>> tonight on "worldfocus" -- success, former president bill clinton makes a surprise visit to north korea and wins the release of two american journalists, but his talks with north korean leaders didn't stop there. in australia, police say they have broken up a terrorist plot in which extremists plan to invade a military base and kill until they were themselves are killed. we will tell you who they say is behind the threat. in sudan, what this woman is doing is considered so scandalous that she's being put on trial and could be flogged. we will tell you why. and in germany, there is no

ignoring the 800-pound gorilla in the womb, now when she is holding a brannew baby. we will explain why this birth means so much. from the world's leading reporters and analysts, here is what's happening from around the world.uéç this is "worldfocus." made possible, in part, by the following funders -- good evening, i'm martin savidge. there is major news out of north korea tonight. two american journalists, euna lee and laura ling, who were arrested in march while reporting along the border of china and north korea, have been pardoned. that announcement came late this afternoon after former president bill clinton made an unannounced visit to north korea, and then held a series of high-level talks, including a rare chat with north korean president kim jong-il. well, with dramatic news of the pardoning of the reporters made

headlines today the former president's meeting with north korean official had far greater implications. the clinton visit and analysis of it, that's our "lead focus" tonight, beginning with "worldfocus" producer ivette feliciano. >> reporter: the former president was greeted with warm handshakes and flowers as he arrived in pyongyang today. the fact that clinton was greeted at the airport by north korea's chief nuclear negotiator and then had a rare meeting with north korean leader suggested that his talks went well beyond his efforts to free the two reporters. in fact, north korea's state controlled media described them as having exhaustive talks covering a wide range of issues. leon sigal is a north korean expert at the social science research council. >> the obama administration's position is the release of the two women is separate from any negotiation, but when bill clinton goes, there's no way to do separation. and the clinton visit, i trust by seeing kim jong-il, even though he is not speaking on behalf of the u.s. government,

will open the way. i trust, to having bilateral talks, which is the key to getting somewhere with the north koreans respecting their sovereignty, their independence. it's an important signal. >> reporter: the white house says that clinton did not carry a message from president obama to the north korean leader. contrary to reporters by state media. >> this was a private mission that we weren't going to comment on. while the former president was on the ground in north korea and as a result of that, i don't have anything more to add on this at this time. >> reporter: however, the former president's visit comes in the midst of an international standoff between washington and pyongyang, over north korea's nuclear program. north korea has expressed a strong interest in one-on-one negotiations with the obama administration. but it says it won't return to the so-called six-party talks involving north korea, china, japan, south korea, russia and the u.s. >> they've gotten themselves

trapped into increased isolation. that's not helpful to their -- to them ultimately. we, on the other hand, need to stop them from making nuclear weapons and missiles and tests them. and the only way to do that is to engage with them much more deeply than we've ever tried to do. >> this is not the first time that a former american president's gone to north korea to negotiate. in fact, 15 years ago, during bill clinton's first term, former president jimmy carter went to north korea to negotiate on an earlier standoff on nuclear weapons. for more on this current effort and the role of former american presidents in international crisis situations, we're joined by thomas whalen. an associate professor of social science at boston university and author of "a higher purpose: profiles in presidential courage." he joins us from boston. the north koreans seem to like star power when it comes to those who come to pay a visit. so i presume that's what bill clinton brings, as opposed to

either former vice presidents or other former members of the administrations. >> right. it's always good that if you have that star power, you know if you have a george clooney why send a ted danson to fix things that bill clinton is probably the most popular figure on this planet at this particular moment. >> and tell us about some of the other ex-presidents who've been sent on diplomatic missions. we mentioned of course jimmy carter, what about him? >> well, jimmy carter played a really important role in bringing about a democratic free election in nicaragua following the sandinista regime's fall several years ago. at the same time, richard nixon played a key role and helped lessening tensions between the united states and china following tiananmen care. the bush administration had sent him on that mission. so i think presidents can play a very important diplomatic role here in terms of easing tensions and getting certain american

foreign policy interests on the ground. >> has it always worked out, or had their been gaffes? >> well, i think that president carter made a major faux paw recently when he tried to interject himself in the israeli/palestinian dialogue. and he ended up alienating israel, and really making the situation far worse than it was when it -- when he first began. >> we've only got about 30 seconds left. but i was surprised by how this is actually a policy that goes back some time. i mean, all the way to theodore roosevelt? >> well, theodore roosevelt represented the united states at the state funeral for the king of england at the beginning of the 20th century. and during his funeral, you had all of the crowned heads of europe just before the outbreak of world war i. and it was there that theodore roosevelt privately came to the conclusion that war was coming, and of course he was right. >> he was. thomas whalen, thank you very much for joining us tonight.

