to the charges, including murder

Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington (CNN) -- It didn't take long for Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs to make an impression on his soldiers.

Gibbs, the new leader of 3rd Platoon, part of the Army's 5th Stryker Brigade, had served a previous tour in Iraq and another in Afghanistan, and at 6 feet 4 inches and 220 pounds, towered over most of the platoon members.

Gibbs took over the platoon, stationed in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, in November, 2009. It was a low point for the group: A massive roadside bomb had injured their previous leader and left the team rattled. Gibbs wasn't rattled though.

And, as several of his fellow soldiers would later testify, Gibbs promised his men they would have a chance to exact revenge on the "savages," referring to the Afghan civilian population they were meant to protect.

Nearly two years later, Gibbs, 26, faces a military court martial on Friday for numerous charges, including the murder of three Afghan civilians.

He is the highest ranking soldier charged in what prosecutors say was a rogue "kill squad" that allegedly targeted Afghan civilians and made the deaths look like casualties of Taliban counterattacks.

He has also been charged with removing body parts from his alleged victims, such as teeth and fingers, to keep as souvenirs; planting "drop weapons" to fake attacks on soldiers; and intimidating several of his own unit members from speaking out against the unit's alleged murder plots and rampant drug use.

This photo from the U.S. Army shows Sgt. Calvin Gibbs' tattoos that are suspected to represent his "kills."

After his May 2010 arrest in Afghanistan, Gibbs showed investigators a tattoo on his lower left leg depicting crossed pistols and five skulls. He told investigators the skulls were a way to keep track of his kills in both Iraq and Afghanistan, according to investigative interview notes shown to CNN.

Gibbs has pleaded not guilty. His attorney Phillip Stackhouse did not respond to CNN's requests for comment. Stackhouse said in a preliminary hearing this summer that Gibbs acted lawfully and that other soldiers who have testified against him were unreliable witnesses.

Gibbs, a Billings, Montana, native who is married with a young son, faces life in a military prison. His trial is expected to last a week.

Twelve soldiers from the Army's 5th Stryker Brigade have been charged in the case, including five with murder. Three of the soldiers charged with murder -- Spc. Adam Winfield, Pvt. Jeremy Morlock, and Pfc. Andrew Holmes -- have pleaded guilty in exchange for their testimony. Spc. Michael Wagnon has pleaded not guilty to a single charge of murder, and awaits court martial.

Several of the soldiers charged in the case documented the alleged murders through unsanctioned photographs of the bodies. In one of the photos, soldiers hold up a dead man's head and pose alongside the corpse, like a hunting trophy.

In March, these photos were obtained and published by German publication Der Spiegel and Rolling Stone magazine, generating comparisons to the Abu Ghraib scandal, and causing the Army to issue an apology.

Prosecutors have portrayed Gibbs as the kill squad's alleged ringleader. But according to testimony in the court martials of other soldiers, he didn't have to push many of the soldiers very hard to take part in the killings which he referred to as "scenarios."

"It wasn't a completely new conversation," Pvt. Jeremy Morlock testified during a July hearing. "It wasn't far-fetched. Rolling around our minds I guess."

Getting away with murder

Gibbs openly discussed how easy it would be to kill Afghan civilians and then make them appear as if they were insurgents, other soldiers have testified. They said they thought Gibbs was joking.

Pvt. Jeremy Morlock, left, and Pfc. Andrew Holmes, right, have both pleaded guilty to murder charges.

Morlock said the alleged "kill squad" soldiers carried out the executions spur of the moment.

"There was never anything planned," he testified. "Like this date or this time. We found an opportunity."

Video: Morlock details killing to investigator

The first "opportunity," Morlock testified, came in January 2010 during a patrol of a village called La Mohammad Kalay. Morlock told investigators that he and another soldier, Pfc. Andrew Holmes, spotted a teenage farmer named Gul Mudin alone in a field. They beckoned him closer.

"I could see his hands were empty," Holmes testified. "He didn't have a weapon."

Morlock testified he then threw a grenade and ordered Holmes to open fire. The blast ripped the man apart. Morlock testified that the grenade was "off the books" -- one that couldn't be traced back to him. It was, he said, given to him by Sgt. Gibbs.

As Mudin lay dying, Morlock and Holmes later testified, they told fellow soldiers the Afghan farmer had tried to attack them with the grenade. Against military regulations, the men posed for photographs with their "kill."

Both Morlock and Holmes pleaded guilty as part of separate plea deals with prosecutors. Morlock is serving a 24-year sentence for killing Mudin, and two other unarmed Afghan men, and Holmes was sentenced to seven years in military prison.

Holmes' mother: Where was the Army?

Morlock testified that he boasted about the shooting. Soon, word spread about the alleged "kill squad" among their fellow soldiers on base and even among some family members back home.

"People in my platoon ... can get away with murder," Spc. Adam Winfield wrote his father on Facebook on February 14, 2010. "Everyone pretty much knows it was staged."

Chris Winfield was stunned when he read his son's message. He tried to report his son's account and even, he said, called Joint Base Lewis-McChord where the division is based.

He said his warnings were not heeded.

Adam Winfield testified that he later told his father that he was afraid for his own life and not to seek any more scrutiny for the unit's alleged activities.

'They were not posing any threat to us'

In February 2010, the squad went on a mission to a village called Kari Kheyl. There, Gibbs, Morlock and Spc. Michael Wagnon entered the hut of man a named Marach Agha. They ordered Agha outside and then, according to Morlock, Gibbs turned to the other two soldiers.

"'Were we okay to go ahead and shoot this guy?'" Gibbs asked the soldiers, according to Morlock's testimony. "We said 'yeah.'"

Spc. Adam Winfield testified he was afraid of Sgt. Gibbs and his easy talk of covering up murders in a war zone.

Gibbs first fired a contraband AK-47 into a wall, Morlock said, to simulate enemy fire. Then with his M4 rifle, Gibbs shot Agha, Morlock testified. Morlock said he and Wagnon also fired rounds to make it appear as if the soldiers had been attacked first.

Wagnon is charged with Agha's killing and has pleaded not guilty.

In March 2010, while on patrol, Gibbs spotted two Afghan men who he said were carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. But what the men held was actually a shovel, Staff Sgt. Robert G. Stevens, a medic who was also on the patrol, later testified.

"They were not posing any threat to us," Stevens said. Gibbs ordered the soldiers to shoot them, according to Stevens. The medic told the court he intentionally shot 75 yards away from the Afghans, who fled.

