GENEVA — In the strongest sign yet that the first phase of a nuclear deal with Iran may be near, Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Geneva on Friday, joining three of his international counterparts who also arrived unexpectedly: British Foreign Secretary William Hague, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.

After his arrival, Kerry cautioned that "there is not an agreement at this point in time."

"I want to emphasize there are still some very important issues on the table that are unresolved. It is important for those to be properly, thoroughly addressed," he said. "We hope to try to narrow those differences, but I don't think anybody should mistake that there are some important gaps that have to be closed."

The sudden arrival of so many of the world's top officials sparked a high level of anticipation in Geneva, with increased security, including bomb-sniffing dogs, and an influx of the world's media.

The dignitaries are all expected to meet with Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. While the State Department says Kerry came to Geneva "in an effort to help narrow the differences in negotiations," it appears an initial agreement is virtually a done deal.

Negotiators worked late into the night Thursday night, in advance of Kerry's arrival. And both a senior U.S. official and Iran's foreign minister have said a deal could be signed Friday.

To be clear, this would only be the first step of a comprehensive nuclear deal still to be hammered out.

It would be significant, however. While full details aren't yet known, a senior U.S. official said the deal would reign in advancements in Iran's nuclear program in return for a "limited" and "reversible" easing of economic sanctions.

Ann Curry / NBC News

Secretary of State John Kerry arrives at Geneva's InterContinental Hotel for Iran nuclear talks.

Zarif told NBC News there will be political fallout in both Iran and the U.S., if this first step is indeed signed in the coming hours. 

Already Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has warned for years that Iran is close to having a bomb, is alarmed enough to call the deal being negotiated here "a historic mistake."  

On Friday, he released a video expressing his strong feelings against the deal. 

"Israel is not obliged by this agreement and Israel will do everything it needs to do to defend itself and the security of its people," Netanyahu told reporters after meeting with Kerry in Jerusalem.

Israel, which accuses Tehran of seeking to build atomic weapons, has repeatedly warned it might strike Iran if it doesn't halt its Iran hopes to get a break at the talks from crippling international sanctions that have caused its economy to collapse. The U.S. has said world powers will consider relaxing some sanctions if Iran takes visible steps to limit its nuclear program.

Israel has called for the sanctions to stay until Iran has dismantled its entire uranium enrichment program. 

"I understand that the Iranians are walking around very satisfied in Geneva — as well they should be, because they got everything and paid nothing," Netanyahu said, Reuters reported.

President Obama said sanctions, which have been imposed since 2006, could be slightly eased in the early stages of negotiating a broad deal.

"There is the possibility of a phased agreement in which the first phase would be us ... halting any advances on their nuclear program ... and putting in place a way where we can provide them some very modest relief, but keeping the sanctions architecture in place," he said in an interview with NBC News' Chuck Todd.

Kerry flew to Geneva hours after meeting with Netanyahu. In Geneva, Iran and six world powers will hold negotiations: the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — the U.S., Russia, China, France and Britain — plus Germany.

From Israel, Kerry said Washington would not make a "bad deal, that leaves any of our friends or ourselves exposed to a nuclear weapons program," according to Reuters.

NBC's Elizabeth Chuck contributed to this report.

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This story was originally published on Fri Nov 8, 2013 9:35 AM EST

Michaela Rehle / Reuters

A reveler hoists a beer at Germany's Oktoberfest on Oct. 6. A German health official said that "a psychotherapist is not needed next to every citizen" and that sometimes a beer "is enough."

By Andy Eckardt, Producer, NBC News

Mainz, GERMANY -- A German health official has sparked controversy by suggesting that a "bottle of warm beer" can sometimes be more effective than psychotherapy.

Josef Hecken, chairman of the body which decides what treatments are offered by the country's statutory health system, was quoted as saying he believes a brew can heal mild "occasional problems" such as sleep disorders.

Hecken added that "a psychotherapist is not needed next to every citizen" and that sometimes a beer "is enough."

His comments were recorded in official notes taken during the meeting with German health insurers, according to Spiegel Online and Berlin's Der Tagesspiegel newspaper.

Dieter Best, chairman of the German association of psychotherapists, described Hecken's comments as "unspeakable." He said the remarks had triggered a "protest letter" being circulated among psychotherapists.