>> you're welcome. there's another incident involving americans being held in this case by iran. they were said to be hiking in the kurdish region of northern iraq four days ago when they apparently wandered across the border and then were arrested near the town of marivan by authorities. today, iranian television showed pictures of joshua fattal of oregon and shane bauer and sarah shourd. also from california. the television claimed that the case is being used as propaganda by western media. friends and family said the americans accidentally stumbled into the wrong place at the wrong time. in afghanistan, a scare in the capital of kabul today. just over two weeks before that country's presidential election. officials said at least eight rockets slammed into the city of daybreak, at least one of them heading from fire from the embassy. three civilians were reported wounded. the rockets were fired to show that the government of president hamid karzai cannot guarantee security in the capital. it was believed to be the first

rocket attack in the afghan capital in six months. in the city of bethlehem on the west bank, an important meeting today about the future of the middle east peace process and a possible palestinian state. for the first time in more than 20 years, members of the ruling fatah party led by palestinian president, mahmoud abbas. gathered for a party convention and that meeting abbas held out hope for a peace deal with israel. despite recent setbacks in the peace process. in the southeast australian city of melbourne today, hundreds of police swept through 19 houses, arresting four young men in what they say was a plot to blow up a large army base outside of sydney, the capital. the officials said the men were somalian and lebanese descent. with ties to a group linked to al qaeda. we get more on this tonight from rafael epstein reporting from the "lateline" program of abc in australia. >> reporter: across melbourne

police searched 19 different properties. the australian federal police, the victoria police, asio and other agents who were part of one of the biggest investigations in this country. >> well, potentially this would had been, if able to be carried out, the most serious terrorist attack on australian soil. >> reporter: this mobile command center in melbourne's north was used to coordinate the efforts of more than 400 officers. since january, security agencies have been listening into phone calls and following people. there are claims that any weapons have been seized, but police will allege they've prevented a major attack. >> police will allege that the men were planning to carry out a suicide terrorist attack on a defense establishment within australia involving an armed assault with automatic weapons. the details of the planning indicated the alleged offenders were prepared to inflict a sustained attack on military personnel until they themselves were killed.

>> reporter: and a heavy guard encountered vehicles were taken to the melbourne offices of the australian federal police. authorities say they'll be searching some homes overnight. in court, the crime prosecutors say one man, nayef el sayed, is being charged with conspiring to do acts in preparation for a terrorist act. police claim another man went to somalia between february and july of this year. they say he was overheard telling others about his training at a military camp. the court heard allegations that one of those being interviewed engaged in frontline combats in somalia. the alleged target was the holsworthy army base in sydney. some of australia's elite soldiers including those involved in counterterrorism operations. security at the base was boosted three months ago when police suspected the terrorist attacks. the prosecution told the courts that with mohammed fatah captured on surveillance footage they say he was filmed here in the holsworthy army base.

police also claim to have sent a text message from fatal in which he says, quote, i strolled around. it, the army base, is easy to enter. did not appear in court. police went there, impact was imminent. sharia describes himself as a community elder. he says the somali community supports australia security agencies. >> we are lucky because we are living in australia now. there is a law in order. we are not in somalia where there is no law and order for almost 20 years. therefore, we are very happy that the police and the security people are doing their job and let us see what comes out. >> reporter: the court also heard police will submit evidence phone calls made between some of the suspects and others overseas.

rafael epstein, "lateline." >> and in somalia, pirates have released a german containership and its crew. the ship was captured 400 miles off of the coast of somalia and the crew were held for ransom. as those from many other vessels have been. well, yesterday the owners of the ship paid the pirates almost $3 million. we have more on this tonight from germany's deutsche welle. >> reporter: after months of waiting the owner of the "hansa stavanger" can finely breathe a sigh of relief. all of the crew members are in good health and doing well. >> translator: it was an almost unbearable time for the crew and their families. i think none of us can imagine how stressful the situation must have been for them. >> reporter: the crew was held in captivity with little to eat or drink and no medicine. according to media reports, the pirates carried out mock executions of their hostages. the german government has