"Sgt. Gibbs said we needed to work on our accuracy," Stevens testified, "Because it did not appear that we hit anyone."

As part of a plea deal, Stevens was sentenced to nine months in prison for that incident and for faking an insurgent attack on a nighttime Army vehicle convoy with a grenade.

After he threw the grenade, Stevens testified, soldiers in the convoy fired at nearby Afghan huts. Stevens said he did not believe any Afghans were hit. None of the soldiers in the convoy were injured by explosion.

Combat decorations awarded to the soldiers were later rescinded after investigators discovered Stevens had thrown the grenade.

Stevens testified that Sgt. Gibbs gave him the grenade hidden in a sock. Also in the sock, Stevens testified, was a human finger.

In May 2010, Gibbs, Morlock and Winfield were among soldiers on a patrol in a village called Qualaday. In the three months since writing his father on Facebook, Winfield had shifted from wanting to expose Gibbs to trying to get into the sergeant's good graces.

Winfield was afraid of his sergeant, he would later testify, and his easy talk of covering up murders in a war zone.

In Qualaday, Winfield testified, the three men singled out a man named Mullah Allah Dad, the local cleric, and led him away from the compound where he lived with his wife and children. Winfield said Gibbs ordered the man to kneel in a ditch.

"I had an idea that Sgt. Gibbs was looking for a kill," Winfield told the court. Then, with Winfield and Morlock shielded behind a low wall, Winfield said Gibbs threw a grenade at Allah Dad. The explosion, he said, ripped the cleric apart.

Morlock and Winfield next opened fire to simulate a firefight and then the soldiers planted a grenade near the man, Winfield testified.

Depressed over his role in the incident, Winfield said he grew afraid that Gibbs might want to silence him. While walking across base to talk with a chaplain, Winfield said Gibbs suddenly intercepted him.

"Sgt. Gibbs reminded me I shouldn't be talking about things I shouldn't be talking about," Winfield testified.

Winfield said Gibbs warned him that he could kill Winfield and make it look like an accident.

Meanwhile Gibbs' behavior was becoming more outlandish, other soldiers said. According to the soldiers who testified at preliminary hearings in Gibbs' case, he showed off fingers and teeth he had removed from corpses and discussed throwing candy onto roads.

The sweets would draw children who they could then run over, he allegedly theorized.

'Kill squad' unravels

The unraveling of the alleged "kill squad" came about not from targeting Afghans but after prosecutors said Gibbs organized an attack on a fellow soldier.

Three days after prosecutors say Gibbs killed Mullah Allah Dad, he and six other soldiers confronted Pfc. Justin Stoner. The soldiers were furious at Stoner for ratting them out for abusing drugs.

According to prosecutors, several of the soldiers used Stoner's room to smoke hashish they bought from Afghan translators. Stoner, according to prosecutors, was afraid he would shoulder all the blame for the drug abuse and complained to superiors

The soldiers began to beat Stoner, prosecutors charged. After the alleged stomp down, according to prosecutors, Gibbs showed Stoner fingers he allegedly cut off the corpses of dead Afghan men

The alleged threat backfired though and Stoner soon was talking about the drug abuse, the beating and killings of civilians to investigators.

Gibbs was arrested in May 2010 in Afghanistan and on Friday, he faces those charges in a military courtroom some 7,000 miles away from the Afghan villages he is accused of terrorizing.

Even though none of the soldiers' officers have been charged for participating in or knowing about the alleged kill squad, they bear some responsibility for the unit's actions, Stjepan Mestrovic, a sociology professor at Texas A&M University told CNN in an interview..

The distinction between an enemy and a civilian broke down. They saw everyone out there as an enemy.
Stjepan Mestrovic, sociology professor and defense witness

"There was a focus on body counts and aggression throughout the brigade," said Mestrovic who testified for Morlock's defense and was permitted to review documents in the case including a sealed report on what the brigade leadership knew.

Mestrovic described a "dysfunctional command climate" where officers disregarded the military's declared counterinsurgency mission of engaging and winning support with the local population.

"In this climate there was a 'kill board,'" Mestrovic said, describing the way in which units were ranked for how many Taliban they had killed. "They had a brigade commander who wanted a high body count, who was constantly preaching to search out and kill the enemy rather than what they mockingly called 'go and have tea with the village elders.' "

But prior to Gibbs' arrival, the unit hadn't had any kills, Mestrovic said, and was being pushed to be more aggressive with an enemy that preferred to ambush rather than directly engage them.

The soldiers' frustration and boredom became a toxic mix, Jeremy Morlock testified. "We lost fellow soldiers to IEDs and lived in fear of being killed by them on a daily basis. ... I just wanted to survive and come home in one piece," Morlock told the court. "I realize now I wasn't fully prepared for the reality of war as it was being fought in Afghanistan."

"Soldiers were basically left on their own," Mestrovic said. "The distinction between an enemy and a civilian broke down. They saw everyone out there as an enemy."

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Qatar's Al Sadd make Asian football history

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Uruguayan coach Jorge Fossati celebrates after guiding Al Sadd to the Asian Champions League final.Al Sadd the first Qatari football club to reach Asian Champions League finalJorge Fossati's team beat South Korea's Suwon Bluewings 2-1 on aggregateAl Sadd will face Jeonbuk Motors, after Koreans beat Saudi Arabia's Al IttihadThe final will be at Jeonbuk's Jeonju World Cup Stadium on November 5

(CNN) -- Al Sadd coach Jorge Fossati praised his team for overcoming a "big injustice" to become the first Qatari football club to reach the Asian Champions League final.

The former Uruguay coach saw his Doha-based team record a 2-1 aggregate victory over Suwon Bluewings after losing 1-0 to South Korea's two-time Asian champions on Wednesday, despite having key players suspended following an ill-tempered first leg last week.

"Of course we are very, very happy," the 58-year-old told the Asian Football Confederation website. "To overcome them was difficult. There were many problems and yet we won and that's why I am happy.

"You know we had to play this game with big injustice. We didn't have some players because of non-football issues. In this situation, we tried to do our best with whatever resources we had."

Five players and coaches were suspended for the match at the Sheik Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, after a mass brawl broke out following Al Sadd's controversial second goal in the 2-0 win in Suwon on October 19.

You know we had to play this game with big injustice ... we tried to do our best with whatever resources we had
Jorge Fossati

The fighting erupted after Senegal striker Mamadou Niang scored his and Al Sadd's late second goal while Suwon's players were tending to an injured teammate, presuming play had been halted.