According to Spiegel Online, the letter read: "You trivialize and ignore the needs of our patients with your bottle of beer metaphor, and subtly stigmatize people with severe psychiatric disorders."

In the wake of the criticism, Hecken issued a statement in which he called his remarks "unfortunate."

"I ... know and am aware, that there are significant interdependencies between alcohol consumption and psychological diseases, which are documented in studies," he said. "That is why the last thing I want to do is to trivialize psychological diseases or to even describe alcohol consumption as an appropriate alternative for psychotherapeutic treatment."

The health official also suggested that his remarks were "capable of being misunderstood."

Hecken added: "What I rather wanted to address, is the circumstance, that I, as a private person, do not regard every indisposition, such as occasional problems to fall asleep, as a pathologic condition that requires treatment, but that sometimes the old home cure of a bottle of warm beer helps me."

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This story was originally published on Fri Nov 8, 2013 9:23 AM EST

GENEVA - Israel rejected out of hand on Friday a mooted deal between world powers and Iran, just as Secretary of State John Kerry prepared to join nuclear talks that aim to nail down an interim agreement on the decade-old standoff.

Western diplomats say that a deal at the negotiations in Geneva is far from certain, and it would in any case mark only the first step in a long process towards settling the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.

Jason Reed / AFP - Getty Images

Secretary of State John Kerry speaks on a cellphone following his private meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday.

Nevertheless, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran would be getting "the deal of the century" in the talks between Tehran and six powers.

"Israel utterly rejects it and what I am saying is shared by many in the region, whether or not they express that publicly," Netanyahu told reporters.

"Israel is not obliged by this agreement and Israel will do everything it needs to do to defend itself and the security of its people," he said before meeting Kerry in Jerusalem on Friday.

Israel has repeatedly warned that it might strike Iran if it did not halt the nuclear program, accusing Tehran of seeking to build atomic weapons. Iran says its various nuclear facilities are geared only to civilian needs.

Tehran is trying to win respite at the talks from international sanctions which are strangling its economy. The United States has said world powers will consider relaxing some of the sanctions if Iran takes verifiable steps to limit its nuclear program.

Iran and the powers are discussing a partial suspension deal covering only a limited period. It would be the first stage in a process involving many rounds of negotiations in the next few months aimed at securing a permanent agreement.

The core of that first stage would be freeing up cash frozen in foreign accounts for years, giving Iran access to funds.

Hours after meeting Netanyahu, Kerry arrived Friday afternoon in Geneva, where Iran and six world powers are holding negotiations. These are the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain - plus Germany.

Kerry's unplanned trip to Geneva was first reported by NBC News' Ann Curry.

Israel has called for the sanctions to remain in place until Iran has dismantled its entire uranium enrichment program. "I understand that the Iranians are walking around very satisfied in Geneva - as well they should be, because they got everything and paid nothing," Netanyahu said.

Kerry is visiting the Swiss city at the invitation of European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in "an effort to help narrow differences" in the negotiations, a senior State Department official said.

Ashton is coordinating talks with Iran on behalf of the six.

After the first day of meetings set for Thursday and Friday, both sides said progress had been made.

President Barack Obama said the international community could slightly ease sanctions against Iran in the early stages of negotiating a comprehensive deal.

"There is the possibility of a phased agreement in which the first phase would be us ... halting any advances on their nuclear program ... and putting in place a way where we can provide them some very modest relief, but keeping the sanctions architecture in place," he said in an interview with NBC News.

Kerry said earlier in Israel that Tehran would need to prove its atomic activities were peaceful, and that Washington would not make a "bad deal, that leaves any of our friends or ourselves exposed to a nuclear weapons program."

"We're asking them to step up and provide a complete freeze over where they are today," he said on Thursday.

In Geneva, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was cautious on the chances of a deal. "Too soon to say," he told reporters on Thursday after the first day of talks.

"I'm a bit optimistic," he added. "We are still working. We are in a very sensitive phase. We are engaged in real negotiations."

The fact that an agreement may finally be within reach after a decade of frustrated efforts and hostility between Iran and the West was a sign of a dramatic shift in Tehran's foreign policy since the election of a relative moderate, Hassan Rouhani, as Iranian president in June.

Iran and the United States have had no diplomatic ties since soon after the 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed monarchy, and their mutual mistrust and enmity have posed the biggest obstacle to any breakthrough nuclear accord. 