expressed relief at their release. >> translator: once they arrive in mombasa, the crew, including the five germans among them, will be flown to their home countries. i hope that with their families, they'll soon recover from the strain of the past weeks. >> reporter: european union naval officials say a ransom was dropped from a small airplane from the pirates on board of the ship monday morning. the hostagetakers confirmed this to news agencies. is expected in kenya on thursday. >> that was deutsche welle. so why is somalia increasing becoming a threat of security? we are joined by mr. sarjoh bah. welcome back. >> thank you. >> is today's latest in australia by the police of these militants that have been linked to somalia and apparently to al qaeda, an indication that those that sympathize with al qaeda in

somalia are now being exported? in other words, going to other countries to create trouble? >> it's a bit more complicated than that. you know there are some significant somali desperate communities, you know around the world, including places like australia and here in the united states, concentrate mostly in minneapolis. what you have is especially with the arresting of somali, the arresting of australians of somalis, the young women, desperate communities, back into somalia, receiving training and in some cases fighting on the side of some of the groups that engage in the conflict in that country and then going back into their host communities and the arresting of australia, a clear demonstration of the challenges of having this huge desperate communities that are involved in the conflict, directly or

indirectly. but in this case we are seeing direct involvement with groups with terrorist links like al shabaab. this is a very worrying trend that keeps law enforcement and intelligence agencies in this country -- >> well, you mentioned minneapolis, and that is a case of course of great concern of the u.s. the belief is, what, that they go to somalia, receive some sort of training and then would come back, in this case to the u.s.? >> right. >> and could possibly carry out a terrorist attack. >> right, most of this fourth generation americans. so -- but they still have this affinity, or they still have this linkages with somalia. so they go out there, get training, and then eventually they come back to this country and you know only them, they are the only ones who know what kind of activities to come back on. but the worrying thing about this trend is we saw what happened in london with the attacks there, where the folks who carried out those attacks were fourth generation pakistanis, who followed the same trend, trend in pakistan and came back.

so this is quite a worrying trend but then the bigger issue is, how do you deal with this without actually stigmatizing the entire community? >> well, i want to bring up secretary of state hillary clinton. she's heading to africa. she's going to meet with the president of somalia. what do you expect to come out of that? significant because so far we haven't seen the administration's policy on the broader -- including somalia. and what may be, you know, what we probably hope to see out of this visit is the beginnings of seeing the policy of the current administration on dealing with the somalia situation. so far in the past months it has been fairly quiet from the administration. but quite certain that this visit will be the beginning of something more positive and more proactive on the part of the administration. >> sarjoh bah, thank you very much. >> thanks for having me. also from africa, a female journalist went on trial today in sudan for violating the dress code in that country. which adheres to a strict

interpretation of islamic law. dozens of women protested ourt in khartoum the capital. and there were reports that the police beat some of them and fired tear gas. seen here in her home was among 13 women arrested a month ago in a cafe by the so-called order of public police. ten of them were flogged at a police station. and say two women decided to go on trial. her dress code crime, wearing a pair of pants for which she faces 40 lashes. and from india, a human rights group charged today that the police system in that country needs some major overhaul to meet international standards. human rights watch said that while india is modernizing rapidly the police continue to use old methods including abuse and threats. it said the police sometimes detained people illegally, torture and kill suspects and refused to investigate crimes against the politically powerful. the indian government had no immediate response.

was the british government complicit in the torture of terror suspects in a secret work conducted by western intelligent agencies over the last eight years? that question was raised after the release of a pakistani man ben yan mohammed from american custody at guantanamo bay, cuba. when mohammed returned to britain, he sued the government in a test case claiming the intelligence agency, mi5 was involved in his interrogations. while government claims its got nothing to hard a parliamentary commission is now calling for an independent investigation as we hear from andrew thomas of itn. >> reporter: british interrogators questioning suspects abroad either just after mistreatments or during bouts of it. it's some blind questions for u.s. autrities to find out if ben amin mohammed while he was held illegally at guantanamo bay.

systematic uk use of intelligence handed over by states known to have tortured those they got it from. those are the accusations of uk complicity and torture that are swirling about. the committee of mps and lords are set out to answer three questions. is complicity and torture illegal? having defined complicity, they decide it is. do those things the government rá" amount to such complicity? again, the committee decides they do so are the accusations true? on this, the committee was stumped. and that's the committee's beef. that the government has obstructed their inquiries leaving it unable to tell whether the accusations have credibility. this report doesn't pull its punches. accountability of a security and intelligent services, it says, is woefully deficient. ministers, too, have been determined to avoid parliamentary scrutiny. the report says behind a wall of secrecy.

