>> a lead commander in thal must you are a front is killed in a syrian army attack. >> also to come on the program no peace deal in south you sudan. talks between government and rebels adjourn indefinitely. >> a russian dissident reds from prison after serving a 15 day sentence for promoting a protest rally. >> a town just outside of madrid the local neighbors have been giving the mainstream politicians a run for their

money. >> a senior commander of al-nusra front has been killed in syria. he died in a government air strike in the city thursday. he was a veteran al-qaeda leader who held the title of general military commander for nusra front. we have a report. >> this is an al-qaeda training camp 16 years ago where some of al-qaeda's top commanders today were being trained. this man was among them, a top commander for al-qaeda's syrian branch, called the nusra front or al-nusra. he was killed on thursday in an army attack. he reportedly fought with

al-qaeda in the late 1990's in afghanistan, then traveled to iraq before the fall of baghdad in 2003. he was arrested by the iraqi intelligence services and handed over to syrian authorities who later released him. he returned to baghdad and became a commander of al-qaeda in iraq. in 2005, he traveled to lebanon. his travel and jail times meant he met every important figure in al-qaeda's top command from afghanistan to syria, where he joined the ranks of al-nusra front in 2012. >> he's a senior commander military commander for nusra. this is going to be an important blow. >> over the years, al-nusra front took many strategic positions from the syrian army. those gained were challenged by more moderate rebels and later by isil. the in-fighting has accepted the sir i can't be government take back control and target the leadership of all rebel groups fighting against it. a divided international community hasn't helped syrians

seeking regime change. >> the regime has gotten stronger in the last several months. it seems to have picked up speed since the united states began to bomb isis and nusra, as well. it has taken some of the pressure off. iran has stepped in in a big way, hezbollah has committed itself even more than it had before. it's quite clear that the regime with full iranian backing is confident, and this is just one more demonstration that it's going to assert itself. the allies, the united states, this command of the united states, saudi arabia, turkey are in complete chaos. >> now the assad government has claimed the death of al-nusra's leader, as the u.s. coalition also continues to target the group. syria's conflict gets more complicated every day. al jazeera. >> let's have a closer look now at the nusra front and what it's objectives are. as you already heard, it's al-qaeda's branch in syria having taken on the name in 2012

as part of the uprising against the assad regime. they have been fighting other groups, including isil and its leaders are reportedly considering cutting ties now with al-qaeda to form a purely syrian force. rebranding this group could secure more funding for them. the nusra front is under u.n. security council sanctions and is listed as a terrorist group by the united states. >> a specialist says nusra has been under a lot of pressure from the gulf so you wanties. >> i think nusra is moving into a phase of reconstituting itself. it may not be under the same name, or it could keep the same name or part of it, but i think now, there is a lot of pressure on it from a lot of of the gulf arab countries and beyond this

to become what is called the moderate opposition that's going to fight both daish and the regime. now without getting the upper hand, meaning getting the money and the funds and the military hardware and support from the states, i think they will be actually finished by daish in the later stage. i think nusra front today is at a very critical point, where if it goes along with the offers it has been given, it will be one of the three main players. if not, i think it's going to be liquidated sooner or later. >> it sounds as though it has to >> peace talks in sudan have been suspended indefinitely. the president and opposition leader have been meeting since tuesday.

>> this comes as no surprise. it came to this round of talks with very hard lined positions reneged on a prefers commitment to the roadmap of a transitional government, include ago power sharing arrangement. they have been holding direct talks since tuesday but no movement at all. what happens next, there have been threats of sanctions. there are also talks of adding the african union to the negotiations. the cost of living is very high. many depend on humanitarian aid. there is a genuine fear of what might happen to their country going forward. >> representatives from libya's rival governments are holding talks in morocco to present civil war. the latest u.n. brokered gorks are focusing on forming a unity

government and securing a ceasefire. we have a report from where the talks are taking place. >> the main issues today here is having both parties in libya the internationally recognized government of tobruk and the government based in tripoli to agree on a national unity government appoint a prime minister and start security arrangements mainly implementing a ceasefire across the country that would pave the way for the political process to continue and the confidence building measures to have some sort of momentum over the coming days. this is a very crucial moment for the rival factions in libya. they know that if they have an agreement here in morocco international sport will follow. there's no agreement libya could face more uncertainty violence and bloodshed.

>> israeli policeman were happened outside a police station on the border which divides east and west jerusalem. >> the russian dissident alexei navanny has been released from prison. he was arrested for promoting a valley when nomtsov was to speak. >> i know you will have lots of questions concerning recent tragic events. we will not lessen our efforts or change anything. in this sense the act of terror that took place will not achieve its aims. i am sure that it will not

frighten anyone. it has not frightened me or my com address. >> more from rory challands. >> section see navanny is dismissive that nemtsov was murdered because of the air of hatred in russia. next for the opposition, many consider they are in danger. you could argue that navalny has been a more prominent member of the opposition than nemtsov and maybe the more obvious target for assassination.

another opposition figure was warned at boris nemtsov's funeral that she might be next, but their work goes on. the report that nemtsov was working on called putin and war an investigation into the russian military's involvement in the conflict in ukraine, that will still be published, and the opposition march, which was going to take place last weekend, which became nemtsov's memorial march that opposition march is being rescheduled for april. to make any kind of significant headway, the opposition is going to have to overcome the prevailing mood in russia at the moment which is one of nationalism in russia. >> despite recent gains in women in afghanistan they still struggle for basic freedoms and rights.