Former Marseille forward Niang was later sent off and missed the return leg along with Ivory Coast attacker Kader Keita and goalkeeping coach Suhail Saber Ali, while Suwon were missing Macedonian striker Stevica Ristic and coach Ko Jong-Su.

But even without their star players, Al Sadd held on after Oh Jang-Eun had given Suwon a 1-0 lead with a sixth-minute volley, as Khalfan Ibrahim hit the Koreans' crossbar with a vicious long-range shot before halftime.

Earlier on Wednesday, South Korea's Jeonbuk Motors advanced to the November 5 final courtesy of a 5-3 aggregate win over Saudi Arabia's Al Ittihad.

After a 3-2 away success last week, the 2006 Asian champions won 2-1 thanks to first-half goals from Brazil forward Eninho.

Al Ittihad's only response was a late consolation goal from former Bordeaux winger Wendel Geraldo, after both teams had been reduced to 10 men.

Al Ittihad, the 2004 and 2005 champions, suffered an early blow when Naif Hazazi -- the scorer of both first-leg goals -- was sent off in the 11th minute for a headbutt, while Jeonbuk substitute Krunoslav Lovrek received a second yellow card late in the match.

Jeonbuk coach Choi Kang-Hee was pleased his team would have home advantage at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium.

"We got what we wanted," said Choi, a former Suwon coach. "We are at home for the final and that is an advantage for us. The lead we took from the first leg gave us some breathing space at home but we knew well that Al Ittihad are a very good team.

"We expected them to come at us strongly and we were ready for that. Eninho's goals were a big help but we still had work to do and were able to get the result we needed."

Jeonbuk will attempt to keep the Champions League title in South Korean hands for the third year in succession, after Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma's victory in 2010 and the Pohang Steelers' 2009 triumph.

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Army Ranger, 29, killed in Afghanistan on 14th deployment

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Sgt. 1st Class Kristoffer Domeij, 29, was killed in Afghanistan, along with two other soldiers, on Saturday.NEW: Coach says Kristoffer Domeij's death has been hard on communityDomeij was one of 3 killed days ago while on a mission in Kandahar provinceHe joined the Army in 2001 and became a Ranger the next yearHis unit commander calls him "irreplacable" in combat and in life

(CNN) -- Fourteen times in nine years, Sgt. 1st Class Kristoffer Domeij had left his family behind and headed out on deployment as an Army Ranger, taking part in hundreds of combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, all before his 30th birthday.

His most recent tour turned out to be his last.

The veteran soldier's death rattled his commanders, as well as those in his native San Diego. His former football coach, Jeff Carpenter, remembered Domeij as diligent, funny, passionate and team-oriented.

"I told my classes that I was incredibly sad to begin with and incredibly angry," said Carpenter, who besides being an assistant coach the past 18 years is also a social sciences teacher at Rancho Bernardo High School. "Just the fact that it happened to someone like him -- it's hard."

Domeij, 1st Lt. Ashley White and Pvt. 1st Class Christopher Horns all died Saturday in Kandahar province when an improvised explosive device blew up near their assault force, according to a U.S. Army Special Operations Command news release.

The trio's death is far from unprecedented: According to CNN's count, based on U.S. military reports, there have been 1,811 U.S. troops killed during Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan that began in October 2001.

Each person, each death, is unique. In Domeij's case, that translates to a man whom his unit commander described as "irreplaceable" -- on the battlefield and in life.

"He was one of those men who known by all as much for his humor, enthusiasm and loyal friendship as he was for his unparalleled skill and bravery under fire," said Lt. Col. David Hodne, head of the 75th Ranger Regiment's 2nd battalion. "This was a Ranger you wanted at your side when the chips were down."

Domeij distinguished himself as a person as much as he did as a player while in high school, his former coach recalled.

"He was just a great kid," Carpenter said, describing his great sense of humor and engaging personality. "And we knew, as coaches, that no matter what, this was a kid who was going to play hard and (all) out."

Carpenter said he wasn't surprised when Domeij told him he was going to enlist. "It made all the sense in the world," the coach said, given Domeij's proven dedication to and ability to thrive as a member of a team.

So Domeij joined the Army in July, a few months after graduating high school and not long before the September 11 terrorist attacks. Nine months later, he became part of the Ranger regiment.

Domeij was based at that unit's headquarters at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, where his role was as a joint terminal attack controller. The person in this position often advances into harm's way, directing allied combat aircraft on where and when to strike.

His regiment's commander, Col. Mark Odom, called Domeij "technically and tactically competent" as well as critically important.

"His ability to employ fire support platforms made him a game-changer on the battlefield -- an operator who, in real terms, had the value of an entire strike force on the battlefield," Odom said in the news release.

The military culture is very much ingrained in the Southern California culture in which Domeij grew up. Much of the Pacific fleet is based there at U.S. Naval Base San Diego. A large Marine base at Camp Pendleton is about 30 miles northwest of Rancho Bernardo High, with the famed Marine Corps Air Station Miramar about 11 miles south.

The parents of many of that high school's students -- whose enrollment was about 3,000 when Domeij attended -- are in the military, Carpenter notes. Yet while multiple students enlist each year, Domeij's death is the first his coach can recall since Rancho Bernardo opened in 1990.

Carpenter said he'd kept in touch with his former player since graduation, knowing full well that was in Special Operations and in harm's way. But he said neither he nor were others in the community was prepared for the news.

"This was really hard," Carpenter said. "I don't know if we knew how to deal with it."

The thousands of veterans who live in the area know the dangers and trauma of war all too well. That's one reason why they have made it a priority to look out for those now serving overseas, Frank Csaszar said Friday from VFW Post 3788 in San Diego.

"The returning troops coming back home the current wars, we give them a group hug," said Csaszar, an Army veteran who served during the Vietnam War. "We're right there, and we support them."

In Domeij's case, such support now will be extended to his surviving family. He leaves behind his wife, Sarah, and daughters Mikajasa and Aaliyah, both of whom now live in Lacey, Washington. He is also survived by his mother, Scoti Domeij of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and his brother, Kyle Domeij of San Diego.

According to Carpenter, Domeij never relished the spotlight and probably would not want it now, upon his death. But as with other troops who have died in combat, Carpenter said, the recognition is well-deserved.

"Some of this attention would probably bother (Domeij), because he felt he was a guy doing his job, which he believed in," the coach said. "But these guys are heroes."

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British soldiers end Libya mission

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Smoke billows from a suburb of Tripoli on June 4, after NATO warplanes launched intensive air raids the capital.At the peak of the mission, Britain had 2,300 personnel in the mission The seven-month campaign helped bring an end to Moammar GadhafiGadhafi's family says it will file a complaint against NATO

(CNN) -- British soldiers involved in the NATO operation in Libya are headed home, the U.K. defence ministry said, following a decision to end the mission next week.