>> if they haven't done anything wrong and there's no evidence that they have or all we have is allegations at the moment. no way to -- i think the problem is the blanket denial. it's not the fire brigade that is going to deal with the smoke. that is emerging from what appears to be a growing bonfire. what we don't know are there any flames at the bottom in >> reporter: the government says that ministers are accountable for parliamentary deny uk security forces torture and say they condemn in other countries, too. but intelligence gathering, they say, is a global business. to prevent further atrocities like 7/7 and made preemptive arrests to foil plots. information can't always be discounted because of its source. there's a balance, they say, between human rights and the security of the british people. >> there's a principle at stake here and we lose our moral authority in the world when we -- when we work with and cooperate with regimes that use torture techniques. there is an absolute purpose in

against the use of torture in this country and internationally and that's been the case for several years. the rules of the game have not changed. the rule of the game will not change. what have happened is those rules have appeared to have broken. >> reporter: the human right committee have called for an independent inquiry of complicity and torture, that, they hope, the government won't be able to duck. some global health notes tonight. medical officials in china are trying to stop an outbreak of pneumonic plague that has killed three people. community of 10,000 in chins's northwest. medical workers are disinfecting the area and killing rats and insects and flees which can be carriers of the bacteria that causes pneumonic plague. which is a highly contagious lung infection that can kill people within 24 hours if it's not properly treated.

one health issue we've been trying to highlight here is maternal health. each year more than a half million women across the world die while giving birth. most of them from developing countries. in haiti, the situation is desperate as violence, political chaos and insufficient international aid have hampered even the most basic health care. teresa boa of al jazeera english traveled to port-au-prince to see how expecting mothers are coping. we warn you the story contains some graphic images of child birth. >> reporter: giving birth in haiti, the country with the highest maternal mortality rate in the western hemisphere. she is eight months' pregnant. and like most of the births here, hers is premature. st. catherine hospital is the only place where women in th slum can get some kind of assistance. but the facility lacks medicines, syringes and other basic elements to ease their

pain. look at the state of our nursery, says this nurse. it's an embarrassment. haiti is highly dependent on international aid, but it is in places like this one where money never seems to be enough. her baby died during delivery at home. by the time she made it to the hospital she could hardly move. this is the second baby i have lost, she told us. most of the women here continue to deliver their babies at home because they cannot afford to come to hospitals like this one and even though they're supposed to be free, these women are telling us that they have to pay. this woman showed us her bill. r the medicines but we are ged poor and we cannot pay. if you don't pay, you do not get assisted. >> reporter: when other women try to share their stories we were expelled from the hospital by these men.

we were told, they were hospital security. hardships for haitian women are confined to the hospital. u.n. studies show that 50% of women living in slums have been raped. many of these children are the result. she is 20 years old. she was raped by a man on her way home. >> translator: my father asked me to throw the baby away, but i said no. my father kicked me out from my house as if it's my fault. we never went to the police. >> reporter: rape would only make a criminal offense in haiti in 2005. but so far there's been little enforcement of the new law. it's about domination of the man over the woman. the man feel superior and thinks that he can do whatever that i want. this is our main problem, fighting for women's rights and help them get respect.

lack of basic health care and a high risk of violence, both high priorities for international organizations working in this country. but real improvements that could make these women's lives even a little bit better. still seem a long way off. reporting from al jazeera, port-au-prince. >> you can find more on humanitarian conditions in haiti including our earlier signature series and an interview with the country's prime minister on our website, that's worldfocus.org. finally tonight, a followup to a story that you may have seen last year that made headlines around the world. the scene was a zoo in germany, where a gorilla, whose baby died after just three months from an infection. and she was seen mourning the youngster for days in a remarkable display of affection. while two days ago that same

gorilla named gana gave birth again. this time to a daughter. zoo officials describe the babyñ as healthy and lively much to her mother's pair of joy. as one headline saw it, "gana the gorilla goes gaga over new baby." that's "worldfocus" for a tuesday evening. for much more on our news and to watch the program on the web, go to our website, that's worldfocus.org. i'm martin savidge in new york. as always, we thank you for joining us. we'll look for you back here tomorrow and anytime on the web. until then, have a good night. "worldfocus" is made possible, in part, by the following funders -- "worldfocus" is made possible, in part, by the -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com