thanks for being with us. in washington, i'm ray suarez. a car bomb attack in a crowded shopping mall in the nigerian capital. a number of glances are at the scene. there are reports of fatalities. ♪ ♪ hello and welcome to al jazerra, we are live in doha. i am martin dennis. also coming up on the program, iraq's prime minister refuses to form a national unity government. and blames regional countries for the sectarian divide. >> translator: the call for forming a national unity government as they like to call

it is the opposition trying to launch a coup to destroy our government. elects day in libya, but runs of turks flee the country after threats by a retired general. making his mark at the world cup. uruguayan striker lewis suarez attracts the look wrong kind of headlines over alleged biting. breaking news within the last 45 minutes or so we have gun getting reports of an explosion at a busy shopping mall in the nigerian capital a pwaoupblg a, we are hearing of a number of glances being at the scenes. now, these are the first pictures from the scene that we have been sent as you can see smoke is billowing above the mall.

we can speak to somebody at the mall. abram peter joins us live on the phone. thank you yothank you to talkini am afraid we have lost that line. but here in the studio with me is correspondent ahmad who normally operates out of nigeria. first of all, tell us what you have been able to pick out. we have seeing these pictures that have been posted on twitter and it looks like a substantial explosion. >> absolutely. people that we have spoken to in abuja, including emergency workers and shop own nurse that particular area, are telling us that it's was in a parked vehicle parked in front of the shopping mall. >> okay. for now, thank you very much indeed. stay with us, because we can now talk to abraham peter who is there at the shopping mall in abuja. can you hear me okay, abraham? >> yes. i can hear. >> you thank you. tell us what happened today.

>> well, i was my office at about [inaudible] or there about and i heard this loud explosion and it shook my office. the impact was too much. when i got up, [inaudible] fire all over the place. a car parked outside the plaza and explosives and [inaudible] and it exploded. and, well, the middle of plaza, the middle of the plaza on fire at the moment. and well, we just [inaudible] they asked us to leave. because [inaudible] so we just left the scene. >> and we are hearing of there being a lot of ambulances on the scene. what can you tell us about that. >> well, there are many casualties, officially they are telling around, you know,

[inaudible] i think it's a terrible thing. they all died. they all died. >> what have you personally witnessed? as you escaped the building, you heard the explosion, what did you witness as you were getting out of this building that was fast becoming engulfed in fire? >> well, it was terrible. everyone was trying -- i couldn't get out. i have to jump the flame. >> and were you with other people? were you with other people? did other people escape? >> [inaudible] injury couldn't help because we were all scared. >> and what about your neighbors, people who work beside you, do you know whether they managed to get out with you? >> no. at the moment i don't know that. people i know i can't reach them at the moment. i am unable to reach them.

so i don't know. i really don't know. >> this only happened a short while ago. where are you now? where are you talking to us from? and what is the scene around you? >> okay, [inaudible] junction, i just got in to [inaudible] there, you know, to relax because, you know, the impact, it still -- it's still -- i don't know. the impact was too much so i am having a bit of -- i just have to get a place to sit down. you know, recuperate. >> i can imagine. and we thank you very much for talking to us. tell us about the emergency services, were they on the scene in large numbers? have they got the situation under control? >> well, it took about 20 to 25 minutes before they started coming. after it happened, there was no emergency workers there, it took a while for them to come. it took a while for them to

come. [inaudible] after 30 minutes. i wouldn't go there because of the [inaudible] couldn't help anybody. because [inaudible] we couldn't get close to help people. >> okay. thank you so much. abraham peter who has just managed to escape this bomb attack, what appears to be a car bomb attack on a crowded shopping mall in the nigerian capital abuja within the last hour. abraham peter thank you so much for talking to us here at al jazerra. here in the studio with me is ahmad who is based in nigeria normally. and what are you making of this? it seems to be a very big incidents it deed. >> absolutely. it's an escalation of the attacks launched by boko haram since the beginning of this year. i remember very well -- >> is there any doubt that it's boko haram? you have immediately attributed to boko haram. >> definitely it will be attributed to boko haram. they have threaten today attack

abuja before. the bus station and market. they said that they were going to attack abuja, they have people, cells, maybe sleeper cells in abuja. even the security forces have been warning residents of abuja that shopping malls, markets and busy, crowded places could be targets of these fighters. >> and given the number of abductions of young people, girls in the main taking part in the northwest of the country and the attacks as you say not the first on the nigerian capital, it does seem as though boko haram is running rings around the authorities around the police and indeed around the army. >> absolutely. the state of attacks across nigeria, from the northeast to the central parts of nigeria targeting including the federal capital is sort of confusingment by the time the security forces deploy to an area they find their way to another area and attack it. so it's becoming more and more for the security force to his tackle this head on.