After seven months of an aerial bombing campaign that helped depose longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi, NATO said Friday it is ending its mission in Libya on Monday.

"Our armed forces can be immensely proud that their hard work has assured the liberty of the Libyan people. This is a job well done and we will be sending our crews home from tonight," U.K. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said Friday. "I have given my personal thanks today to some of the aircrew and support personnel at Gioia del Colle."

Most British military assets have been based at the Gioia del Colle airfield in Italy during the campaign.

British air assets, including tankers and surveillance aircraft, will return home in the coming days, he said in a statement.

At the peak of the mission, Britain had 2,300 personnel, 32 aircraft and four ships, the defence ministry said.

Some operations will continue until Monday, but on a smaller basis that will require less aircraft.

NATO's announcement comes after the United Nations Security Council rescinded its March mandate for military intervention to protect civilians targeted during anti-regime protests.

Meanwhile, Gadhafi's relatives said NATO's actions led to the strongman's death, and plan to file a war crimes complaint with the International Criminal Court, a lawyer representing the family said.

"All of the events that have taken place since February 2011 and the murder of Gadhafi, all of this means we are totally in our right to call upon the International Criminal Court," said Marcel Ceccaldi, the lawyer.

Questions have been raised about how Gadhafi was killed.

Amateur videos showed him alive when captured by the opposition. He died from a shot in the head, officials said, but the circumstances surrounding the shot remain unclear.

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Manchester City forced to reduce Tevez fine

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Carlos Tevez has not featured for Manchester City since his row with Roberto Mancini.Manchester City forced to halve the fine handed out to Carlos TevezProfessional Footballers' Association said four week fine was excessiveTevez docked a month's wages by his club for five breaches of contractCity say the PFA's involvement in the case is a 'conflict of interest'

(CNN) -- Manchester City have been forced to halve the four-week fine they handed out to Carlos Tevez after the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) refused to sanction the move.

The English Premier League club had punished the Argentina international with a fine of a month's wages after finding him guilty of five breaches of contract for his refusal to warm up during a Champions League game with German club Bayern Munich.

Tevez was a substitute in Germany and City initially accused the striker of refusing to play but later downgraded the charges.

As such, the PFA, the union that represent players in England and Wales, insisted that a fine of two week's wages was the maximum allowed.

In a statement on their official web site City said: "Manchester City is disappointed by the apparent PFA conflict of interest evident in this process.

Manchester City is disappointed by the apparent PFA conflict of interest evident in this process
Manchester City statement

"Carlos Tevez has been personally represented throughout by the PFA chief executive, on whose considerations the club has been informed that the PFA has made its decision.

"Manchester City has been in constant dialogue with the PFA since September 28th. Today's PFA decision is a departure from the club's understanding of that dialogue.

"Without recourse to the PFA decision available, the maximum two-week fine provided for in standard player contracts will now be applied in relation to the misconduct of Carlos Tevez."

Tevez has not featured for City since the Bayern game in late September when the row with manager Roberto Mancini erupted on the touchline.

The Italian said after the game that Tevez had refused to come on as a substitute and also said the striker would "never" play for the club again.

Tevez insisted the incident was a misunderstanding, claiming he refused to warm-up because he had already done so. Tevez has been forced to train alone since the incident.

In his absence City have built up a five point lead at the top of the Premier League and recorded a 6-1 win at rivals Manchester United last weekend. They face Wolves on Saturday.

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Flood-hit Bangkok braces for high tide

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Ex-Guantanamo guard tells of violence against detainees

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Brandon Neely: Guantanamo is "a significant black eye on the Unites States."Former U.S. military police officer Brandon Neely was deployed to Guantanamo Bay's Camp X-Ray detention facitilyNeely says he feels ashamed of his treatment of detainees and unease about the facility's purposeHe describes prisoners being subjected to violence by fellow guardsEditor's note: Nearly three years after President Obama declared the Guantanamo prison for terrorist suspects would be closed, the camp in Cuba remains open. Of the more than 750 inmates that were once held there, fewer than 200 remain now. CNN contributor Jenifer Fenton interviewed some of the former inmates, and one of the guards.

(CNN) -- "We were told that they were all guilty ... that these were the worst of the worst," Brandon Neely said about the detainees who were arriving at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"We were told that these guys, all of them, had either helped plan 9/11 or were caught red handed on the battlefield, weapon in hand, fighting American soldiers ... These are the people that would kill you in a heartbeat if you turn your back on them."

In June 2000, Specialist Neely, now 31, enlisted for five years as a military police officer. He left later that summer for Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for training and was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas upon graduating. In early January 2002, Neely boarded a plane to Guantanamo Bay, where he would be stationed for the next six months. He had volunteered for the deployment not knowing what it was or where it would take him.

"I was asleep in my barracks one morning. They knocked on my door and ... told me there were two deployments that were going to happen in the deployment area."

Neely agreed to go on one and then went out with his friends later that night. The next day, he was informed that he would be stationed at Guantanamo. "I was kind of mad that I was going to go to Guantanamo instead of the front lines of the war," Neely recalled.

I didn't really understand what a terrorist was going to look like. I know that sounds funny and really naive. I was kind of shocked that a lot of them were very little and malnourished.
Brandon Neely, former Guantanamo guard

His superiors told him he would be stationed a detention facility, Neely said. "They had decided from the start that it was different from an enemy prison of war camp ... We were told in the first couple of minutes at Gitmo that this was a detention facility and the Geneva Conventions would not be in effect ... There was no army manual on this, no standard operation procedure."

Neely did not receive any special or additional training for working at Guantanamo, he said. He, and the rest of the company (about 110 people), arrived just a few days before the first detainees did. Contractors "were still welding the cells at the time," he said.

As a military policeman, Neely was not involved in interrogations. The company's assignments included escorting duties -- taking detainees to the showers or a medical examination and filling the water buckets in the cells.

"At Camp X-Ray you would have to take a water hose and put water in their buckets ... They had two buckets, one for water and one to use as the restroom," Neely said. Personnel could also be assigned to check identifications or to the Internal Reaction Force team. The jobs rotated on a daily basis for the most part.

On January 11, the prisoners began to arrive. "We were told those [detainees] were the top guys. This is the group that they had to get out of Afghanistan because they were literally the worst of the worst," Neely said. He was not sure what to expect.

