>> "bbc wld news" is presented bycet, los angeles. funding for is presentation is made possle by the freema foundaon of new york, stowe, vermont,nd honolulu. the newman's own fodation. the john d. and therine t. macarthur fodation. and ion bank. >> union bank s put its financial strength to workor a wide range of companies, from sml businesses to major rporations. what can we do f you? >> and nowbbc world news." >> 3 them f a british hostage held in iraq for more than 2 1/2 years -- freedom fr a briti hostage. his familys overjoyed. >> i coul not belie he was speaking to me. sound really well and was crackingokes. >> reports fro u.s. suggest e vernment knew it terror atta was being pland from yemen weeksefore an attempt bb a plane. eight americs have been killed by suspected suicide attack i southeastern afgnistan. very warm welcome to "bbworld news," brocast to our viewers on pbs in america and arou the globe. my name is mike embl. coming up latefor you -- the family of a man executed by chin accused beijing of making a mockery of appeals to spare him. and aenryold campaign fo independce in india. hello tyou. until a half year ordeal is or for peter moore, the british consultant working for amican firm w was seized by t iraqi nance ministry in 2007. thre of th were shot dead d their bodies returned to the united kingdom. no word on the fate of the fih man, alan mcmenemy, though the british gornment believes he dead. but peter moore is now free. we have is report. > from th murky back street world of iraqiostage taking, at last some gd news. >> i have been held here for nearly eight months now. i miss my family very much. >> peter moe, theritish t. expert as been freed afte t and half years in captivity. >> good afternn. >> theovernment broke the ne within hours. >> have just ha a moving conversation with peter himself. peter in odhealth, despite many mons of captivity he is undergoing careful medical checks. he will be united with his amily as soon as possible, back in the united kingd. he is obviously, to put mild, absolutely delighted at his release. >> it did not seen ain until i actuly touched them. >> his adoptive parents were told the news this morning. >> i kept askingif it watrue. a burst into tears. >> totalenial from my point of view. could not believe it. then more than a couple of ars. ter two and a half years. a lot of stress in the system very hard. >> he sounded really well he was cracking jokes. he asked abo his spmother and sist. said he had seen qui a few of the appeal badcasthich kept h going, and made h realize that peoe were out there fighting for him. >> it wasay 2007 when peter moore and h four security guards were seized from the nance ministry in iraq. in dcember, the first hostage video id. in 2008, the family treated kidnappers for relse. but the bodies of jason indlehurst and jason creswell were confirmed dead in september. thfate of the fourth bodyard, alan menemy, is uncertai but authorities believe , to is dead. this is the u.s. detention facility in baghda earli today, t americans finally released this man to the iraqi authories. is what the kidnaprs had always dmanded. so now that's per moore is free, what adve t other ex- hostages havfor hm? "ticky gently. take it one st at a time. take your story out. tillage you a trained stener. not eveone suffers posttraumatic stress. some do. some do not. but if you can relate your story to another, the you cananage it rathe tha being maged by it. at is pretty good advice, i ink. >> peter moore, seen here before he went to iraq, has had crediblyucky escape. those st to guarhim were far less fortute. bbc ne. >> and we have mor details of a story that emged in the brish newspaper up wh the guardian" abou where t hoages were held. >> became a with quite a g story. they did -- they came out with quite a bigtory. they did investigatio it is possible the men were held iran. it ino question the people who kiapped these five btons ha linkswith iranian-backed militants. they are themselves iranian-a backed militants. that is not the se as saying the governmenhad a handn it. theyal to a nber of people in iraq and eyewitnesses who saw the mean -- to theen -- w saw the men at being taken. other people who were involved in hosge-tang say the men were held inside iran. i am sure this will be denied by the iranians whenever i pressed british gornment officials on this, ey have been equivocal. about a ye ago they said they di not think it was likely all. whyould they take the rk? then they said it could , but it cannot . they had not improved. importantly, when i asked general vid petraeus, the coander of u.s. ceral command -- i met him in brain o weeks ago, and i ask h what he thought. he said, yes. 90%, we are rtain they have been held in iran. >> frank gardner from th bbc there. at least 20 people have been killed in aouble scide attack in mali. -- ramali. the gornor is one of those hurt and his condition is described as very serious. the son ofn iranian opposition leader has strongly denied -- denied reports thathe other opposion leer hasled for the north. there and donstrations in pport of the government. anian tevision has broadcast ftage of large crowds on the streets of the capital. doctors inrazil sy a two-year old boy had 31 suin mules are insert into him and is out of danger. the stepfatr confessed tha he id this in der to get revenge on his wife. mo ports in the amican media about warngs receive before the christmasay attempted to bring down a plane er detroit. the nigeri man chard with ting to blow up thplane is said to have told police he trained in yemen. from washington, adam brooks reports. >> one question today- w was he allowed aboard an airliner? it ha erged in the u.s. intelligence had incations that al-qaeda operives in yemen were preparing a nigerian