>> the capture of the most wanted man help bring peace in the country? i'll tell you more coming up.

he's out there. there's a guy out there whose making a name for himself in a sport where your name and maybe a number are what define you. somewhere in that pack is a driver that can intimidate the intimidator. a guy that can take the king 7 and make it 8. heck. maybe even 9. make no mistake about it. they're out there. i guarantee it. welcome to the nascar xfinity series.

>> a senior commander of the nusra front has been killed in syria, dying in a government air strike on thursday. >> peace talks between the warring parties in south sudan are suspended indefinitely.

the president and his rifle rebel leader and former vice president have been meeting in ethiopia since tuesday. >> representatives from the two governments in libya are meeting to try to prevent civil war. the latest round of negotiations focus on ways to form a national unity government and to secure a ceasefire. >> in southern yemen president hadi put local militias in charge of all government institutions in aden. the groups known as the popular committees are also responsible for security at his palace. our correspondent has been to meet some of their commanders. >> these are the men in charge of law and order in southern yemen. the popular committee's militia has been patrolling the city for months. now, they have replaced all regular security personnel. >> i think the popular committees have become a key

factor of security and stability. they were able to defeat terrorists more efficiently than entire countries and governments. >> on president hadi's orders, the committees now guard the presidential compounds, the airport and all public institutions. >> we welcome the committees because they're very useful. we had a lot of weaknesses and they helped us tremendously especially in the matter of crimes and illegal weapons. >> the purpose was to help fight al-qaeda in the province. they are said to have shown efficiency and the president release on them now for his own protection and to keep security in the city of aden. >> we saw the aggression that took place in the north. we can't let the same thing

happen in aden. >> rewarding security in the north, the popular committee's commanders appear divided. some are open to the idea of an anti-houthi offensive. >> we limit ourselves to the south. we welcome president hadi, but we're not ready to go with him to the north to fight the houthis. >> some say it isn't their fight. >> we will mobilize our forces for war once we have the legal military order, as well as an agreement between all tribes and provinces. >> right now, there is no plan to make a military move on the houthis in sanna. people here are concerned the presence of political players from the capitol may turn the south into a play ground for instability. al-qaeda still operates here and only the committees are here to protect the south. al jazeera, aden. >> let's go to france now where the former president sarkozy's interior minister is in police

custody. he is being investigated over the financing of sarkozy's electoral campaign in 2007. let's find out more now. jacky rowland is our correspondent in paris. what more can you tell us? >> with he know that he he's been questioned now since the early hours of this morning over a sum of money that entered his bank account in 2008, more than half a million euros that's several hundred thousand dollars. police want to know where this money came from. his explanation is this was money he received after selling two paintings by an old dutch master, a pointing from the 17th century. experts say that these paintings wouldn't really have been worth anything like that, less than one 10th that value and

secondly, the question of who the paintings were sold to, he says they were sold to a malaysian art collector and the sum of the money came from a bank account overseas, the malaysian art collector's money. there are still questions and police wonder whether or not this overseas malaysian bank account could have been part of a scheme to hide money because the allegation of the police or at least certainly the allegations they're looking into is the possibility that this money was in fact coming from the former libyan leader colonel gadhafi as part of financial contributions to the election campaign in 2007 by the former french president nicholas sarkozy. >> is this likely to impact the political fortunes of sarkozy and his hopes for reelection? >> certainly it won't help. will car sarkozy himself obviously

lost the presidential election in 2012. he had a few years in the political wilderness, but last year staged something of a comeback by getting himself reelected as leader of the opposition right wing u.m.p. party. obviously, his ambition very much to return to the palace as president of france. he's dogged by all sorts of allegations pertaining to alleged corruption. he himself was questioned some months ago. apparently there were police taps on his phone and there was suspicion that he might as we said, have been receiving campaign funds back in 2007 from everseas forces. the fact now that his very close aid who worked closely with mr. sarkozy before he was president and acted as interior minister while mr. sarkozy was president, that such a close ally and supporter someone who had been intimately involved in

campaigning and fundraising for mr. sarkozy's election campaigns, the fact that he is now being questioned as a result of that evidence that the police believe is as her suspect it can only really be further damaged to what already looked like the waning hopes of nicholas sarkozy to resuscitate his political career and return to the palace. >> live for us in paris will keep her eye on all developments in the story. >> troops are narrowing down the area controlled by boko haram. goodluck jonathan has said that the army is closer to finding the school girls who were abducted by the armed group. the town has been retaken from the fighters and schools are being rebuilt.