"I didn't really understand what a terrorist was going to look like. I know that sounds funny and really naive. I was kind of shocked that a lot of them were very little and malnourished." Neely remembered commenting at the time: "If these are the world's most dangerous men, we don't have very much to worry about."

The detainees were wearing blacked out goggles, leg shackles, three-piece suits and ear muffs. Some had gloves on, Neely said.

There was an incident on the first day that he was involved in. He said after the detainees were processed, their pictures and fingerprints were taken and they were given a quick check over. Then they were to be escorted to their cells.

Neely said he and his escorting partner were taking one detainee assigned to Alpha Block. They started to walk but the detainee was shaking and would not walk. "So we started yelling and screaming at him to walk faster ... We were actually walking so fast and he wouldn't walk so we had to pick him up off the ground and we were carrying him."

The detainee was put in his cell with Neely taking control of his upper body. His leg shackles and right handcuff were taken off. Neely said when he went to take off the left handcuff the detainee jerked toward him.

I have no problem fighting and dying for this country, but I am not going to kill or be killed for something I don't believe in
Brandon Neely

"We started yelling at him and screaming at him not to move," Neely said. Neely said the detainee continued to jerk when he and his partner tried again to remove the cuff.

"Next thing I know I slammed him on the ground and I was on top of him. He was trying to get up. I kept pushing his head down to the... concrete floor." Neely said he could hear people on the radio calling "code red Alpha Block." His escorting partner had backed out of the cell and closed the cell door.

"It was just me and the detainee in there." The IRF team "opened the cell door, grabbed me by the back of my uniform and pulled me outside and they just went in there hogtied him and left him there for I don't know how long."

A few weeks later, Neely said he was told by one of the English-speaking detainees why the man kept moving. "The reason he had moved was not to fight... He still had the blacked out goggles on so he could not see. He thought he was going to be executed," Neely said. "A lot of those guys thought they were going to be executed when we put them on their knees and started talking their cuffs off."

Neely said he felt ashamed. He said he witnessed abuse by the guards and others during his six months at the camp.

He said in one incident that occurred in the first few weeks at the camp, a detainee refused to drink a can of the protein drink Ensure, which many detainees were given because they were malnourished. The IRF was called to restrain the detainee so a medic could give him the drink. Upon entering the detainee's cell, one of the IRF team hit the detainee with a shield, Neely said.

The entire team was soon on top of the detainee so it was difficult to see what has happening, according to Neely. The IRF team then stood the detainee up and handcuffed him to the cage fencing and the medic entered the cage, grabbed the detainee by the neck and emptied the can of Ensure into his mouth, but he detainee did not swallow it, Neely said.

The medic then punched the detainee and walked out of the cage like nothing had happened, he added. The detainee was un-cuffed from the cage, hogtied and left that way for several hours, according to Neely, who said he later learned that the detainee thought he was being poisoned.

In another incident, when the camp had been operational for about two months, a detainee allegedly made a comment about one of the female guards and the IRF team was called to Bravo Block.

"They went up to the cell door and they told [the detainee] to turn around and put his hands on his head. He didn't listen," Neely said. The IRF team unlocked the cell door, at which point the detainee turned around put his hands on his head and went on his knees.

The IRF team opened the cell door and the one team member carrying a riot shield threw it off to the side. "And whatever little speed he could gather from that short distance he jumped up in the air and came down with his knee right in the middle of the back of [the detainee] and landed right on top of him."

The other four men started punching the detainee. "Then someone on the inside called the female MP... in there to hit him. And she did," Neely said.

When it was all over the detainee was in a pool of blood unconscious, according to Neely. The detainee was taken by ambulance to the main hospital in Guantanamo. The detainee was later released from Guantanamo Bay without charge, Neely said.

Asked about the allegations, a U.S. military spokeswoman told CNN via email that the Department of Defense does not tolerate the abuse of detainees and takes such allegations seriously. She however denied there was a pattern of systematic mistreatment.

"All credible allegations of abuse are thoroughly investigated, and appropriate disciplinary action is taken when those allegations are substantiated," Cmdr. Leslie Hull-Ryde said.

But she added: "Although there have been substantiated cases of abuse in the past, for which U.S. service members have been held accountable, our enemies also have employed a deliberate campaign of exaggerations and fabrications. The suggestion that DoD personnel, the overwhelming majority of whom serve honorably, are or ever were engaged in systematic mistreatment of detainees is false and does not withstand scrutiny."

As for Neely, he still recalls his conversations with the detainees who spoke English.

"I was always kind of worried about them because of all the stuff I had heard," Neely said. "We were told they were all guilty." The two prisoners he spoke to the most were former British detainees Ruhal Ahmed and Shafiq Rasul. At Guantanamo, they would talk about music and normal subjects. "Eminem and Dr. Dre... at the time [they] were real big," Neely said.

Ahmed "would tell us he was from London. It was kind of weird, because here this guy was in Guantanamo behind this cell door and here I was on the outside ... He was actually doing a lot of the same stuff that I was doing in the United States ... We had a little bit in common."

Ahmed and Rasul were released from Guantanamo and transferred to Britain in 2004. They sued for damages against Donald Rumsfeld, the former U.S. secretary of state, and other senior military officers over alleged inhumane treatment at Guantanamo. The case was dismissed because the alleged abuse occurred before the U.S Supreme Court said that the constitution covered detainees in Guantanamo.

Neely returned to Fort Hood after his six-month deployment at Guantanamo was up. When he left, he signed a non-disclosure statement -- which he said was routine -- stating that he would not talk to the press, write a book or make a movie. He was told he could be prosecuted if he did, but has gone public about his concerns because he disagrees with U.S. policies in places like Guantanamo and Iraq. He has also testified to the Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas at the University of California, Davis.

"I have no problem fighting and dying for this country, but I am not going to kill or be killed for something I don't believe in," he said.

Neely deployed to Iraq in 2003, returned to the U.S. the following year and left the military in 2005, when his contract was up. In 2007, Neely did not respond to a recall for active duty and he was honorably discharged. He now works as a police officer in Texas, where he is raising three children.

He thinks the detention center should be closed. "I think someone would be naive to say that everybody that ever stepped foot in Guantanamo was innocent," Neely said. We know they are not, but "the fact is there is a better way to do it ... you can't just throw the principles and the values of the country and the law of the land out the window because it benefits you." Detaining innocent people and depriving them of their due process is "a significant black eye on the Unites States," Neely added.

There will be a time and a place when Neely will tell his children -- the oldest is now 10 -- about Guantanamo. I will "give them all the information and let them make their own opinion ... I'll just tell them the truth ... I will tell them that I have been part of it."