actually at the moment it looks like they are over stretched. >> thank you very much. but please do go out and find some more fo more information fd let us know when you have, it thanks, ahmed. now let's move to iraq. prime herster nouri al-maliki has rejected plans to form what he called a national emergency government. the united states is saying this is the only solution to the sunni up rising against the shia leaders rule. since the rebellion began earlier this month more than a thousand people have been killed and thousands more displaced. and as immaterial ron kahn reports noimran kahn now reportn turmoil. >> reporter: after days of conflicting claims, iraq's government says it's firmly in control of the oil refinery. state tv broadcast pictures from tuesday that show iraqi army helicopters lands being in the compound iraq's main facility. they don't stay long but long enough to get their message across it's them, not the rebels

of the it lack i can state of iraq and los angeles slant who n control. however the rebels say iraq only controls part it was and they will take it soon. >> this government is finished they are on the run either they negotiator we will storm the refinery and take it over. >> reporter: in his week will he televised address to the nation al martinez maliki says he won't bow to the pressure to form a gast national. >> the call for forming a national emergency government as they like to call it is simply an attempt to launch a coup against our political process in order to destroy it. >> reporter: the prime minister's words will be seen as a direct rebuttal to the u.s. inning intense it forms a national unity government before the u.s. decides to give anymore help. now, right now there are u.s. drones, intelligence gathering over iraqi skies. plus we have the first contingents of 300 u.s. special

forces advisers to the iraqi military driving in baghdad. what the prime minister is in effect saying please stay out of our domestic political affairs and step up the military assistance that we have been asking for now for a very long time. meanwhile, isil say that their position on his the border crossing were hit by syrian jets and have post third degree video. there is no validation of the video. across iraq supplies are short and the crisis is hitting people hard. oil is in particularly short supply. >> translator: we have been queuing to get gasoline for three days, so many people pay no heed to the queue and no one can stop them they take the gasoline and sale it on the black market. >> reporter: analysts say in the short-term iraq will not be able to grow it's oil market. any sustained attacks on the oil refineries will cause shortages at home and push oil prices

international. john kerry the u.s. secretary of state has again urged iraqi leaders to form an inclusive government. he was speaking within the last hour or so from the nato summit in brussels. >> iraq is obviously facing an extraordinary security challenge and a set of political challenges and choices. the united states is also working to support iraq in its fight against isil. we need to remember that this is a terrorist army that threatens not only iraq, but threatens every country in the region, which is opposed to it, and europe and the united states. succeeding in this fight is going to require iraqis to come together finally in order to form an inclusive government. and in every meeting with leaders of each of iraq's main communities, i stressed the importance, the urgency of them coming together to do just that.

well, britain's defense secretary philip hammond is been in to the al jazerra studio and he told me that the u.k. will consider supporting an inclusive iraqi government. >> we have said that we don't believe that a military solution can be -- an external military solution can be the answer in iraq. but if the iraqi people do come together, form an inclusive government, and that government in taking the fight to control its territory to the insurgents, to the terrorists asks for support, technical support, advisory support, perhaps equipment, we would certainly consider any such requests. but we have no intention of direct military involvement. this has to be solved in iraq by iraqis. now libyans are voting in national elections for the third time since the former leader

muammar qaddafi. previous votes failed to bring unity and stability to the country, as jonah hull reports, tensions remain high. >> reporter: turn out is not expected to be high, but those who do cast their bullet for a new parliament in libya will do so hoping for an end to the violence and lawlessness that has gripped the country since the fall of muammar qaddafi three years ago. >> translator: at this time we need brave men who will put the country before themselves. we will do our part and god willing we hope to have good and better people. >> reporter: but the hope that this election will bring stability to libya seems a forlorn one, it is the third national vote since the events of 2011 and still there is no viable army or police force. the government is routinely ignored by former rebel groups and tribes vying for control of territory and the country's oil wealth. in the past, they have kidnapped