>> on a mission to secure schools, a nigerian government delegation traveling, the city has been cleared of boko haram fighters, but still trying to come to terms with the abduction of its school girls last year. this is how a project supported by britain, united states, qatar and others, the idea is simple go into areas freed from boko haram control and build new, safe schools. it's a new part of the strategy against the group with a name that basically means western education is sinful. all the places like this have new schools. students from places where boko haram is still in control are being relegated so they can attend class, too. more than 2,400 so far. >> we are laying new foundation soon to build the school. the safe school project is finding ways to strengthen the school surroundings for our children, particularly in the three areas.

the national initiative, we are looking at software and hardware. >> bolstered by the recent successes over boko haram, the local government is confident schools will reopen soon. >> we have taken equipment you see beind me there -- >> the government says the safe school projects will guarantee security for students in areas affected by violence. almost 11 months after 276 students were taken by boko haram from this school, 219 of them are yet to come home, something this community hasn't forgotten. >> the kidnapping on april 14 last year still hangs over the area. many say the government priority should be the return of their missing daughters. her daughter is still held by boko haram.

her pain is evident today. >> i really don't know what to say. i don't know what's happening to her. she was taken when she was recuperating from a surgical operation. i just want her back safe. the idea of rebuilding the school is ok, but i just want my baby back. >> al jazeera, northeastern nigeria. >> since the fall of the taliban, women have come a long way. they were basically confined to their homes. now women own businesses and are in parliament. they are still fighting for their rights. >> she has been attacked twice because of her prominent role in local politics but says she won't quit. she's the deputy head of the a conservative province where women's rights are often ignored.

>> i'm a woman, i'm a legitimate representative of the people. people voted for me. i'm trying my best to solve people's problems like education, health and reconstruction. >> one of her female constituents accuses a member of parliament of stealing land from her. she takes the complaint to national officials and explains that mistreatment like this is common for those without powerful supporters. she travels with a bodyguard after the taliban killed her politician husband in an attack that also wounded her two children. she said the local governor blamed her for the attack and refused her the financial compensation mandated by law. she said that kind of discrimination is why afghanistan needs more women politicians. serving as health minister for five years under president karzai, this last year, women cast more than a third of the votes. she says that sent a message. >> the message was we're a partner. the message was, we are citizens

who are responsible, and we are citizens who believe in democracy. >> the new president, ashraf ghani, promised four women in his cabinet. so far, there are none. the three he nominated were rejected. >> women want to ensure that progress isn't reversed. >> they're petitioning the new government to ensure women have a place on district councils. they want 25% of seats to be reserved for women in the next election. >> we believe being a woman in the grassroots level and participating in political discussions and adding women's vices is important. >> a law that guaranteed women 25% of power playry seats was rejected last year. it was reinstated with a 20% south dakota he at a. afghan women argue they

represent more than 50% of the population and deserve a place in politics. al jazeera kabul. >> thousands remained stranded in nay pal the international airport closed since wednesday. a turkish airlines jet is blocking the runway. >> more than 25,000 people have been stranded after the only international airport has been blocked by a turkish airline airbus 330 which skidded off the runway wednesday morning. the airbus is very heavy. they don't have the equipment to remove it and indiana air force has come to help. they have been working overnight be but all these people have not been given the right information on when the runway is going to be clear. most of these guys are migrant workers, and have been waiting

for the past three days. this gentleman has been here three days. how have you been managing? >> we can't go back home, it's too far. we've run out of money, we have nothing to eat and nowhere to go. >> many of the tourists are stranded everywhere and everybody is angry at airport authorities for not letting them know when the airport was going to open. this morning, they said it would reopen this afternoon and only now have been told it will reopen tomorrow. >> he was one of the most wanted minute in mexico. the drug lord gomez, also known as la tuta was arrested. his arrest revived hopes that life might now return to normal. we report from one of the gangs former strongholds. >> lines are big business not just for producers but also the

cartel who spent years offering them and other local businesses a simple choice, pay up for face death, but no more. >> the extortion was systemic. you had to pay the cartel as if it was a tax but now that's gone. >> last friday's capture of gomez, the knight's templar leader mexico's most wanted man, was the culmination of a year long operation in which federal forces flooded the state. >> today we find it reactivating its economy a place for investment once again. >> this man's brother was stabbed to death on the sidewalk three days ago. >> honestly, the interior minister is lying. crime hasn't gone down. every day we have assaults,

robberies. the police aren't controlling the situation they just ride around, that's all they he do. >> federal forces and citizen vigilante groups have weakened the knights templar cartel but left behind an army of now unemployed young criminals. >> people are no longer being extorted, but the criminals still freely roam the streets. 400 people were killed between december and january this year. that's hardly a sign of a state fully under government control. >> legitimate jobs are needed to offer a way fought for those who still earn their living through crime. >> they contaminated our society. there are people who the nights templar trained who are waiting for a moment to rise up again. the government has to invest in the economy so these people who were young criminals have other opportunities. >> as the government celebrates the end of gomez's rule, this

family mourns another lost life. it's clear for them and hundreds of other families, true peace has yet to arrive. >> you can find more about all the day's top stories at our website, aljazeera.com. in this this this. >> it themselves equip and train people to document abuses. the renowned musician reflects on a life event that infliences his work now. >> i was bullied by a group of kids. they took my clothes out an