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This story was originally published on Fri Nov 8, 2013 6:23 AM EST

Embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is "considering" rehab, a lawyer for the politician said Friday, but, he added, "It's best we hear from his lips."

The development comes a day after a new video showing Ford threatening to kill someone was published, and just three days after the politician in charge of North America's fourth-largest city admitted he had smoked crack cocaine. 

Dennis Morris, Ford's lawyer, told The Associated Press that Ford is "considering his options," including treatment. He said that Thursday was a defining day for the mayor.

The clip that was released on Thursday was the second one to tarnish Ford's reputation.

"He dies or I die," Ford says in it, adding: "I need f***ing 10 minutes to make sure he's dead. It'll be over in five minutes."

The context of the video is unknown and it's unclear who Ford is threatening in his rambling rant. 

In the blurry, shaky video, Ford paces around, frantically waves his arms and rolls up his sleeves as he says he'll "make sure" the unknown person is dead. 

"When he’s down, I’ll rip his f***ing throat out. I’ll poke his eyes out," an agitated Ford can be heard saying. 

Moments after The Toronto Star published the 80-second video on its website, Ford made yet another a public apology. 

“The Toronto Star just released a video that I was very, very inebriated,” he said. “All I can say is, again, I've made mistakes. I just wanted to come out and tell you I saw a video. It’s extremely embarrassing. The whole world’s going to see it."

Ford added: “I hope none of you have ever or will ever be in that state. Obviously, I was extremely, extremely inebriated.”

Thursday's apology was the second one this week for Ford. He admitted on Sunday he had a drinking problem, acknowledging he was "hammered" in public at a street festival in August and "out of control" drunk around city hall after St. Patrick's Day last year.

On Tuesday, the father of two admitted that he had smoked crack cocaine while "in one of my drunken stupors," but said he would not resign.

"I know I embarrassed everyone in the city and I will be forever sorry," Ford said Tuesday.

On Friday, Ford was mobbed by reporters, but refused to discuss what his next steps were.

"I'm dealing with a serious personal issue right now. Please give me this time," he said before walking into an elevator at City Hall, the AP reported.

Also Friday, in a sign of how troubled times have become for the mayor, his radio show was taken off the air. NewsTalk 1010 announced that Ford and his brother "have mutually determined to conclude broadcasts of The City, ending with last week's show."

Ford's family is standing by him.

His sister, Kathy Ford, told the Canadian TV station CP24 that her brother doesn't have a drinking problem unless"you want to consider binge drinking once every three months" a problem. "Robbie does not drink every night," she said.

His mother, Diane Ford, said her son's big issue is food — not drugs.

“He’s got a huge weight problem and I think that is the first thing he has to attack because that will change your whole demeanor,” she said.

Ford has been dogged by drug allegations since a video surfaced in May that appeared to show him smoking crack cocaine. 

For months, the mayor denied using the drug and maintained the video "does not exist."

Toronto's police chief last week confirmed that investigators had a copy of the crack-pipe video, but said it couldn't be released as it constitutes evidence before the courts.

Police said that video had been recovered during an investigation dubbed "Project Brazen 2," a huge surveillance operation into a friend of the mayor who occasionally served as his driver.

The Toronto Star said that it bought the latest video for $5,000 from "a source who filmed it from someone else's computer." The newspaper said it was told "the person with the computer was there in the room." 

Its release led to renewed calls for the 44-year-old to resign.

City Councilor James Pasternak urged Ford to make a "dignified exit," The Associated Press reported. 

"The video is very disturbing," he said. "It's very upsetting, it's very sad."

Councilor Denzil Minnan-Wong, a former Ford supporter, told reporters council must act because Ford has not been dealing with the situation to the satisfaction of the public.

"If he can't find the exit I think we need to show him the door," Minnan-Wong added.

City Councilor Giorgio Mammoliti, a Ford ally, told The Associated Press that the mayor should enter rehab.

Municipal law in Canada's biggest city has no stipulation for the forced removal of a mayor from office, unless he was convicted and jailed for a criminal offense. Police have not charged Ford with anything. 

The mayor has said that he plans to run for re-election next year.

NBC News' Tracy Connor, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. 

