>> appeals for calm amid religious tension in central african republic as efforts are made to form a transitional government. >> hello, you are watching al jazeera live from doha. the top stories - israel prepares to mourn prime minister ariel sharon. >> thailand's protesters threaten to shut down bangkok as they try to bring down the government. >> permission to kill - a permit to hunt an endangered black rhino is sold at auction in theiates.

-- in the united states. >> the head of central african republic transitional governing body is calling for calm. there are continuing clashes between members of the christian majority and the muslim minority. on friday president michel djotobia resigned in an attempt to cool tensions. the head of the transitional government will do his best to restore peace >> translation: i promise to work with all the forces of the nation without distinction, in order to achieve that goal i ask each central african to remain calm and trust the action launched today to carry out the transition. >> barnaby phillips is live in bangui. what are the moves under way to put a transitional government in place? >> well, that transitional

national council, which alex and der leads, begins deliberations later. it had 14 days to choose a transitional head of state. there is not a single figure who is emerging in any sense who would be an obvious choice to unite this country. there are a few names floating around, but they are all rather divisive. they may appeal to one faction, they don't necessarily appeal to another. they have a difficult task ahead of them. >> barnaby, obviously speed is of the essence. there's fear on the streets, there's fighting, looting everywhere. >> yes, that's right. i just spoke to general tumenta, the head of the african union

peacekeepers and i asked how was the mood in bangui. i heard gunshots in the evening. he rather cryptically said calm but not very calm. i said, "well, what does that mean?", he said, "look, looting will carry on as long as people are too afraid to go out at night. there's a curfew, there are african and french peacekeepers going around and around." you can probably hear the french helicopter, but they can't be etch at once, and definitely there has been a lot of looting over the next few nights. that's obvious >> whilst talking to you we look at pictures from the airport where massive evacuation process has been happening. how is that working out? >> well, it is happening. maybe the people you saw in the pictures were waiting to fly to

chad. a plane did fly to chad yesterday, that is saturday, and two more plains, emergency evacuation planes will go chad today. two will fly to marley on tuesday. i talked to the national organization of migration, which is leading the process. they are taking 10,000 out. they are assisting a further 50,000 leaving under their own steam but need help. there's a couple of interesting points that come out about this. maybe you saw that in the pictures. the vast majority of people are women and children in muslim families. men are choosing to stay behind for now, and if you are looking for a glimmer of hope, that suggests that families are saying, "look, you vulnerable ones, get out now, sit tight and

hopefully you may be able to come back. the other interesting point is a question of nationality. we talk about chadians. in mean cases these are people born in this country who may be of the chadian origin, but will be arriving back today, perhaps a country that they've never been to. the same applied to malians. we heard of people that don't speak the language of malians. the nationality is a fluid concept. it's not as obvious as it might be in europe or other parts of the world. >> thank you barnaby phillips. >> syrian government forces have been advancing to the north of their country. opposition fighters could lose a strategic district. 500 people have been killed in the past week as rebel forces turn on each other.

>> syrian refugees are pouring into iraq through a northern border crossing. a bridge across the tigers river is no longer operational. people are using barges to reach the iraqi side. they can cross at the border point for a few hours every day. >> and the iraqi army is continuing to shell the western city of fallujah, trying to retake it from armed fighters and tribesmen. 50 people have been killed in violence between the army and fighters leaked to al qaeda. the prime minister has denied sectarian motivations to the actions. >> fighting between rival tribes in sabah left 15 dead. local officials say the death of a militia chief on thursday sparked clashes. meanwhile in cert the deputy

industry minister was shot dead. he is the latest victim in a stripping of high-profile killings. >> israelis are beginning a period of mourning by former prime minister ariel sharon. he died eight years after suffering a stroke. these are pictures from the knesset. ariel sharon's body will lie in state on sunday and he'll be buried at his farm in southern israel. tom ackerman is in jerusalem. >> his coffin will lie in state and available for public viewing three hours from now, on the plaza of the knesset building. we don't know what size the crowds will be. he was an admared figure, mostly for his military exploits.

he was a controversial figure when it came to politics. beyond that, there will be six hours of that public viewing to be followed on monday by a memorial service at the knesset, attended by vice president of the united states joe biden, former british prime minister tony blair and several foreign ministers. from there it will be take in an army car in a ceremony, escorted by six israeli generals to his homestead in the negar desert, a place close to his heart. he considered himself a farmer foremost. and to be buried beside his late wife lily. >> thousands of people took to the streets in spain in the northern city. they were marching in support of gaoled members of a basket separatist group eta. the demonstration went ahead despite a court ban on any show

