The leader of radical Sunni fighters who have made rapid military advances in Iraq is the rising star of global jihad, driven, Islamist fighters say, by an unbending determination to fight for and establish a hardline Islamic state.

Two Spanish journalists who were freed after being kidnapped for six months by a rogue al Qaeda group in Syria were flown home yesterday, Spain’s defence ministry said.

US secretary of state John Kerry said yesterday that the United States will support Iraq’s fight against al Qaeda-linked militants who have overrun two cities, but won’t send in US troops.

Syrian rebels have seized a compound held by al-Qaida-linked fighters in a northern town, amid some of the most serious infighting between rebels battling president Bashar Assad, according to reports.

The main Western-backed Syrian opposition group has said it intends to join peace talks with the Syrian government if conditions are met.

Al-Qaida-linked gunmen have captured a Syrian town near the Turkish border after heavy fighting with a rebel group, an activist group said.

The ongoing violence in Egypt is playing into the hands of al-Qaeda and gives the group an opportunity to recruit new members as it denounces Western ideologies and democracy, writes Myra MacDonald