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This story was originally published on Thu Nov 7, 2013 6:19 PM EST

Reuters

Three British spy chiefs - Andrew Parker the head of M15, John Sawers, the head of M16, and Iain Lobban GCHQ director - attend a hearing at parliament, Thursday

LONDON - Terrorists are “rubbing their hands with glee” over the information leaked by NSA contractor Edward Snowden, a senior British spy said Thursday.

"The leaks from Snowden have been very damaging, they've put our operations at risk,” John Sawers, the head of MI6, Britain's foreign intelligence service, told a committee of lawmakers in parliament.

He was one of three U.K. intelligence chiefs being questioned in public for the first time.

“It's clear that [Britain's] adversaries are rubbing their hands with glee, al Qaeda is lapping it up," Sawers said of the Snowden leaks.

Read more on this story at ITV News

The bosses were being questioned by the parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee in the wake of concerns at the extent of surveillance by both British and U.S. agencies, including the harvesting of data on the phone calls and emails of private citizens.

The head of Britain’s NSA counterpart, GCHQ, insisted the monitoring of email traffic was proportionate and legal, according to ITV News.

"We do not spend our time listening to the telephone calls or reading the emails of the majority," Sir Iain Lobban told the committee, adding:  “We are subject to the law."

The committee was also told that Britain’s domestic intelligence agency MI5, had disrupted 34 terrorist plots "at all sizes and stages" since the July 7, 2005 suicide bomb attacks on London’s bus and subway system that killed 52 people.

The committee hearing was broadcast on television with a two-minute time delay to prevent the inadvertent release of sensitive secrets.

ITV News is the U.K. partner of NBC News.

Related:

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John Kolesidis / Reuters

Protesters scuffle with policemen as they try to approach ERT's headquarters in Athens on Thursday.

Riot police stormed the headquarters of Greece’s former state broadcaster early Thursday and evicted dozens of journalists who have been working for free since the station was closed by the government almost five months ago.

The country’s coalition shuttered the state-run broadcaster ERT in June because it said it cost too much to run during Greece’s economic crisis.

Dozens of staff have continued to broadcast online since then, with one journalist comparing their operation to "Robin Hood" and claiming "we are the voice of the people."

Government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou, who is a former ERT employee, told Reuters the station was "under illegal occupation," and that police had raided the building to "apply the law and restore legality."

John Kolesidis / Reuters

Former ERT staff comfort each other outside the broadcaster's headquarters on Thursday.

At around 4 a.m. local time (9 p.m. ET on Wednesday), police fired teargas into a crowd of pro-ERT protestors gathered outside the headquarters in Athens, Reuters reported.

They evicted dozens of journalists from the building, some of whom refused to leave the yard, and several people were briefly detained.

Officers, in the presence of a prosecutor, checked to see if equipment had been damaged.

One journalist, Nikos Kourovilos, told the BBC he had evaded the police and was hiding in the building.

"They are in the building, they have control, they put everyone out,” he said live on the BBC’s Today radio program. "The good thing is they forgot about me, because I told them I had to take my stuff and I will go."

Kourovilos said he hoped to continue broadcasting independently "because it's for democracy." 

He added: "We feel like we are Robin Hood… We are the voice of the people."

The raid came as inspectors from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union were in Athens reviewing the country's progress in meeting the targets of two multi-billion euro bailouts it has received over the past three years.

The decision to pull the plug on ERT and fire its 2,600 employees in June prompted the Democratic Left party to quit Greece's coalition government in protest.

The government subsequently launched a new state television channel called Public TV.

On being evicted from the building on Thursday, former ERT employee Adrianna Bili told Reuters: "This is how fascism works, slyly and in darkness. I feel like they have raped me, like they have violated my home, they have violated my life, democracy. They have destroyed everything."

Zoe Konstantopoulou, a senior lawmaker from the leftist opposition Syriza party, added: "The government has reached such a point of delirium that it is staging a coup against itself. Some people will be held accountable before history and future generations."

More protests at the station's headquarters were planned for later on Thursday.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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This story was originally published on Thu Nov 7, 2013 10:13 AM EST

Fadi Al-Assaad / Reuters

Suha Arafat, wife of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, speaking in Doha, Qatar, Thursday.

Yasser Arafat's widow issued a plea for justice Thursday after scientists concluded the former Palestinian leader was likely deliberately poisoned by the radioactive substance polonium-210.