of support for the prisoners. >> we want to pave the new times on the basis of human rights - respect. we want dialogue and agreement to be the basis of all political parties. and we want all the agents, political parties, institutions or eta - we want them to give the steps that the basket society demands we want to consolidate a scenario of peace and coexistence. >> anti-government protesters are gathering in thailand in the hopes of paralyzing the capital bangkok. they are demanding the government step down and a caretaker government take over before next month. >> they are calling it bangkok shutdown. thousands of anti-government protesters like the ones around me are planning to paralyze the city to throw out the government of yingluck shinawatra. at this stage itself, it will be

shut down. it's the base of protest for two months. instead, the protest stages will be set up around the city of major arteries. it will be a big threat to business. traffic is expected to be terrible. the plan is to shut the city down for 15-20 days. now, the government is putting in place 14,000 troops and police to prevent law and order problems. this is supposed to secure the situation. it's not clear how far they'll go to try to put the city back to normal, and at what point that might happen. the threat is that there could be violence on the streets, of course. six people were injured on saturday when anti-government protesters clashed outside bangkok, and then in bangkok,

not far from here several were shot on motorbikes. the situation really has the potential to spiral out of control. there are efforts to try to resolve it. the government is considering putting in place an executive order to put together a reform committee to address the reforms that the protesters are making. there are elections scheduled for february the 2nd. the people here are not willing to wait. they want an unelected council in place. >> the afghan president long accused the u.s. of trying to push him out of office. still to come - we report on the former u.s. official backing up hamid karzai's claims.

you you >> the top stories on al jazeera - the head of central african republic transitional governing body is calling for calm. there has been 10 months of violence between christian militia and muslim senecca fighters. anti-government protesters gather in china. the protesters want the government to step down before the election. former israeli prime minister ariel sharon's body will lie in state in the knesset for a day. the 85-year-old died for eight years after suffering a stroke.

the former chief political columni columnist for a paper - what went through your heads when he died? he made an impact on your country. what were your feelings? >> first of all, i knew him personally. he was a loveable person. he was funny, had a sense of humour. he could laugh at himself, but i would even say that the feeling is a generation has gone away. he was, in a way, the last israeli, decision-maker. he took decisions. he cared about the country. i think if you compare him to

the current leaders primarily to prime minister netatin ya hue, you miss him even if you don't like his politics. >> the politics impact the country today, and the region. >> at the end of the day what he wanted to do was to create an irreversible reality preventing the two-state solution. i remember when he took me to look at the settlements and said there is no logic in the way we throw them everywhere, but the logic is to prevent the palestine state that will not allow future government draw a line between the jordan river and the sea. but it turns out that he failed.

his dream was to bring 1 million israelis to the west bank, and to gaza. he had to withdraw from gaza and failed to bring israelis to convince israelis. there were no more than altogether with the jews, and half a million israelis. most of them would be happy to go home if they get a generous compensation. he wanted to destroy the pl oo. and yasser arafat. he failed. he had to negotiate with him. he said that he was a featherless bird and he cannot deliver, and he wanted to destroy the palestine authority when he attacked them in 2002. he missed the arab initiative which he ignored. his nickname, middle name was the bulldozer. it's something that helps you to build and destroy >> sorry, i didn't mean to

bulldoze through your answer, but i want to put this to you from human rights watch. they said that he's passed away without facing justice for abuses, and, you know, they are highlighting what they see as a mistake in israel, that very few people come to face some kind of trial for misdemonors for palestinians. is that true. >> yes, and you can add to that, you know, criminal investigations. he was willing to send his son to gaol instead of him. justice was not the top of his agenda. so - and he didn't look at the palestinians as equal people. he used to say in private meetings that he doesn't trust arabs, let alone the palestinians. he used to tell the story that his mother went to bed with a

stick under her pillow. he didn't like arabs. he didn't believe that they deserved to have a state. you know, he believed that doing what he did in lebanon, which caused a lot of damage and atrocities and pain also to many israelis, this was necessary in the long run. this was what he used to call a painful concessions - painful price that we have to pay to five as a jewish state. he was just interested in a jewish state. he didn't care about the outside world. he manipulated bush by signing the roadmap as his advisor said it was meant to put the peace process until you remember the phrase, until the palestine

became fins. until the west bank became finland, meaning the palestinians will never be europeans. >> we'll have to leave it there.. >> we can't trust them because they are middle eastern. >> thank you for passing on your thoughts. >> the man who overthrew egypt's democratically elected president runs for top spot. in a country where the military is loved and adored many are questioning whether general abdul fatah al-sisi is trying to win the hearts of the people. >> dominic kane romps. >> defence minister, leader of the government, perhaps the next president. abdul fatah al-sisi has been a driving force in the military, he greeted mohamed morsi as the first democratically-elected president in 2012. it was he who deposed mohamed

