American Muslims arrested in Pakistan

Five Ameri

can Muslims captured in Pakistan are being questioned by FBI agents for having possible links to terror groups.

Pakistani police said they have arrested five men aged between 19 and 25 after a raid on the house of a member of militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad, in the town of Sargodha in the eastern province of Punjab.

Although they have not been identified, officials say they are all US nationals, including three of Pakistani descent, one of Egyptian descent and one of Yemeni descent.

Relatives raised the alarm after the men, all students based in northern Virginia, left their families a chilling farewell video saying all Muslims must be defended, before disappearing in late November.

After the recent case of David C Headley, another American of Pakistani origin, who pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges, this will cause even greater concern among Americans who fear terror networks are recruiting within the US.

President Barack Obama did not wish to comment on the situation but did say: 'What has been remarkable over the course of the last eight or nine years since 9/11 is the degree to which America has reaffirmed the extraordinary contributions of the Muslim American community and how they have been woven into the fabric of our nation in a seamless fashion.'

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which was contacted by the families, declined to give the men's names, ages or nationalities but one of the men was identified as a dental student at Howard University in Washington.

Nihad Awad, CAIR's executive director, said: 'One person appeared in that video and they made references to the ongoing conflict in the world, and that young Muslims have to do something.'

'The video's about 11 minutes and it's like a farewell. And they did not specify what they would be doing, 'he added.

In a statement, the FBI said: 'We are working with Pakistan authorities to determine their identities and the nature of their business there, if indeed these are the students who had gone missing.

'Because this is an ongoing investigation, we will not be able to provide further details at this time.'

An FBI team is currently Pakistan and India, principally gathering evidence for the case of Mr Headly, 49, who is charged with plotting terror attacks in India and Denmark.

Obama becomes Nobel peace prize laureate

Barack Obama has accepted his Nobel peace prize in Oslo, with the US president insisting he was 'at the beginning and not the end' of his labours on the world stage.

He formally received the award at a ceremony in the Norwegian capital's City Hall this afternoon, nine days after he announced a decision to send a further 30,000 troops to Afghanistan and just ten months into his presidency.

'I receive this honour with deep gratitude and great humility; it speaks to our greatest aspirations,' President Obama said in his acceptance speech.

'We are not prisoners of fate, our actions matter.'

Obama was named as the winner of this year's peace prize several months ago, with many criticising the decision to award it based on his potential and commitments rather than achievements.

'I cannot argue with those who claim others are far more deserving of this honour than I,' he said.

The White House had already said President Obama's speech would attempt to justify the Nobel committee bestowing the honour upon the leader of a country engaged in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

'I am the commander-in-chief of nation in the midst of two wars,' Mr Obama accepted.

'We are at war, I am responsible for the deployment of thousands to a distant land, some will kill, some will be killed. So I come with an acute sense of the cost of armed conflict.'

On the coalition in Afghanistan the president commented: 'America's commitment to world security will never waver but we can not act alone, America alone can not secure peace.

'We must acknowledge the hard truth,' Mr Obama continued. 'That there will be times when nations will find the use of force necessary and morally justified.

'Those who break the rules must be held accountable. The world must stand as one.'

Mr Obama said diplomacy was his preferred route of engagement but that in areas where it broke down, 'there must be consequences when those things fail'.

He said free speech was a direct route to peace and that religious intolerance only led to conflict.

Burma, Iran and Darfur were all referenced directly by the president, who failed to criticise more powerful nations such as China, Russia and Saudi Arabia on their poor human rights records.

'Oppression will always be with us but we can still strive for justice, we can acknowledge there will be war but we can strive for peace.'

Much had previously been made about President Obama's decision to stay in Oslo for less than 24 hours, meaning he will miss out certain traditional elements of the ceremony. He flew in this morning and will leaving tomorrow morning. The official ceremony is usually spread over three days.

He has declined the traditional lunch with the King of Norway and will not attend a concert in his honour nor hold a press conference. In Norway his fleeting visit has been seen by many as a snub but public relations experts say it is a deliberate tactic to keep a low profile.