Neely initially contacted Rasul via Facebook and then met with Ahmed and Rasul, the two former British detainees, in London almost two years ago.

Neely wanted to get in touch with them to say that he was sorry for the part he played in their detention at Guantanamo. "I was very nervous to meet them," Neely said. He did not know what might happen. "I wasn't sure if they would hate me, yell at me," he added. "I can honestly say though when I left London I left with two more friends then I arrived with."

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Review: Depp's 'Rum Diary' worth the wait

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Drug kingpin's nephew arrested in Texas

Federal agents detained Rafael Cardenas Vela in southern Texas, an official says"He is the nephew" of the former head of the Gulf Cartel, Cameron County sheriff saysCardenas Vela was arrested during a traffic stop
(CNN) -- The nephew and protege of an imprisoned Mexican drug cartel kingpin was arrested Wednesday by federal agents in southern Texas, an official told CNN.
Rafael Cardenas Vela was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Port Isabel, according to a court affidavit filed by Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Tomas Salazar.
"He is the nephew" of Osiel Cardenas Guillen, Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio told CNN. He said the suspect told an officer with the sheriff's office of his relationship with the former head of the Matamoros-based Gulf Cartel, who is serving a 25-year drug-trafficking sentence at the Supermax prison in Fremont County, Colorado.
Under Cardenas Guillen's leadership, the Gulf Cartel was responsible for smuggling thousands of kilograms of cocaine and marijuana into the United States, according to the FBI.
Cardenas Vela told agents he, too, had been involved in "the transportation and importation of marijuana and cocaine into the United States for several years," and admitted to having sold nearly five tons of marijuana two years ago to people he knew were taking it to the United States for further distribution, the criminal complaint said.
Cardenas Vela was arrested early Wednesday in a traffic stop, Cameron County Constable Horacio Zamora said.
Texas authorities said they believe Cardenas Vela wants to mimic his uncle's work.
A Mexican citizen, Cardenas Vela was arrested carrying a valid Mexican passport and valid U.S. visa under the name "Pedro Garcia Gonzalez." He admitted to federal agents that he was in the United States without legal documentation and was using the visa to travel, the criminal complaint said.
It was not clear where the suspect was being held. Cameron County officials said Cardenas Vela was not in their jail system and federal authorities did not disclose his whereabouts.
"We usually do not provide details as to location of those in detention," said Angela Dodge with the U.S. attorney's office in Houston, which has jurisdiction over southern Texas.
Cameron County is home to Brownsville, across the river from Matamoros.
A representative of the federal attorney general in Mexico City said the office was aware of the arrest, but had no immediate comment.
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The power of a good luck charm?

Texas Rangers pitcher C.J. Wilson wore a necklace by Phiten that some believe give athletes an edge.Texas Rangers face St. Louis Cardinals in World Series Game 6, postponed to Thursday eveningThere is psychological value to an item worn consistently, one sports psychologist saysSome well-known superstitous athletes include Michael Jordan, Wade Boggs and Turk WendellManufacturer's claims of special technology in metal-infused jewelry are unproved
(CNN) -- As Texas Rangers pitcher C.J. Wilson took to the mound Monday night, he wore a rope-like necklace that may be nothing more than a fashion choice, but if he believes in the maker's claims, that may give him an "edge" against his opponents at bat.
It's not just Wilson; a surprising number of professional athletes have begun wearing the titanium-laced necklaces, including Rangers Derrick Holland, Mitch Moreland and Elvis Andrus.
The "edge" the necklaces' manufacturer, Phiten, claims to give is not proved, but especially for athletes, there is psychological value to an item worn consistently, rituals and superstitions, one sports psychologist says.
"For athletes, there's this unpredictability in sports. They never know how they're going to play, how the other team is going to play, so when you do something that's superstitious, like wearing a trinket, it gives you a greater sense of control," said Gregg Steinberg, an author of "Full Throttle" and professor of human performance at Austin Peay State University.
Some athletes' rituals have been well documented: Pitcher Turk Wendell wore a necklace made from the teeth of hunted animals.
Michael Jordan famously wore his college shorts under his NBA uniforms; third baseman Wade Boggs had to eat chicken before games and wrote the Hebrew symbol "chai," meaning life, in the dirt before batting.
The extra sense of control from the ritual leads to calmness, and calm leads to better performance, explains Steinberg. Whether there are any tangible, special properties in the lucky charm is just beside the point for a sports psychologist.
Fourteen-year-old baseball player Derek Halford of Baltimore says he got his own Phiten necklace when he was 11, after watching the pros wear them.
"Last season, I forgot to wear it to a game, and I called my mom to go get it, because I refused to play without it," Halford said.
This season, he says, he views the necklace differently, but only slightly.
"I probably would still play, but my mind would be all messed up. I probably wouldn't play as well. I probably wouldn't be focused on the game, because I'd be thinking about not having it on."
His first necklace was the plain kind -- selling for $36 -- but now he has upgraded to the newer, larger twisted-rope "Tornado," which costs $50.
Halford adds this self-observation: "I got it for the purpose of making me a better athlete, but now I use it just as a lucky charm."
Bill Burgos, an NBA strength and conditioning coordinator, says that he doesn't intervene when high-performers find value in lucky charms. "When guys have a certain way of doing things, you don't want to mess with that."
The Japanese manufacturer says its products, which include bracelets worn by some pro golfers, do have a special technology that sets them apart.
By fusing fabric with "a novel form of technology that involves metals broken down into microscopic particles dispersed in water" -- metals like titanium and gold -- Phiten is "able to realize customers' potentials in a variety of extents that leads to restore normal status of customers," says the company's website.
Claims like that -- and paid endorsements from 23 professional athletes in the United States alone -- seem to be enough to convince many athletes that it's better to be safe than sorry. Better to be mistaken than without.
"Phiten has used a pseudoscientific appeal in marketing their products. They talk about 'micro-sized titanium spheres' and other things that give the product the air of technology without any real science to back it up," explains professor Stuart Vyse of Connecticut College, author of "Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition."
The Lavidge Co., which represents Phiten U.S.A., could not provide any published studies finding a medical benefit from wearing its metal-infused necklaces and bracelets.
"Baseball players and others who engage in superstitious behaviors understanding that they have no scientific support are likely to say 'I just don't want to take a chance,' " Vyse said." And they get an emotional benefit from doing something that makes them feel like they have greater control. Even when that feeling is an illusion."
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17 reported dead in Syria clashes