Suha Arafat said her husband's death was a crime and that his successors "have to find the tools and pursue the legal case" in international courts.

Arafat died in 2004 in France, a month after falling ill at his Israeli-besieged West Bank compound.

Suha Arafat did not specifically blame Israel in her comments to The Associated Press Thursday, but said only countries with nuclear capabilities had access to polonium.

"I can't accuse anyone, but it's clear this is a crime, and only countries with nuclear reactors can have and do that," she said. "Now the ball is in the hands of the Palestinian Authority.”

A team of Swiss experts has concluded that Arafat ingested radioactive polonium, and that the time-frame of his illness and death were consistent with polonium poisoning.

"You don't accidentally or voluntarily absorb a source of polonium — it's not something that appears in the environment like that," said Patrice Mangin, director of the laboratory which examined Arafat's remains and his underclothes and a travel bag that he had with him in his final days.

He said his team could not say unequivocally what killed Arafat, who was 75 years old.

Israel once again denied it was behind Arafat’s death -- an accusation made repeatedly by Palestinian officials.

"We never made a decision to harm him physically," said Israeli Energy Minister Silvan Shalom, who was foreign minister at the time of the death. "In my opinion, this is a tempest in a tea cup. But even if it was (poisoning), it certainly was not Israel."

The 108-page Swiss report -- officially published in Geneva Thursday but reported late Wednesday by Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera -- came after the exhumation of Arafat's remains earlier this year.

It found the remains and burial soil contained elevated levels of polonium-210 -- the same radioactive substance that was slipped into a cup of tea in a London hotel to kill defecting Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in 2006. From his deathbed, Litvinenko accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering his murder.

Francoi Bochud, a radiophysicist involved in the Swiss report, said polonium can be obtained with authorization, noting that his own lab receives it in liquid form for research. In that form, Bochud said, just a minuscule amount slipped into food or drink would be lethal within about a month.

Polonium can be a byproduct of the chemical processing of uranium, but usually is made artificially in a nuclear reactor or a particle accelerator. Israel has a nuclear research center and is widely believed to have a nuclear arsenal, but remains ambiguous about the subject.

In a statement put out by his office, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged official Palestinian bodies to "follow up the investigation and to reveal all the facts about the death of the late leader Yasser Arafat, and to put the whole truth before the Palestinian people and the world."

Miri Eisin, a former colonel in the Israeli army, dismissed the new claims as a “conspiracy theory,” adding that Israel was often blamed unfairly.

“We were accused of 9/11,” she said. “We've been accused of anything you could think of including the fact that there are sharks in the Red Sea that attacked people.

“Somebody died. It's not nice, it's not convenient and people want to point fingers.”

Slideshow: Yasser Arafat, in pictures

AP

See key moments and memorable scenes from Yasser Arafat's life.

Launch slideshow

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Swiss scientists say they've found evidence that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may have been poisoned with polonium. The deadly radioactive element first hit the headlines when it was used to kill KGB agent-turned-Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006. 

Arafat died under mysterious circumstances at a French military hospital in 2004. Scientists at Switzerland's Institute of Radiation Physics, who examined soil and bone samples from Arafat's grave, said their results "moderately support" the theory Arafat was poisoned with polonium. Other scientists say the results are suggestive but do not provide definitive proof that Arafat was poisoned.

Here are some facts about polonium. 

What is polonium? 
Polonium-210 is one of the world's rarest elements, discovered in 1898 by scientists Marie and Pierre Curie and named in honor of her country of origin, Poland. It occurs naturally in very low concentrations in the Earth's crust and also is produced artificially in nuclear reactors. In small amounts, it has legitimate industrial uses, mainly in devices to eliminate static electricity. Polonium is not naturally found in the human body. 

How dangerous is it? 
Very. If ingested, it is lethal in extremely small doses. A minuscule amount of the silver powder is sufficient to kill. British radiation experts say once polonium-210 enters the bloodstream, its deadly effects are nearly impossible to stop. 

How can it poison people? 
People can be poisoned with polonium if they eat or drink food contaminated with it, breathe contaminated air or it enters the body through an open wound. Litvinenko apparently drank tea laced with polonium during a meeting at a London hotel. 