Speaking at a press conference with President Obama earlier today, Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg said his Nobel prize was 'well deserved and an important award'.

'I can not think of anyone else who has done more for peace,' he said, adding it represented a 'bold and important decision'.

When the Nobel committee announced President Obama as this year's laureate it praised 'his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples' and cited his push for nuclear disarmament and his outreach to the Muslim world.

The award comes with prize money of ten million Swedish crowns, about £860,000, which the White House has said will be donated to charity.

Gunmen kidnap 75 in southern Philippines

At least 75 civilians, including children, have been kidnapped in a region in the southern Philippines, local reports have claimed.

Fifteen people are believed to have been freed so far, and according to army captain Enrico Illeto, negotiations are continuing to secure the release of the rest of the group.

Gunmen, believed to be former government militiamen, carried out the abductions in the remote village of San Marin in Agusan del Sur and the local school, the Associated Press news agency reports.

The region has been plagued by banditry in recent years with Muslim and communist insurgents continuing to fight government forces.

Last month 57 people travelling in an election convoy were killed in the southern province of Maguindanao.

It is unclear how many children remain in the 60 still being held hostage.

Obama to attend UN Copenhagen summit

Negotiations at the crucial UN climate change summit in Copenhagen are set to receive a welcome boost with the arrival of Barack Obama later.

The US president is due in the Danish capital on Wednesday where he is expected to table a fresh US emissions target.

Mr Obama is the first world leader to attend the climate talks due to the fact he is controversially only attending the talks for a single day during the summit's first week.

Critics have suggested the US president's presence at the summit is nothing more than a stop-off on the way to Oslo to collect his Nobel peace prize.

Gordon Brown and other leaders are expected at the talks next week.

During his time in Copenhagen Mr Obama is expected to pledge the US will cut emissions by around 17 per cent below 2005 levels in 2020.

The conference received a welcome boost from the world's second-worse polluter on Monday when US officials acknowledged greenhouse gases threatened public health and the welfare of the American people.

The move is expected to allow the White House to impose compulsory emission reductions without Congress.

The Copenhagen talks, however, have been overshadowed by the leaking of emails from scientists at the University of East Anglia, which climate change sceptics suggest shows data has been manipulated to overstate the role humans have played in the warming of the planet.

Gatecrashers among 91 White House breaches

Following the recent incident involving Tareq and Michaele Salahi gatecrashing a state dinner with Barack Obama, a secret document exposing other White House security breaches has been uncovered.

According to the Washington Post, the report shows that White House security has been threatened a minimum of 91 times since 1980.

The security breakdowns include a family who drove into the White House in a mini van in 1982, a pilot who killed himself trying to land in plane in the grounds in 1994 and a woman who falsely declared that she had a 'special relationship' with former president Bill Clinton.

The report was commissioned in 2001 by the Secret Service after the impostor Richard C Weaver bypassed security to shake George Bush's hand.

Secret service official Edwin Donovan asserted that the report was created to train officers and agents, saying that it 'raises the awareness of uniformed division officers and agents about their jobs'.

He continued: 'We have to be concerned about the threats to our protectees at all times, whether at the White House or away from the White House.'

Since 1980, trespassers have managed to meet people protected by the Secret Service, including the president, eight times. The same man was involved in four of these incidents.

The report states, that before their intrusion, over four in ten impostors were known to federal agencies, eight had admitted their intent, and three were already being investigated by the Secret Service.

The dossier also claims to reveal loopholes that could be abused by potential criminals.

Meanwhile, the most recent intrusion by the Salahis has provoked the Secret Service into launching a criminal investigation against the pair and assessing the White House's current security measures.

Mr and Mrs Salahi gained notoriety when, uninvited, they managed to gatecrash a state banquet hosted at the White House by President Obama in honour of visiting Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh.

An official White House photo later released showed Mrs Salahi, an aspiring reality TV star, shaking hands with the president.

Gates meets Karzai over troop surge

US defence secretary Robert Gates has held frank talks with Afghan president Hamid Karzai over the deployment of thousands of extra US troops to Afghanistan.