Damascus 'still al-Assad's town'NEW: Syrian forces accused of using nail bombs on peaceful demonstratorsSyrian President Bashar al-Assad meets with other regional leaders at an Arab League Ministers meeting
(CNN) -- Seventeen people were reported dead in Syria Wednesday as a result of continued clashes between government and opposition forces, a leading opposition group said.
The death toll included two children in the city of Homs, and a child in the Damascus suburb of Douma, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria announced.
The latest violence occurred as opposition leaders called for a nationwide general strike, and embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad huddled in Damascus with other regional leaders at an Arab League Ministers meeting. The meeting "was honest and friendly," and the group "felt that the Syrian government wants to work ... to reach a solution," Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani said, according to Syrian state television.
"President Assad did not accept all the initiatives submitted to him, but he did not reject our points and requests," said Arab League Deputy Secretary-General Ahmed bin Heli. "Our main concern is to stop the bloodshed of the Syrian people." The delegation of Arab foreign ministers will resume talks with Syrian officials on October 30, he said.
A large pro-government rally, meanwhile, was held in downtown Damascus, state television reported.
The political upheaval came a day after Amnesty International issued a report accusing the Syrian government of torturing wounded protesters at state-run hospitals, saying the country's authorities have turned medical facilities and their staffs into "instruments of repression."
The London-based human rights group called the alleged siege at government hospitals a new, troubling trend in efforts by the country's security forces to crack down on protests against al-Assad's regime, which have been going on for eight months.
A London-based opposition group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported the use by Syrian forces of nail bombs, which are prohibited under international law. The weapons have been used against peaceful protesters in different areas of Damascus suburbs , especially in Doma, Saqba, Ittel, and Misraba, the organization said. Links to YouTube videos purported to show the pierced flesh on the backs and arms of wounded protesters. CNN, which has not been able to report from inside the country, was not able to determine the videos' authenticity.
The Observatory called on the international community to intervene as it did in Libya.
On Monday, the United States temporarily pulled its ambassador out of Syria as a "result of credible threats against his personal safety," according to a State Department spokesman, who accused Syria of "incitement" against the ambassador.
"At this point, we can't say when (Ambassador Robert Ford) will return to Syria," Mark Toner said in a statement.
Soon after, Imad Moustapha, the Syrian ambassador to the United States, was recalled to Damascus "for consultations," embassy spokeswoman Roua Shurbaji said.
Relations between Syria and the United States have been tense in recent months as the Syrian government's crackdown has intensified. At least 3,000 people have died so far, the United Nations and other international observers estimate.
CNN's Pierre Meilhan, Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Alan Silverleib contributed to this report
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United by fate: The story of Libya's rebel national soccer team

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'http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/26/sport/football/football-libya-africa-qualify/index.html' : 'http://www.cnn.com'+location.pathname;cnnad_newTileIDGroup(['728x90_top','336x850_rgt']);cnnad_newTileIDGroup(['607x95_adlinks','336x280_adlinks']); EDITION:  INTERNATIONAL U.S. MÉXICO ARABIC Set edition preference Sign up Log in Home Video World U.S. Africa Asia Europe Latin America Middle East Business World Sport Entertainment Tech Travel iReport World Sport Home Football Golf Tennis Motorsport Sailing Analysis Share this on:FacebookTwitterDiggdeliciousredditMySpaceStumbleUponLinkedInViadeo United by fate: The story of Libya's rebel national soccer teamBy James Montague, CNNOctober 26, 2011 -- Updated 1305 GMT (2105 HKT)if (typeof cnnArticleGallery == "undefined") {var cnnArticleGallery = {};if(typeof cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList =="undefined"){cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList = [];}}var expGalleryPT00 = new ArticleExpandableGallery();expGalleryPT00.setImageCount(12);cnn_adbptrackpgalimg("Team Libya", 1);.cnn_html_slideshow_metadata > .cnn_html_media_utility::before {padding-right: 1px;content: '>>';font-size: 9px;line-height: 12px;color: red;}.cnnstrylccimg640 {margin: 0 27px 14px 0; /*note the exclusion of the top margin*/}.captionText {filter: alpha(opacity=100);opacity: 1;}.cnn_html_slideshow_media_caption a, .cnn_html_slideshow_media_caption a:visited, .cnn_html_slideshow_media_caption a:link, .captionText a, .captionText a:visited, .captiontext a:link {color: #004276;outline: medium none;The Libyan national soccer team line up before taking on Zambia in their final Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match. Their campaign has taken place with the civil war in the background. Several of the players, including midfielder Walid el Kahatroushi, decided to fight for the rebels. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":true,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":1,"title":"Team Libya"}The team couldn't train in Libya, given the security situation, so moved to neighboring Tunisia for an eight-day training camp where they played three warm-up matches against Tunisian club sides.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":2,"title":"From dawn \'til dusk"}Members of the Libyan team's backroom staff pray after training.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":3,"title":"Full time prayers"}The coaching staff, including coach Marcos Paqueta, watch on as the team plays its final warm-up match against Avenir Sportif De La Marsa. Two of Libya's players are injured in the first half and cannot travel to Zambia, including goalkeeper Guma Mousa. He had come back from fighting on the front line unscathed. Libya won 3-2.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":4,"title":"Kicked in the long grass"}Fans gather at Tunis airport to bid farewell to the Libya team. Such is the diversity of the Africa Cup of Nations their journey involves a four hour flight south to Cameroon, before going on to Ndola, a mining town on the Zambia-Congo border.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":5,"title":"Thank you for the roses"}The team arrives for its first training session at the Watson Stadium, Chingola, as curious local children watch on.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":6,"title":"Elementary, Watson"}After a near 24-hour journey from Tunis, the squad struggles in the afternoon heat.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":7,"title":"Training Day"}Zambia only need a point to secure their place in 2012's Nations Cup finals, to be held in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. Libya need to win, although a draw might be enough to secure one of two spots reserved for the best runners-up. Results in Ghana and Nigeria would have to go their way. But the local Zambian press is confident ahead of the match.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":8,"title":"Paper talk"}Zambia's fans gather at the Nchanga Stadium hours before kick off. The sound of vuvuzelas is deafening.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":9,"title":"The day of the match"}The Libya team wait nervously in the tunnel, waiting for the moment to walk out on to the pitch. There was some confusion over which of Libya's national anthems would be played. The Zambian government is yet to recognize the National Transitional Council. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":10,"title":"Tunnel vision"}But the match finishes 0-0, meaning that Zambia qualify. Libya played six matches, won three and drew three. They were unbeaten during their qualification campaign.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":11,"title":"Stalemate"}The players collapse to the floor, some in tears, others praying. But they still do not know if they are through. Then news arrives that results have gone their way. Ghana win and Nigeria concede a late equalizer in their match. Libya qualify for only their third ever Africa Cup of Nations which will take place in January 2012. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":12,"title":"Final whistle "}HIDE CAPTIONTeam LibyaFrom dawn 'til duskFull time prayersKicked in the long grassThank you for the rosesElementary, WatsonTraining DayPaper talkThe day of the matchTunnel visionStalemateFinal whistle <<<123456789101112>>>STORY HIGHLIGHTSCNN travels with the Libyan national soccer team to ZambiaThe team's campaign to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations coincided with Libya's civil warSeveral of the players had fought on the front line for the rebels The Africa Cup of Nations is one of the biggest tournaments in world football

