Libya said today it has asked the United States for “clarifications” regarding the abduction in Tripoli of an al Qaida leader linked to the 1998 US Embassy bombings in East Africa, adding that Libyan nationals should be tried in their own country.

The fatal explosions in Boston have hints of a right-wing terrorist attack rather than al Qaida-inspired extremism, according to one of the world’s leading experts on counter-terrorism.

The al-Qaida member suspected of being behind the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania has been killed, a Somali official said today.

Fighting broke out today between Somalia’s government troops and rival Islamic militia near where an EU envoy was meeting with senior leaders to press for peace talks.