What are the symptoms of polonium poisoning? 
A poisoning victim experiences multiple organ failure as alpha radiation particles bombard the liver, kidneys and bone marrow from within. Symptoms including nausea, hair loss and throat swelling. 

Where does it come from? 
Polonium can be a byproduct of the chemical processing of uranium, but usually it's made artificially in a nuclear reactor or a particle accelerator. John Croft, a retired British radiation expert who worked on the Litvinenko case, said a dose large enough to kill would likely have to come from a government with either civilian or military nuclear capabilities. That category includes Russia — producer of the polonium believed to have killed Litvinenko — and Arafat's foe, Israel. But it also includes the U.S and dozens of other nations. 

Can the radiation be detected? 
Polonium's large alpha particles of radiation do not penetrate the skin and don't set off radiation detectors, so it is relatively easy to smuggle across international borders. 

Who has died from it? 
In addition to Litvinenko's presumed death from polonium poisoning, some speculate that the Curies' daughter Irene, who died of leukemia, may have developed the disease after accidentally being exposed to polonium in the laboratory. Israeli author Michal Karpin has claimed the cancer deaths of several Israeli scientists were the result of a polonium leak at the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1957. Israeli officials have never acknowledged a connection. 

Can scientists prove that Arafat was poisoned?
Swiss scientists say Arafat had symptoms commonly linked to radiation poisoning, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and liver and kidney failure — but not two other classic symptoms, hair loss and a weaker immune system. In fact, there have been so few cases of known polonium poisoning that scientists don't know very much about its exact symptoms. 

The scientists also noted their tests faced several limitations. They had to perform their analyses on very small specimens — such as a single hair shaft or traces of blood and urine. Those tests were also conducted eight years after Arafat's death, so there may have been problems with chemical degradation. 

Derek Hill, a radiation expert at University College London, said if there was enough polonium left in the samples, it might be possible to trace where the element came from. That could provide more clues about whether Arafat was poisoned. 

NBC News

Maulana Fazlullah is the new leader of the Pakistani Taliban, a group which has been blamed for the deaths of at least 40,000 civilians and 5,000 troops during its decade-long insurgency against the country's government.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – A ruthless commander whose fighters were blamed for shooting schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai was named as the new leader of the Pakistani Taliban on Thursday, a spokesman for the militant group told NBC News.

Maulana Fazlullah, who is known as "Radio Mullah" due to his fiery on-air messages, succeeds Hakimullah Mehsud, who was killed by a U.S. drone strike on Friday. 

 "After proper consultations and mutual understanding, we chose our senior commander Maulana Fazlullah as our new emir [leader],"  Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told NBC News. "He will lead all the militant groups operating under the umbrella of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan."

Speaking by phone from Afghanistan, Shahid said that the militants would not hold peace talks with Pakistan. He added that Sheik Khalid Haqqani had been appointed the group's deputy leader.

The Pakistani Taliban has been blamed for the deaths of at least 40,000 civilians and 5,000 troops during its decade-long insurgency against the country's government. The group has also been known to support their Afghan brothers-in-arms, who are a separate group under the leadership of the elusive Mullah Mohammed Omar.

Fazlullah, 39, commanded forces in the treacherous Swat region of northern Pakistan which ordered the closure of all girls’ schools.

Yousafzai was shot by militants last year because of her campaign to promote education among women.

Considered a hardliner even within the Taliban movement, Fazlullah earned himself the nickname "Radio Mullah" after establishing a radio station to broadcast his views.

A 2009 offensive by Pakistani troops forced him across the border into Afghanistan and he is now believed to be hiding in Afghanistan's Nuristan province.

Earlier, a senior Taliban source told NBC News that a decision had been delayed as initially the "majority of shura [ruling council] members were not unanimous in agreeing on one person to become the emir."

The source also explained the process for selecting Mehsud's successor.

“We consider democracy as an un-Islamic practice,” he added. “Therefore we don't nominate the emir on the basis of majority. If member of the shura wants to support someone for the job, he has to give strong arguments in his favor. All the members take turns to repeat this exercise and the final decision is made by the emir of the central shura with his council."

Slideshow: Pakistan: A nation in turmoil

Shahzaib Akber / EPA

Images of daily life, political pursuits, religious rites and deadly violence.