Chingola, Zambia (CNN) -- It's 10 minutes after the final whistle has blown but still no one knows whether their efforts have been in vain.

The Libyan national soccer team sit in the dressing room at the Nchanga Stadium -- in Chingola, a small copper mining town on the Zambia-Congo border -- quietly waiting for news amidst the fog of sweat and redolence of rubefacient muscle rub.

The team has just drawn 0-0 with Zambia in their final qualification match for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, a qualification campaign that began with the country under the rule of Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, continued through the civil war and ended before the death of the former notorious leader.

Victory was needed to be sure of progression to next January's tournament in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. A draw meant that results elsewhere had to go their way.

I focus only on sports. At that time you don't know about the country
Libya coach Marcos Paqueta

As their campaign for Africa's biennial continental championship progressed with war as the backdrop, some players declared the team was behind Gadhafi. Others left the team to go and fight on the front line with the rebels.

In unison, somehow, they qualified; news that will shortly be relayed to the team when confirmation of results from other matches are circulated.

Six days earlier coach Marcos Paqueta is in good spirits in the lobby of his hotel in Tunis. The security situation is such that the team could not train in Tripoli. The Brazilian coach once famously won the under 17s and under 20s World Cups in the same year for his homeland, but signed for Libya in June 2010 when the Libyan Football Federation was run by one of Gadhafi's sons, Mohamed.

"When I was there the first time I contacted only the federation, then one time I have one meeting with Dr Mohamed," Paqueta explains of his dealings with the Gadhafi regime.

"He was happy because of the project I made for the national team and Libyan football. I focus only on sports. At that time you don't know about the country."

In the past, the Gadhafi family's dealings with soccer and its players had been much more hands on. His son Saadi played for Al Ahly Tripoli and installed himself as captain of the national team. The team plummeted to 186th on FIFA's rankings.

But they also used soccer as a political tool. In 2000 Saadi's Al Ahly Tripoli traveled to Al Ahly Benghazi for a league match. Benghazi had long been associated with Libya's opposition and the team's fans paraded a donkey wearing Saadi's shirt.

"It is a bad story, not a funny story," says 29-year-old defensive midfielder Moataz Ben Amer, the current captain of Al Ahly Benghazi.

"The first half, Tripoli are winning. But the referee is no good. So Ahly Benghazi goes to the airport [in protest]. Saadi Gadhafi turned up with his dogs and the police and said: 'If you don't play the second half, we will kick you'."

Unsurprisingly, the players returned to play the second half, and lost 3-0.

Colonel Gadhafi was so incensed that he ordered Al Ahly Benghazi's training ground to be destroyed. The club was also banned from domestic competition for five years. When Interpol released a "Red Notice" for Saadi Gadhafi in September, the allegations given were "misappropriating properties through force and armed intimidation when he headed the Libyan Football Federation."

Paqueta's early results were encouraging. Libya beat Zambia, one of Africa's best teams, in Tripoli. But then in February civil war broke out, dividing the players. After Libya had beaten the Comoros Islands in March the team's former captain, 34-year-old Tariq Taib, declared that the players were 100 per cent behind Gadhafi. He even labeled the rebels "rats and dogs."

Walid el Kahatroushi disagreed. The 27-year-old midfielder scored in that game but when the team gathered again in June, he decided to leave the camp and fight for the rebels when he heard a friend had been injured in the violence.

"Some people come to me and told me one of my dear friends was in the hospital and lost his arm ... in that moment I decided to leave the camp and join the front line ... in Jebel Nafousa," explains Kahatroushi.

My friends on the front line told me: 'this is your future, you must go there. This is also like a war for you'
Midfielder Walid el Kahatroushi

Life on the front line was hard. Friends would shield him from worst of the fighting until, in the end, he felt he had no choice

"When I was there I was just about forgetting about football because the most important thing then is how to secure your life and secure the life of your friends. If it was about me I would never come back, you would never find me here playing football. But ... my friends on the front line told me: 'This is your future, you must go there. This is also like a war for you'."

Others left for the front line too, like goalkeeper Guma Mousa, but not all were so lucky. Ahmed Alsagir was shot in the shoulder and spent a month in hospital before returning to the front line. By the end of August Gadhafi had been toppled. A week later the team had to play their penultimate qualifier against Mozambique behind closed doors in Egypt.

Aside from the trouble of getting the players out of the country, there were some more practical concerns. For one, Paqueta had to hold a clear the air meeting with the squad. The old pro-Gaddafi players were nowhere to be seen. A new kit had to be designed, with the rebel's flag stitched on to it. The Libyans fought out a 0-0 draw.

"The last game [against] Mozambique, it had a big impact on the people in Libya. Everyone was happy and everyone was talking about us," recalls Kahatroushi.

"We will do everything to qualify, Inshallah, because this will help our country too much. At least to bring them some happiness after all the sadness they have been through."

The journey south to Zambia took almost 24 hours, but the players are ready when they take to the pitch at the packed Nchanga Stadium. Libya's new captain, 39-year-old goalkeeper Samir Abod is the hero, making three world class saves. The match finishes 0-0. Some of the players collapse on the floor in tears. Others pray before returning to the dressing room.

They wait.

The quiet is broken when one of the coaches bursts in and breathlessly delivers the news. The blue-painted room erupts in celebration and song. The rebel national anthem is sung as the new flag is held aloft in the center of the melee.

Ghana's victory and a last-minute equalizer for Guinea against Nigeria means that Libya has, against the odds, qualified for the Nations Cup. As a nation recovers thousands of miles away from the ravages of civil war under the new interim government, Walid Kahatroushi leads the celebrations and the chants.

"The blood of the dead," they sing, "will not be spilt in vain."

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