Mr Gates met with Afghan president in private and is believed to have called for an acceleration in the training of Afghan forces to pave the way for the eventual withdrawal of American troops.

US president Barack Obama finally buckled to pressure from his military commanders last week and announced the deployment of an extra 30,000 troops to help in the fight against the Taliban insurgency.

General Stanley McChrystal and US ambassador Karl Eikenberry are due to appear before Congress later today to outline how the new strategy, which will see the troops deployed almost immediately but also begin to withdraw within 18 months, will be implemented.

Mr Eikenberry, especially, can expect a tough grilling from those opposed to the troop surge after his concerns about sending extra troops to Afghanistan were leaked to the press last month.

Mr Gates meanwhile has pressed President Karzai to appoint 'honest' ministers when he names his new Cabinet in the coming days.

Mr Karzai's re-election has been marred with allegations of vote-rigging and widespread corruption.

'We'll all be watching the appointments that get made,' Mr Gates has said.

'It is important to us, in terms of all of our success, including the Afghan success, to have capable and honest ministers in the areas that matter the most to us.'

Mr Gates has also revealed he will tell American soldiers stationed in Afghanistan when he meets them during his trip that: 'We're in this thing to win.'

The Nato coalition has come under increased pressure in recent months over the effectiveness of the ongoing military campaign that has now entered into its eighth year.

Yesterday the Ministry of Defence confirmed the 100th British military casualty in Afghanistan this year.

The news came hours before defence secretary Bob Ainsworth arrived in the country on a visit to meet British troops and Afghan officials.

Ex-Iraq envoy admits post-invasion concern

Britain's first ambassador to Iraq for 13 years has admitted to the inquiry into the war that areas occupied by UK troops were under-funded by the US reconstruction.

Edward Chaplin, ambassador in 2004, said that despite billions of dollars being diverted towards Iraq, the majority was spent in and around Baghdad and on security.

'The frustration was that the south, being relatively quiet in this period, was not a very high priority for the Americans,' Mr Chaplin told Sir John Chilcot's inquiry in central London.

'They had a huge reconstruction programme, but on both the military training side and on the reconstruction side not much of that was finding its way down to Basra and that was damaging.

'It reinforced the feeling the south had always been neglected under Saddam Hussein and, so far as they could see, really nothing had changed.'

But Mr Chaplin added that UK forces had still made impressive achievements in the south where they were concentrated around Basra.

'Yes I think so, I can only judge from the reactions of Iraqis we spoke to,' he said.

'But I think in the training of the security and police forces, there was a lot of admiration of the way we went about it.'

Govt 'lied' over extraordinary rendition

Ministers lied to parliament over the extraordinary rendition of two men to a notorious US black site secret prison, it was claimed today.

Legal charity Reprieve, which represents detainees at Guantanamo Bay and other facilities, said then defence secretary John Hutton misled MPs in a statement to the Commons in February.

In it he admitted that two men captured in Iraq by UK forces in 2004 had been handed over to US forces, it later emerging they had been transferred to Bagram in Afghanistan.

'The individuals transferred to Afghanistan are members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a proscribed organisation with links to al-Qaida,' Mr Hutton said.

'The US government have explained to us that those individuals were moved to Afghanistan because of a lack of relevant linguists to interrogate them effectively in Iraq.

'The US has categorised them as unlawful enemy combatants and continues to review their status on a regular basis.

'We have been assured that the detainees are held in a humane, safe and secure environment that meets international standards that are consistent with cultural and religious norms.'

Reprieve said its requests to the government for the two men to be identified had fallen on deaf ears, but that its own investigation had revealed one man to be Amanatullah Ali, a rice merchant father-of-five from a village in the Punjab, Pakistan. Mr Amanatullah's family told Reprieve he was a Shia Muslim and a fluent Arabic speaker.

But the other could only be identified as 'Salahuddin'. This second man is known to be from the Gulf states and is said to be in a 'catastrophic mental and physical shape'.

Reprieve said its investigation had exposed the then defence secretary's statement to be factually incorrect on a number of grounds.