Launch slideshow

This story was originally published on Thu Nov 7, 2013 8:32 AM EST

Michael Dalder / Reuters

Two paintings by German artist Otto Dix, shown to reporters by German authorities on Tuesday.

BERLIN -- The German recluse who hoarded his late father's trove of Nazi-looted art may be its legal owner but the Berlin government has the authority -- and moral obligation, some argue -- to return the art works to their original Jewish owners or their heirs.

The status of the haul is ambiguous nearly 70 years after World War Two, subject to conflicting claims and obscured by the secretive world of art dealing. The man in whose Munich flat it was found, Cornelius Gurlitt, may even get to keep it.

Last year customs investigators seized 1,400 art works by European masters dating from the 16th century to the avant garde which had been hoarded by his father, one of the men Adolf Hitler put in charge of selling so-called "degenerate" art.

Hailed as one of the most significant discoveries of art looted by the Nazis, it has fuelled feverish speculation about its provenance and likely claims from the heirs of Jewish collectors robbed, dispossessed or murdered by the Nazis.

"The legal situation as far as I can tell is that Gurlitt is the rightful owner of a large share of the work in question -- even if that is questionable from a moral and ethical point of view," said Uwe Hartmann, head of the government agency charged with researching the provenance of art in public collections.

But Germany, already under fire for keeping the hoard secret for nearly a year, could face further criticism if it allows Gurlitt to keep the paintings, sketches and sculptures.

Britta Pedersen / EPA

Uwe Hartmann, head of provenance research, posing in Berlin, Germany, on Tuesday. According to the researcher, most parts of the spectacular Munich art find are legally owned by the 79-year-old art dealer son Cornelius Gurlitt.

Legal experts and those familiar with the question of looted art said Germany could nullify his ownership by citing the principle of "adverse possession" or under the 1998 Washington Declaration, a set of principles for dealing with looted art.

Michael Naumann, who as German culture minister in 1998 signed the Washington Declaration, said it would be absurd to let Gurlitt keep art work which could have been looted or extorted from Jews as they fled the Holocaust.

"The man made his living by selling the artwork," Naumann told Reuters. "Most of it was stolen or acquired under most dubious circumstances. He apparently never paid taxes. The state has every means to assess the value of this and take it in its possession because he behaved criminally."

"Imagine if the government discovered a huge depot of antique cars bought under duress from Jewish owners during the Third Reich," he said. "Do you leave it to the descendants of the thief? Of course not!"

However, even one of the lawyers representing the heirs of a Jewish art patron and collector who lost everything to the Nazis -- Alfred Flechtheim, who died impoverished in London in 1937 -- assumed the works of art would be returned to Gurlitt.

"At some point the state prosecutor will no longer have reason to hold the paintings and that means they'll be returned to (Gurlitt)," lawyer Markus Stoetzel told Reuters in Marburg.

Flechtheim's estate has been fighting for decades for the restitution of works now hanging in German galleries and the lawyer said he would be seeking information about the new haul from the public prosecutor's office.

"In any case the owner is Herr Gurlitt and we, as well as any other claimants, must deal with him," Stoetzel said.

That would infuriate the Jewish Claims Conference, which helps victims of the Nazis negotiate for compensation. It said the art works should not be returned to Gurlitt if the original owners cannot be found. The whereabouts of the octogenarian Gurlitt, who owned homes in Munich and Salzburg, are also unknown.

"The paintings for which heirs cannot be found should be auctioned, with proceeds from such sales to be used for Holocaust-related purposes, such as assistance for Holocaust survivors and or Holocaust-related education," it said.

Other legal experts believe that a statute of limitations on claims that would allow Gurlitt to keep the art could be negated because the art work was confiscated by the state in connection with a tax evasion investigation against him in Bavaria.

"I don't think the German state has fully realized what's fallen into its hands," said Claudia von Selle, an attorney in Berlin specializing in art. "Germany needs to show some courage and say 'We will give these art works back to the owners'. They certainly have valid hopes for restitution now."

Von Selle said the German government needed to dedicate much more staff to assessing the provenance of such works of art.

"It's incredible they have just one person on it," von Selle said, referring to art expert Meike Hoffmann who is cataloging the find in a secret location in Munich. "It's very difficult work and it would keep one person busy for 20 years."