morsi the following summer. >> there's no question that he is the most powerful individual in egypt. most egyptians realise although there's a prime minister and president, he's a powerful figure. it was further strengthening the relations between the gulf count revolutionary forces the saudi arabia, and kuwait and egypt. >> several of the gefl states gave a large amount of money to egypt. in part to help the interim government deal with an ailing economy. on the social front the tough protest laws and sweeping powers for police have come in. flattering articles about abdul fatah al-sisi are being run and he appears to have a cult following. his opponents are equally

vociferous. this was a protest by supporters of the ain't coup alliance on friday. they believe abdul fatah al-sisi and the military lead a coup against the democratic government. they blame him for the killings of hundreds of people when the military ended mass sit-in protests in august. >> i don't recognise the constitution. this is a mob in control of the country and passing anything to cover up the coup. >> on the international stage abdul fatah al-sisi and the interim government tried woo old allies, this was a visit to cairo in november. it is the immeant referendum on the constitution which will decide if abdul fatah al-sisi will run for president: >> dozens of demonstrators gathering at the egyptian

consulate in sydney. they are calling for the release of staff members detained in cairo. five al jazeera journalists are being held without charge. >> this is not good. two people from al jazeera are here as well. this is not right. this will show you what is happening. >> and to allow this man to be kidnapped, a reporter. >> al jazeera's demanding the release of the five journalists immediately. mohamed fadel fahmy, baher mohamed, and peter greste are accused of spreading lies harmful to state security, and joining a terrorist group. al jazeera says the allegations are fabricated. the other two journalists are from the sister channels. the others are a reporter centre al jazeera arabic. they have been detained for five months now.

>> the afghan president hamid karzai has long accused the united states of pushing him out of office. now he has a major voice backing the claim. the former u.s. secretary of defense. the allegations in gate's book is likely to strain ties between the two countries. >> it was an accusation dismissed as paranoia. during the election campaign in 2009. afghan president accused the u.s. of trying to get rid of him. >> there were a lot of stories in the british media of the plans in washington to bring a change into the structure of gompance in ag, to weaken the government of afghanistan and to go to the strong daylight in afghanistan and to put through them to afghanistan. >> now excerpts from u.s. defense secretary robert gates

book is true. gates rights about special envoy, richard holbrook's attempts. holbrook and others extended support to many of hamid karzai's changes. the presidential palace's deputy spokesperson reacted with an, "i told you so", what secretary of states revealed in his book. it was further proof the righteous nous of hamid karzai's claims that there were deliberate efforts to disregard and manipulate the genuine afghan people. >> hamid karzai was also accused of foul play at the time. evidence of a campaign to rig the vote in this favour was widely reported. >> new allegations of interference could further discredit the election, leaving the afghan people unsure of who to trust. >> they don't believe anyone.

the people have been misled so many times, so many ways by so many players. sometimes they have lost - at times they don't have the self-confidence that is sufficient for a nation to act on in their own interests, and it's dangerous that we depleted a nation from it's self-confidence. >> revelations of a possible u.s. interference in the last presidential elections come a few months before afghans go to the polls to vote for the next leader. hamid karzai warned against foreign manipulation, warning that now holds more weight. >> at least one person died in the most powerful cyclone to hit tonga in decades. charity workers say 70% of homes and buildings have been flattened in some areas of

smaller areas to the north. cyclone ian packed win of 284 k/hr. the new zealand air force send a plane to get aerial shots of the island to see how bad the damage is. >> the red cross prepare aid for 3,000 people thought to need food and shelter. >> the african ruling party launched a campaign. thousands attended in support of the african national congres. >> jacob zuma addressed the cloud, promising to end corruption and increase job opportunities. >> madiba exemplified the importance of core values and conditions of the african national congress. he was ambiguous about the fed that the a.n.c. has always been

the organization best placed to ignite the process cross-section for south africans. >> the black rhinoceros is an endangered species with 5,000 remaining in the wild. a hunting club in the u.s. auctioned off a permit to kill one in africa. it went for $350,000. the event sparked outrage among animal right activists as we have this report from dallas. >> space inside the dallas convention centre was at a premium as hunting enthusiasts around the world were here to attend the dallas safari club attendance. >> this is the big fundraiser we have. >> jewellery and furs were up for purchase. in year, the big item was hunting a black rhino. >> putting animals on display is

wrong. >> the auction was inhumin. >> we need every one of these anima animals, not one to be taken out. >> proceeds will go to saving the species. >> wildlife exists. it costs money. namibia is a small country. they don't have a lot of excess money. they need money for their wildlife department to manage the wildlife and protect the black rhino. >> they were able to convince leaders of namibia to allow the sale outside the country because of the amount of money brought back in. >> this is the first time this happened in the united states. >> proand testers ta -- protesters say they should just

give them money. >> the club says it is an old rhino who is a danger to his species. >> if you want to express outrage at that story or comment on others or find out more about what we vice-president -- we have been telling you about, log on to the website. . facebook can translate into real sales for a small business.