As a Shia Muslim there are no circumstances under which Mr Amanatullah could be affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), an extremist Sunni Muslim group that views all Shias as heretics.

The claim that the US did not have linguists to interrogate them in Arabic-speaking Iraq is also called into question by the fact that both men were fluent in the same language.

And finally, under a memorandum of understanding between the US and UK with regards to rendition, the detaining power (in this case London) can force the accepting power (Washington) to return prisoners at any time for any reason.

'Government ministers misled parliament and the country by denying that we had anything to do with rendition and then, when John Hutton 'apologised' for this, he misled parliament again,' said Clive Stafford Smith of Reprieve.

'The government now appears unwilling to admit that they are still propagating falsehoods.'

Pakistan 'suicide' blast kills at least nine

A suspected suicide bombing in north-western Pakistan yesterday has left at least nine people dead.

The blast in the city of Peshawar left another 49 people injured, with eyewitnesses describing how the bomber pulled up outside a local court building in a rickshaw before detonating explosives when confronted by security staff.

Pakistan's prime minister Youssef Raza Gilani condemned the attack and the 'loss of innocent life'.

The incident is the latest attack by militants in recent weeks as the Pakistani military continues its offensive in South Waziristan.

Also on Monday two explosions were reported in a market in Lahore, with casualties expected.

On Friday at least 40 people are believed to have been killed when gunmen attacked a mosque in the city of Rawalpindi.

Yesterday's attack came just days after Mr Gilani countered accusations that Pakistani authorities were not doing enough in the fight against terrorism during a London press conference with Gordon Brown.

New version of Iraqi election law passed

Iraq's parliament has agreed on a new version of the long-awaited law which should pave the way for national elections early next year.

It was announced late on Sunday MPs had reached an agreement following an emergency session.

The original version of the law was rejected by Tariq al-Hashemi, one of the country's two vice-presidents, who claimed it failed to adequately represent Iraqis living abroad, most of whom are Sunnis.

Mr al-Hashemi's veto threatened to further delay the elections which are seen as a prerequisite to the US withdrawing combat troops from next year.

However, following the parliamentary vote he withdrew his veto and praised the amendments in providing a fairer deal for the country's minorities.

The White House also hailed the passing of the new version of the law as 'a decisive moment for Iraq's democracy'.

National elections had originally been scheduled for January 16th but due to disagreements are now likely to be held sometime in February.

The new law will see the Iraqi parliament expand from 275 seats to 325.

Police and protestors clash in Iran

Iranian police have clashed with opposition supporters participating in an annual rally in Tehran, reports claim.

Demonstrators are marking the anniversary of the killing of three students in 1953.

The Iranian authorities have banned foreign media from covering the event following the violence which broke out after the disputed presidential elections in June.

Supporters of the opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi have taken to using officially sanctioned protests to voice their displeasure at the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Reuters news agency reports this morning some of the protestors have clashed with security forces.

Eyewitnesses are quoted as saying police have used batons to disperse the crowds in the capital Tehran.

December 7th is 'Students' Day' when universities mark the deaths of three students by security forces under the previous western-backed regime.

More than 100 killed in Russian nightclub blast

At least 100 people were killed and scores injured after fireworks sparked an explosion at a nightclub in the Russian city of Perm.

More than 140 people were treated in hospital for smoke inhalation after fireworks set off at the Lame Horse nightclub hit the ceiling of the venue ablaze.

Police have ruled out the possibility of a terrorist attack, saying the majority of deaths were caused by smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning as crowds attempted to escape the club during the fire.

'There were fireworks launched at the scene, and one hit the plastic ceiling, setting all ablaze,' explained regional health minister Dmitry Trishkin.

'People panicked and succumbed to burns, general crush and gas poisoning,' he told the Itar-Tass news agency.

The Russian government has set up a commission to investigate the tragic incident and a spokesman for prime minister Vladmir Putin said two planes had been sent to Perm, some 700 miles east of Moscow, to transport those with serious burns to the capital's hospitals.

Ministers die in Somali graduation blast

Government ministers are believed to have been the target of a suicide bomber who blew himself up during a graduation ceremony in the Somali capital.