a prime minister, attacked the parliament, and blockaded oil terminals. tensions are particularly high in the east in libya's second largest city be benghazi. here a former army general has declared war on religious fighting groups that he calls terrorists. and the countries that he says support them, turkey and the gulf state of qatar. >> translator: we always hope for the best and god willing it will be a better libya we have to stand by every parliament until we make a statement. and even though there are 100 elections, we'll continue until we build a country. >> reporter: this election may be another step in libya's transition process after decades of autocratic rule. but it's a process not yet over. jonah hull, al jazerra. well, meanwhile, hundreds of turks have been forced to leave the eastern part of libya because of threats from a retired general who is accusing

both turkey and qatar of medaling in libyan affairs. bernard smith reports now from istanbul. >> reporter: there are many thousands of turks in eastern libya, they are working mainly in the construction and energy industries. the turkish government has advised its citizens not to travel there. but it's not at the moment planning a mass evacuation of turkish workers already there. these 400 to 500 or so workers, many in a power plant were evacuated specifically at their own can request. they said they weren't feeling safe anymore. now this is because of this retired libyan general. he is appointed his self as sort of a rescuer of deeply divided libya and he says he's fighting islamic militants in eastern libya and he's given turks and takhar is 48 hours to leave the area because he says the turks have sent surprise there,

turkey's foreign minister has said these claims groundless. the libyan government also says that the generals orders don't carry any weight. they are not law, but then the libyan government itself has very little influence on the ground, certainly in that part of libya, so what the general says does seem to carry more weight than the orders or the message or the instructions of the libyan government. still to come, two trai tras careen or the tracks in india. police haven't ruled out police haven't ruled out sabotage.

the performance review. police haven't ruled out sabotage. that corporate trial by fire when every slacker gets his due. and yet, there's someone around the office who hasn't had a performance review in a while. someone whose poor performance is slowing down the entire organization. i'm looking at you phone company dsl. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business built for business.

♪ ♪ hello again. these are the top stories here at al jazerra. within the last hour an explosion has targeted a busy shopping mall in abuja, the nigerian capital. a number of ambulances are at the scene. these are the latest pictures. that have been shot by an amateur witnessing the scene. many burnt out cars as you can see. reports of it being a very large explosion and there are plumes of smoke that are vast actually, and we have no idea yet as to the number of casualties. but we do hear it has been packed. we have been speaking on an eyewitness who told us the size of the explores, how loud it was and how it rattled the office in which he was working. he managed to escape and he told us of the emergency services who you see there attending to the scene. he wasn't able to give us any idea as to the number of

casualties, but it does appear at this stage as if there have been several casualties, we'll keep you right up-to-date with events in the nigerian capital here at al jazerra. and iraq's prime minister nouri al-maliki has rejected international calls to form a national emergency government. the u.s. says it's the only solution to the sunni up rising against the shia leader's rule. tensions are high in libya as voters choose a new parliament. hundreds of turks, meanwhile have been forced to leave the eastern part of the country because of threats from a retired general who is accusing turkey of medaling in libyan affairs. now, the russian senate has vote today scrap a resolution allowing military intervention in ukraine. president putin says the change would help support the peace process. but the ukrainian president has warned he may end the ceasefire deal with pro-russia separatists. petro poroshenko's threat came after a military helicopter was

shot down. all nine people on board were killed. and nato foreign ministers have been meeting in brussels to review the alliance's relationship with russia. members are threatening tougher sanctions against moscow because of the increased fighting in eastern ukraine, where, of course, russia is accused of supporting armed groups. >> we call on russia to do four things. firstly, take genuine and effective measures to stop destabilizing ukraine. secondly, create conditions for the peace plan to be implemented. thirdly, to end its support for armed separatist groups. and fourth, stop the flow of weapons and fighters across its borders. now, emirates airlines has

suspended flights to pakistan because of security concerns, this comes after a gunman opened fire at a plane as it landed there. nicole johnson reports from the capital islambad. >> reporter: the flight from saudi arabia's capital was coming in to land when it was hit by at least eight bullets. it's not known who the gunmen were. a woman on board the pakistan international airplanes flight was killed. three crew members were injured. it's been a bad month for pakistan's airport security. just over two weeks ago, the pakistani taliban carried out a braise an tack on scratch i international airport. it turned in to a 5-hour siege as security forces battled the attack isers, iattackers, in the were killed, including 10 fighters. the pakistani taliban is targeting airports. but that's not unusual. >> no real change because they