operative for thettack. all th information wl be pulled together an analyst the national couer-terrorism cter, and theicture passed on to the department of homelan security, the federal govement, airports. it is t system that presint oba has already said it failed. a faure which mayave allowed this 23-year-old nigerian to board e flight bound fort detroit with explosives down into his underwear across america,irport security is at once again question. in an echo of 9/11, it seems to be the abily of the americ government t share and spread formation aboutuspects that is at issue. >> the lack ofnformation is inexcusable. when somee haa u.s. visand derogary information is ceived by the u.s. govnment and his visa is not reved and he is aowed to travel to t united states, again, aa citizenhat makes me concerned. >> the prident is vuerable to politic attack now. his opponents are already accusing itadministration of being a sexual on national security. americans have bn rudely -- accusing h administration of being ineffective on tional security. americans have beenudely reminded the terrorism can ill happen. mr. obama must show them that he n counter this threat, too. abc news,ashington. >> our arabic corresponden is in the yemeni capal. > the yemeni government -- has this beme a new safe haven for litants to strike agains other countries? the government ss they have beenighting against the militants f quite some time w. there of an two major attack against camps which the government says hosted mitants affiliad with al- qaeda. this resulted in deaths of dozens of iocent citizens, which of course is a problem in the country. theemeni governnt says that attacks from the litants affiliat with al-qaedaot nly hrt western interests, but yemeni citizens as well. >> later inhe program, we will look at concerns raisedbout the radicalization muslim in universities. u.s. officia areaying that eight americans have been killed in aarent suicid attack in afghanistan. the attac happed in the southeast of the country. ur crespondent inwashington gave us th latest. >> our first official confirmation of the deaths, ad eight amerans were killed in an attack on u.s. military base in eastern afghanistan "we mourn the loss of lifin these attacks." it is suggested that this was a forward-orating, onhe border with pakistan, and it has been targeted before. other officials suggest that it was the result of a suicide bomb attack, thi time, and the suicide bomber mayave penetrated the ba perimeter and carried out the attack inde the gymnasium of the base, which is where the loss of life occurred. and also injuries. true, this represents aery serious blow to u.s. forces, who will now be looking very closely at their curity arrangemes. >> itoes not say much unfortunatel for security on board operating base chaan, pecially if it was hit 04? >> at is right. the question that ll be asked is to this individual s. we're trying to get arification on who those illed or. the facthat the state department released a statement suesting were civilians, and it has been suggested to the bb that there we civilians. they could well ve been contractors fothe milita o theyould if and civilians involved with the reconstruction fort in -- or they could beat civilians involved with the reconstruction effort afghanistan. >> still to come on the "bbc world news." century old campaign for indepennce in darjeeling hills. first, tee decades afte margaret thaher took power, many of her government's secret files are opening he plic. this includes the decion to replace the poris nuclear missiles. >>ay979, and mrgaret thatch arrives at no. 10 with a clear agenda for t future of britain. it had been a landslide over a labor governme left in tatters after t winter of discontent, a time of economic crisis an high unemplment. the rerd shows the new prime minierost no time in startier first battle with the vil service. cuts of 3% had been suggted. no, she nod clearly. mrs. thatcher wanted to see 5%, ideally closer to 20%. he new prime minister was also keen tostablish her strengths on thworld stage. only weeksfter the election, she'd had a meeting with the soviet primminister. he suggested britain had an exgerated view of soviet military capacity. you are being to most," sa the woman nicknamed the iron lady. "know when you have seen your nks and missiles being paraded -- no o who had senior tanks and missil being parad through red squareould undestimate your capacity." he want her to seek the update of the polaris ssile system. >> the incoming primeinister should bbriefed on the need for replang polaris or otherwise,nd she thinks, and decide whether to ker approaches to president rter. it was a very unusual doment indeed. the files are a ht that britain wod be-- how britain would be led for over a decade. bbc news. >> the latest headlines for you on "bbc world news." a british man held hostage in iraq for more an 2 1/2 years has been released in baghdad. peter moore has been reported to be in gohealth. american itelligence officials are saying they have reports on nigerian in yemenwas being preparefor a terrist attack weeks before the rect attempted bombing on a u.s. plane. that alleged attets to bring down a flight haaised coerns about the radicization of muslim studts at universits in london. it has emerged that the men now charged with trying blow up the plane wasnce president of theslamicociety at universi college, london. >> he is believ to have tried toetonate a bomb mid-air on the american jet, b his story has raised qutions closer to me. we now knowhe studied here in central london between 2005 and 2008 and was a president of the studt unn islamic society. hey nd the picture of a quiet and vulnerable yng man. significantly, the 23-year-ol posted a war on terror week, series of lectures and