At least 19 people died in the attack, al-Jazeera said, with more than 50 wounded. The death-toll is expected to rise.

Three government ministers were killed in the blast at the Shamo Hotel in central Mogadishu, as well as two professors, two journalists and nine students.

Education minister Abdullahi Wayel, health minister Qamar Aden and higher education minister Ibrahim Hassan Adow all died when a bomber believed to have disguised himself as a woman blew himself up.

Sports minister Suleman Olad Roble is in hospital from wounds sustained in the attack.

According to al-Jazeera, suspicion has fallen on the al-Shabab group which controls large parts of southern and central Somalia, which has been without an effective government since 1991 when its last president Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown.

Since then the armed groups that took his place have been fighting among themselves.

Relieved British sailors return to UK

Four British sailors detained in Iran during the last week returned to the UK this morning.

Luke Porter, Oliver Smith, Oliver Young and Sam Usher flew into London's Heathrow airport after a traumatic few days.

The men had been travelling from Bahrain to Dubai in the Dubai-Muscat offshore sailing race, onboard the yacht Kingdom of Bahrain, when they strayed 'inadvertently into Iranian waters'.

The four men were held along with David Bloomer, a Bahrain-based radio journalist, who did not fly to the UK on Friday.

Speaking to reporters after landing back on UK soil, Mr Smith, the skipper, said: 'It's great to be back. Initially, when we first got stopped, it was not very nice to be blindfolded and taken back to be questioned.

'As time went by, the guys treated us very well. There was no animosity at all.'

Mr Young added: 'We had a bit of a shocker really. We are sorry for everything we've put our families through, and thanks to everyone.'

Andrew Pindar, the boat's owner, said the crew had a 'high degree of embarrassment' over the incident which has dominated the British news agenda for the last week.

'They're embarrassed that they've created a problem for other people. The first thing they said was 'Sorry for giving people grey hairs',' he said.

A broken rudder is believed to be responsible for the crew drifting off course and unintentionally entering Iranian waters.

The foreign secretary and the Foreign Office have insisted the incident never came close to becoming a political issue with Tehran, unlike back in 2004 when eight British servicemen were held in Iran for two weeks after straying into Iranian waters during a training exercise.

Deadly Damascus blast blamed on gas canister

A faulty gas canister and not terrorists were blamed for an explosion at a petrol station in a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus that killed six people yesterday.

The blast took place close to a Shia Muslim shrine popular with Iranian pilgrims.

Iranian media said the bus exploded while refuelling just 500m from the shrine of the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad.

It was reportedly empty of passengers, with the Iranian bus driver and his assistant as well as four bystanders dying in the explosion.

Dozens of others were injured in the blast, reports said.

Terrorist attacks in Syria are rare, but Thursday's explosion, blamed on a faulty gas canister in the luggage of Iranian pilgrims, coincides with the visit of senior Iranian security official Saeed Jalili, who was in Damascus for talks with his Syrian counterparts.

Bin Laden 'not hiding in Pakistan'

Pakistani prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has rejected claims Osama Bin Laden is currently residing in his country and rejected Gordon Brown's claims that two-thirds of the terrorist plots aimed at Britain originated in Pakistan.

The two leaders met in Downing Street this morning to discuss the ongoing fight against militants within Pakistan's tribal regions and the border with Afghanistan.

The meeting came days after Mr Brown publicly questioned Islamabad's record on fighting terrorism and called on the country's leaders to do more to find Osama Bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders.

Backtracking somewhat today, Mr Brown said Pakistan's actions in the Swat Valley had been a 'success' and praised the recent offensive by the Pakistani military in South Waziristan.

'We want to work together in fighting terrorism,' he told Mr Gilani. 'This is your fight, but it is also Britain's fight.'

The Pakistani PM was in defiant mood though and when questioned on Mr Brown's comments about his country's ability fight terrorism, he rejected suggestions the al-Qaida leader was residing in his country.

'I do not believe he [Bin Laden] is in Pakistan,' he told reporters.