know it is that they will be able to breakthrough the security get in airports and create a cataclasmic event for the world to see and for the public to terrorize, so that they will change to the taliban dock runs and ways of doing things. >> reporter: the attack on pakistan's largest and busiest airport stunned the government. it's now started a military campaign to try to wipeout the pakistani taliban. a spokesman for the organization has threatened to retaliate with more attacks. >> translator: we worn all foreign investors airlines and multi corporations that they should suspends their ongoing medaling in pakistan and prepare to leave pakistan otherwise they will be responsible for their own loss. >> reporter: major cities have tightened security. the last thing pakistan needs is another airport attack to hit its fragile economy. >> there is going to be very little, if at all, any direct

foreign investment. people will refuse to come here. carriers have already start today say they will not come during night. only during daytime. and daytime also is not free. it's fraught with dangers. >> reporter: with two attacks at airports in the last couple of weeks, pakistan pakistan is in f high alert. if the government wants to keep foreign companies here and keep flying, it needs to convince them that they can stop these attacks, nicole johnson. al jazerra, islambad. well, in another part of pakistan the military has recently launched an offensive against taliban fighters, this in the tribal area. the operation started after that taliban attack on the airport. the fighting has forced around 450,000 people to go on the move and leave their homes. many of them are struggling to find food and basic medical

equipment. well, they fled on the north border and our correspondence is there. >> reporter: although the majority of the i.d. ps are numbering about 450,000 have preferred to go to the big cities, there is still arrangement by the military at a camp which is just seven-kilometers from the north border, a number of families have come here, the military would like even larger numbers because they say they have medical arrangements here. sanitation, they say they have brought electricity wires to this particular area in order to give some level of comfort for the people who are seeking refuge there. however, the camp for the moment is not full capacity. there are dozens of families who have come to take advantage of this particular area, however, because the area is also under curfew, most of the people are still preferring to the populated centers.

an cross train has derailed in the i understand january state killing at least four people. 11 carriages came off the tracks and then just hours later, and very close by, another goods train also derailed. police are not ruling out sabotage by rebels. a spanish court has formally charged princess christina and her husband with traction fraud and money laundering. the company deny any wrongdoing and can still appeal against the charges. princess christina and her husband have been barred from attending any royal events since the investigation began. ♪ ♪ now football's world governing body fifa has opened disciplinary proceedings against the uruguayan striker luis suarez after he was accused of biting an opponents. it happened in tuesday's match against italy.

and as richard parr now reports this isn't the first time suarez has been in trouble for his on-pitch antics. >> reporter: luis suarez has again caused can't verse i at a world couple of the uruguayan has been accused of biting the shoulder of the italian defender. the referee didn't see the incidents, but it was clearly visible on camera in brazil. suarez has been caught twice before for biting an opponent. he's also served a ban for racism and during the last world cup he was sent off for a deliberate handball on the goal line. fifa has now opened disciplinary proceedings against the striker. >> he knows what is going through his minds and why he does it. as you say he could be facing a 24-month or 24 matches maximum. there are millions of children around the world and luis has a responsibility to those children. he those act in the right way. set examples. and i think fifa has got to come down. luis is a world class player. world class, and that's why

people pay a lot of money to come and watch him. >> despite their joy for the 1-0 victory. fans have mixed feelings over the incidents. >> translator: he can't be biting all the time. he can't be brighting all the time. he has gone too far. >> translator: it's complicated. very complicated. look at him still celebrating. the problem is that he will have to go to the dentist now. >> reporter: this sees opportunity looks like suarez had put his misdemeanors behind him as the liverpool striker was voted the player of the year in england but he's now again in the head lines for all the wrong reasons. richard parr, al jazerra. now, the u.n.'s cultural agency has declared a network of man-made caves in israel a world heritage site. caves are just outside jerusalem and have been used for thousands of years as burial sites, storerooms and hide outs. the announcement by the world heritage committee was made at

its annual meeting. >> we are very happy about the inclusion of the park and caves in the world heritage site's list because it's an extraordinar area. it's a wonderful site with exceptional points of interest. with an extraordinary history. now intrepid tourists could soon be lifting off to the edge of space in a balloon. yes, a balloon. a u.s. company says it's really pleased with the world record breaking test flight that's taken place above new mexico and it's hoped the high altitude balloon will lift a capsule able to carry 32 passengers many kilometers straight up. high enough to see the earth's curve. list off is not plan today another two years and the price of a ticket, well, that also could being out of this world, couldn't it? time now to reminds you of the news that's been breaking

within the last hour or see. news from nigeria. the latest pictures to come from what is thought to be a carex please outside a plaza shopping mall in the center of abuja.