A Guantanamo inmate pleaded guilty today to helping al-Qaida plot attacks from his native Pakistan, in a plea deal that limits his sentence.

FOUR people were pulled alive from the rubble yesterday when one managed to call for help on his mobile phone after a 7.2-magnitude quake levelled buildings and killed 279 people in eastern Turkey.

It appears unlikely that Osama bin Laden, if still alive, is in full command of the al-Qaida terrorist network, according to US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Osama bin Laden may no longer have operational control of his terror network, the US ambassador to Pakistan told a gathering of local journalists today, according to two Pakistani television channels.

A senior al-Qaida operative has died in an explosion in a north-western Pakistan tribal area, the president said today.