When then asked about Mr Brown's continual assertion that two-thirds of terrorist plots aimed at Britain come from Pakistan, he added: 'I do not agree with this information', adding those formulating the plots 'might be in Afghanistan'.

The meeting came a day after US president Barack Obama pledged 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan.

While he said he had been briefed on the new US strategy, Mr Gilani said he needed 'more clarity' on the troop surge.

Bush shoe-thrower gets taste of own medicine

The Iraqi journalist who threw a shoe at George Bush has had the same treatment meted out to him at a press conference.

Muntadhar al-Zaidi suffered the copycat attack in Paris yesterday.

The journalist, who became a national hero in the Arab world last year when he hurled his footwear at the then US president, was speaking to promote his campaign for the victims of the Iraq war.

Like Mr Bush before him Mr al-Zaidi ducked to avoid the projectile, which hit the wall behind him.

After the shoe was thrown a scuffle broke out in the audience, echoing scenes from Mr al-Zaidi's own shoe-throwing. He later said of his attacker: 'He stole my technique.'

It is thought that the attacker is an exiled Iraqi journalist who spoke out in favour of US policy in the country and accused Mr al-Zaidi of siding with a dictatorship.

Last year Mr al-Zaidi was filmed shouting: 'This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog,' at Mr Bush before throwing both his shoes at him.

The footage became a sensation on YouTube and was watched by millions around the world.

Mr al-Zaidi was charged with assaulting a head of state and sentenced to three years in prison. This sentence was later reduced to one year and he was released in September.

He has claimed to have been tortured by guards after his arrest and the press conference in Paris was in part organised so he could talk about his experiences.

In Arab culture it is a sign of contempt to show the soles of ones shoes to someone.

Officers shoot 'cop-killer' dead in Seattle

Police have shot dead the man charged with killing four police officers in Seattle.

Maurice Clemmons was fatally shot after he challenged officers.

Clemmons had been on the run for two days when he was cornered by a house in the Rainier Valley of Seattle at around 02:40 local time (10:40 GMT) today.

He was taken to hospital but later confirmed as dead.

Police now suspect that Clemmons was aided in his escape from capture by his close friends and family.

One of his sisters was arrested as police suspect her of bandaging the stomach wound he received during Sunday's shoot out and of driving him to Seattle.

Ed Troyer, spokesman for the Pierce County sheriff's office, said: 'It's unfortunate he’s been a step or two ahead of us.'

Yesterday it was revealed that Clemmons, who had a string of convictions for armed robbery and mental health problems, had been released early by former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.

He was freed after serving 11 years of a 95-year sentence.

Police had previously laid siege to house were they believed Clemmons to be although upon entry he was not in the property. It is unclear if he ever was.

As governor of Arkansas Mr Huckabee had a hand in pardoning and commuting more prison sentences than his three predecessors.

Under his ten-and-a-half-year governorship 1,033 people were pardoned or had their sentences reduced, including Clemmons who became eligible for parole in 2000.

It is more than double the numbers granted by the previous three governors over their combined 17 and a half years.

Yesterday Mr Huckabee said he took responsibility for making Clemmons eligible for parole.

He told Fox News: 'If I could have known nine years ago that this guy was capable of something of this magnitude, obviously I would have never granted a commutation. It's sickening.'

Mr Huckabee's record of clemency was criticised when he contested the Republican nomination in 2008, which John McCain went on to win.

It is thought that any future run at the White House could be severely damaged by this incident.

Clemmons had been charged with the murder of the four police officers, including one woman, who where gunned down in a coffee shop in Seattle on Sunday morning.

He had been bailed a week previously and had apparently boasted to friends that he was going to kill a cop.

Court papers indicate he was mentally unstable and delusional; having claimed to be Jesus and that he could fly.

Moore pleads Obama to withdraw Afghan troops

Documentary-maker Michael Moore has pleaded with Barack Obama not to pledge thousands of extra troops to Afghanistan as expected later today.

In an open letter to the US president, Moore said any announcement of increased troop numbers would 'destroy the hopes and dreams so many millions have placed in you'.

Mr Obama is widely expected to announce the deployment of over 30,000 further US troops to Afghanistan in his national address later.