debat. shortlyfter, he disappeared until this christm day. hese are the underpants atull of explosives he was ting to blow up. hundreds would have died. some say he was recruited at university in london. >> iamic societies evy single weein this country post homophobic, misogynist, terrorist speaks and nothing is do about it. > is a problem the government claims to be -- it is a problem the government claims be tackling. but is taking a stanand enough to stophese influences? it is u to the university authorities, andeyondhat, it is up to the communities to find that out. but i can clearly states this has not been widespread at all. >> hearried the se explosiv as richardeid, and it has emerd he is the fourt president of an islamic society to have been charged in the la 10 years. this is a symptom of a wider problem? bbc news. >> the fmily of a brith man executed in cha for drug smuggling have rerned to the united kgdom. they failed in theirlea for clemency akmal shaikh from londonas executed in china yestday. they said the authorities fail to take his mental healtinto accoun > arrivi back from china, two cousins from -- two cousins akmal shaikh. theyere able to visit him in prison, but they could not stop his execution. >> we had the hope that he might be scared. no wever, we would like to let the chinese authorities know our anger and disgust with the arrogce and their highhanded way in which they dealt with his ca. the only thinghat everyone who has ever met akmal nce 2007 has ever asked for is a proper medical assessment >> he was arsted inhina in 07 and convicted of smuggling hein. hifamilyays e was carrying the drugs. --he was ped into carrying the drugs. >> his were laid out by the guards whe we were still talking to akal. -- akmal e decision had been taken. >> thexecution wt ahead despite ministerial diutes. the chinese government's insisted his rights had bee properly respect. >> campans springing up against -- can been springing up across india for a new centr state. one of the mos determined campaigns has cpped up in west bengal. our correspondent wento darjeeling to nd out more. >> going to be darjeelg hills. e thing bemes apparent. the een,hite, and yellow is everywhere. the demand for a separate state has been heard for00 years. now it is impoible to avoi and some arereparedo suffer toee theirreamome true. starting is painful experien. david is a 54-year-old teacr. he ld mehat makes him take th extreme step. >>this isur identity. we are indians, but wh we go outside, we tell everybody that we are indian. ill they asked me -- whereare you from >> all sections of grkha society argetting involved in aceful protest. they are n paying their taxes or utility bil. there are also whispers coercion, th dissent is not lerated. >> no, it i not true. theovernment is trying to appeal to everyone in the hills, cluding minoritgroups. e are not out olate or intimidate anye. >> but what would be the effect of gurkha land on dareling's stat --tate? the states have dominated the local economy f mo than 150 years. but even the tea industry is ready to chae. >> i thi it will help the indusy because theormation of a separate state means more funds allocated which means more infrastrture. the tea instrysector would stanto gaiby it. >> what the girlot want is recognition of their distitiveness and -- what th gurkha wants is recogniti of that their stinctiveness and their specificeeds. >> you are only- we are on years old. we are a youngation. weare stl finding the best forms meet the aspirations of our people. how big our ate should be, what the local municipalities ould be. these are things we're still comi to terms with. >> as forhe guras, they said they're readyorew campaign. this man is 94 years old heought in burma and in the second world war and then in malaysia. he says he is ready to fight ain --for kurland. -- gurkhaland tre's plenty of plitical resistce, particularly from the ste government. >> the man is notconsidered by the developmts. he is treated as an alien. this is vy important. we want to accepted. >> at the gurkha war memoria it is all quiet. his placeonors gurkhas w died fightin for india. they are still loyal citizens, but what a place the can call home. chris morris, bbc nws, darjeeli. >> filly, itwas billed as the best job in the world, but it oved toe a nightmare. daysfrom completing his six- month stints caretaker of an island in the great barrier reef, he was attacke by at that thjellyfish. by a deade delicate. >> not bador not this. hamilton island has been his place of work for the last six months. the 34ear-old from beat 30,000 other applicants for the jobf island caretaker, youtubing his way to victory. >> in t venture is an engetic one. >> wihis came as ,000- pod paycheck. he had to exple the island, anwrite the occasionablog. promoting the tourism iustry in queensland. >> i look for to all the new roles d responsibilities -- forward to all the roles d responsibities the task involved. >> only days before hwas due to lve the island, he was done by a tinellyfish, smaller than a matchstick, but potentially deay. he said he felt a small ain on h arm, wich led to aight chest and highlood pressure. the stn can cau cardiac arrest, -- the stn can cause cardiac arst. -- the sting can cause cardiac arrest. may no longer have the best job in the wld, but his ck is ill going. >> watch the news unfold a bbc.com. that is e gateway. julick through theiro the new site. than for being with us o"bbc world news." >> funding was me possible by honolulu. the newman's own foundation. thjohn d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. >> uni bank has put its financial strength to wo for a de range of companies fro small bunesses to major corporations. wh can we do for you? 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