Slideshow: Art looted by Nazis

More than 20 percent of the art of Europe was looted by the Nazis under Hitler, and as many as 100,000 works are still thought to be missing, according to the U.S. National Archives.

Launch slideshow

But the bigger question put to German authorities is why it took them nearly two years to inform the public -- and potential claimants -- about the discovery in February 2012.

"The Bavarian government has a lot of explaining to do. Why did the Bavarian officials not immediately put this on the Lost Art website? The next question is: did the federal government know about this and why did they not do anything about this?"

It was not until Focus magazine broke the story this weekend that officials came forward and confirmed an intriguing tale of customs officials stumbling upon the art after a routine check found large sums of cash on Gurlitt on a train from Zurich.

Prosecutors said they had kept quiet due to worries about the safety and insurance of the art work, which Focus estimated is worth more than 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion), and had been compelled to secrecy because it was a probe into tax evasion.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said the federal government had known about it for several months and was now pushing for publication of any works suspected of being obtained by "forced removal through Nazi persecution". 

Related:

• Discovery of Nazi-plundered art offers glimpse 'into a dark story'
• Nazi art trove in German apartment includes previously unknown Matisse
• Jewish group condemns German silence on huge art find

Joel Saget / AFP - Getty Images

French ex-PM Dominique de Villepin told NBC News that U.S. surveillance programs were "not an act of a democratic country."

PARIS - Spying on world leaders has dealt a "major blow" to U.S. foreign interests because it shows that "America doesn’t trust its allies," French former prime minister Dominique de Villepin told NBC News.

The conservative politician, who was raised in the U.S. and was a key ally of Washington when in office between 2005 and 2007, said surveillance of foreign leaders had undermined the America's authority overseas.

In an interview Thursday, De Villepin said that the episode showed "an incredible weakness" of American leadership and that the surveillance programs were “not an act of a democratic country.”

“It’s an act of a country [that] believes so much in its own power that it believes it can go beyond beyond the rule of law," he added. "You cannot teach lessons to the world when you are not giving the example."

Washington has been scrambling to soothe some of its closest allies, angered by a string of newspaper reports that it spied on leaders of at least 35 countries, and even bugged the personal cellphone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

One report, published last week in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, said that the National Security Agency had also collected information on private citizens, including details of 60 million telephone calls in that country last December.

“I believe that for the U.S., U.S. diplomacy, U.S. interests, it’s a major blow,” de Villepin said. “The truth is it’s a major blow because it shows America don’t trust anybody. America doesn’t trust its allies. America is trying to fight alone against an enemy that cannot be fought alone. You need cooperation. You need friends. You need strong leadership and in this case, there is only – what? A couple of agencies trying to fight an enemy which is invisible.”

De Villepin also described the surveillance programs as “useless” and “totally inefficient” in the fight against global terrorism.

“Technology is nothing when it is not based also on human resources,” said de Villepin. “Good intelligence is always based on cooperation. And in this case, there is a very, very serious blow on trust.

“This kind of monitoring, this kind of control makes everyone an enemy. It makes you, me, anyone in this country a potential enemy of the U.S. In the meantime you are not looking for the real target.”

He added: “When I listen to the head of the NSA, to the head of some intelligence agencies in front of the congress committees, what do I see? People that don’t understand even what is the target. They are nice guys but they are not at the level of understanding of the problems of the world. How can you be efficient when you trust people who are not qualified for that?”

His criticisms were echoed Thursday by Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the World Wide Web. Berners-Lee told Britain's Guardian newspaper that U.K. intelligence workers had undermined the global fight against Internet crime by hacking online privacy software. He described the move as foolish, and a betrayal of the technology industry.

The U.K. government is facing criticism over the actions of its intelligence agencies, due in part to Britain's close cooperation with the NSA.

In response to public anger, British intelligence chiefs were due to give their first ever public testimony later Thursday when they are cross-examined together in parliament about the case of former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden.

The evidence-gathering session comes amid calls for the government to step up oversight of its three main intelligence agencies after documents that Snowden leaked to the press exposed Britain's role in secret mass surveillance programs.

Reuters contributed to this report. Alastair Jamieson reported from London.

Related:

• We've been snooping on our friends for years: spy chief Clapper
• US coping with furious allies as NSA spying revelations grow

This story was originally published on Thu Nov 7, 2013 7:15 AM EST