The US president has come under severe pressure from his leading military commanders to send more troops to help in the fight against the Taliban insurgency, with General Stanley McChrystal demanding an extra 40,000 soldiers.

On the eve of Mr Obama's long-awaited announcement, Moore published his open letter urging the president to rethink, claiming it was not too late to change his mind.

Moore, who so ferociously attacked Mr Obama's predecessor George Bush, said the current president was in danger of losing the support of all those who backed his historic campaign to the White House.

'With just one speech tomorrow night you will turn a multitude of young people who were the backbone of your campaign into disillusioned cynics,' he said.

'You will teach them what they've always heard is true - that all politicians are alike. I simply can't believe you're about to do what they say you are going to do. Please say it isn't so.'

Moore warned Mr Obama he would become a 'war president' if he announced a troop surge, suggesting America was on the brink of collapse.

'With our economic collapse still in full swing and our precious young men and women being sacrificed on the altar of arrogance and greed, the breakdown of this great civilisation we call America will head, full throttle, into oblivion if you become the 'war president'.

'Empires never think the end is near, until the end is here. Empires think that more evil will force the heathens to toe the line -- and yet it never works. The heathens usually tear them to shreds.'

The documentary-maker said the decision to send more troops was profoundly wrong and would play into the hands of the president's enemies.

He added sombrely: 'You know that nothing good can come from sending more troops halfway around the world to a place neither you nor they understand, to achieve an objective that neither you nor they understand, in a country that does not want us there. You can feel it in your bones.'

In a last defiant call, Moore called for an end to the military campaign in Afghanistan which in his eyes was achieving nothing other than the continual needless death of US soldiers.

'Stop, stop, stop! For the sake of the lives of young Americans and Afghan civilians, stop. For the sake of your presidency, hope, and the future of our nation, stop. For God's sake, stop,' he rallied.

On Monday Gordon Brown announced the deployment of another 500 British troops, taking the UK's total force in Afghanistan to over 10,000.

Iran examines "evil intentions" of sailors

Tehran has warned of serious consequences if the British sailors captured by the Iranian navy are found to have had 'evil intentions'.

The Foreign Office confirmed last night five British sailors, onboard the racing yacht Kingdom of Bahrain, were stopped by Iranian naval vessels on Sunday.

The yacht, belonging to the UK's Team Pindar, was travelling from Bahrain to Dubai in the Dubai-Muscat offshore sailing race and is thought to have 'strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters'.

A statement from the FCO said all five crew members - named as Luke Porter, Oliver Smith, David Bloomer, Oliver Young and Sam Usher - were still being held in Iran.

Commenting on the ongoing diplomatic incident, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaie, aide to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is quoted by the Fars news agency as saying: 'Judiciary will decide about the five... naturally our measures will be hard and serious if we find out they had evil intentions.'

Revealing he first heard of the incident on Sunday night, foreign secretary David Miliband said in a statement: 'FCO officials immediately contacted the Iranian authorities in London and in Tehran on the evening of November 25th, both to seek clarification and to try and resolve the matter swiftly.

'Our ambassador in Tehran has raised the issue with the Iranian foreign ministry and we have discussed the matter with the Iranian embassy in London. I hope this issue will soon be resolved.

'We will remain in close touch with the Iranian authorities, as well as the families.'

Speaking later he added there was clearly no confrontation or aggression on the part of the five sailors and said he expected a statement from the Iranian authorities later.

Reports suggest the Foreign Office had wanted to keep the incident 'private' to increase the chances of a resolution but after five days the details emerged forcing officials to confirm the event.

Officials for the Dubai-Muscat offshore sailing race said the boat may have veered off course after propeller problems.

Team Pindar released a statement yesterday confirming the five crew members had been captured.

'On November 25th, Sail Bahrain's Kingdom of Bahrain Volvo 60 racing yacht was stopped by Iranian navy vessels, as it was making its way from Bahrain to the start of the Dubai-Muscat offshore sailing race. The boat may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters,' the team announced.

'The five crew members, all British nationals, are still in Iran. All are understood to be safe and well and their families have been informed.'