Israel suggests responsibility for Syria strike

MUNICH Israel's defense minister indicated Sunday that his country was behind the airstrike on Syria last week, in the first public comments from his government on the attack that U.S. officials said targeted a convoy carrying anti-aircraft weapons bound for the militant group Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in 2012.

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AFP/Getty Images

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak brought the issue up at a gathering of the world's top diplomats and defense officials in Germany, initially saying: "I cannot add anything to what you have read in the newspapers about what happened in Syria several days ago."

But, addressing the audience in English, he then added: "I keep telling frankly that we said — and that's proof when we said something we mean it- we say that we don't think it should be allowed to bring advanced weapons systems into Lebanon."

In Syria, President Bashar Assad said his military was capable of confronting any "aggression" targeting the country, his first comments since the airstrike.

Syrian state television said Assad spoke during a meeting with visiting top Iranian official, Saeed Jalili.

Assad also accused Israel of trying to "destabilize" his country at the meeting, BBC reports.

Assad said Syria is capable of facing current challenges and can "confront any aggression" that would target the Syrian people.

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Israeli planes hit Syrian target

Israel had not previously commented on the strike, but in the days ahead of the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials repeatedly warned of the dangers of Syrian weapons falling into the hands of Hezbollah and other hostile elements in the region.

The Syrian military, meanwhile, said the target of Israeli jets was a scientific research center. The facility is in the area of Jamraya, northwest of Damascus.

Purported images of the targeted site, aired by Syrian state television on Saturday, show destroyed cars, trucks and military vehicles. A building has broken widows and damaged interiors, but no major structural damage.

Following the attack, Syria's ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdul-Karim Ali, said Damascus "has the option and the capacity to surprise in retaliation," but that it was up to the relevant authorities to choose the time and place.

Meanwhile, Syrian opposition leaders and rebels on Friday slammed Assad for not responding to the airstrike, calling it proof of his weakness and acquiescence to the Jewish State.

The chief of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards said in remarks Sunday that Tehran also hopes Syria will retaliate against Israel for a recent airstrike on its territory.

The report by the official IRNA news agency quotes Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari as saying, "We are hopeful that Syria gives an appropriate response to the strike in the proper time."

Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, Israeli leaders have repeatedly expressed fears that if Syria were to disintegrate, President Bashar Assad could lose control of his chemical weapons and other arms.

On Saturday night, Netanyahu, who is in the process of forming a new ruling coalition, said his new government would have to deal with weapons "being stockpiled near us and threatening our cities and civilians" — an apparent reference to the deteriorating situation in Syria.

Barak said "Hezbollah from Lebanon and the Iranians are the only allies that Assad has left."

He said in his view Assad's fall "is coming imminently" and when it happens, "this will be a major blow to the Iranians and Hezbollah."

"I think that they will pay the price," he said.

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Former SEAL Killed at Gun Range; Suspect Arrested

A former Marine has been charged with three counts of murder in the killing of former Navy SEAL and "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle, the most deadly sniper in U.S. history, and another man at an Erath County, Texas, gun range, police said.

"We have lost more than we can replace. Chris was a patriot, a great father, and a true supporter of this country and its ideals. This is a tragedy for all of us. I send my deepest prayers and thoughts to his wife and two children," Scott McEwen, co-author of "American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History," said in a statement to ABC News.

Remembering Kyle for the number of Iraqi insurgents he killed misstates his legacy, McEwen said.

"His legacy is not one of being the most lethal sniper in United States history," McEwen said. In my opinion, his legacy is one of saving lives in a very difficult situation where Americans where going to be killed if he was not able to do his job."

Kyle and a neighbor of his were shot at a gun range in Glen Rose while helping a former Marine who was recovering from post traumatic stress syndrome, ABC affiliate WFAA-TV in Dallas reported.

AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Paul Moseley

The suspect, identified as Eddie Ray Routh, 25, was arrested in Lancaster, Texas, after a brief police chase, a Lancaster Police Department dispatcher told ABC News. Routh was driving Kyle's truck at the time of his arrest, police said.

Routh was arraigned Saturday evening on one count of capital murder and two counts of murder. He was brought to the Erath County Jail this morning and was being held there today on a combined $3 million bond, Officer Kyle Roberts said.

Investigators told WFAA that Routh is a former Marine said to suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Kyle helped found a nonprofit that provides at-home fitness equipment for emotionally and physically wounded veterans, but the director of the foundation said Kyle and Routh had not met through the organization.

"Chris was literally the type of guy if you were a veteran and needed help he'd help you," Travis Cox, the director of FITCO Cares, told The Associated Press. "And from my understanding that's what happened here. I don't know how he came in contact with this gentleman, but I do know that it was not through the foundation."

Authorities identified the other man who was killed with Kyle as 35-year-old Chad Littlefield, who Cox said was Kyle's neighbor and friend.

PHOTOS: Notable Deaths in 2013

Kyle, 38, served four tours in Iraq and was awarded two Silver Stars, five Bronze Stars with Valor, two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, and one Navy and Marine Corps Commendation.

From 1999 to 2009, Kyle recorded more than 150 sniper kills, the most in U.S. military history.

After leaving combat duty, Kyle became chief instructor training Naval Special Warfare Sniper and Counter-Sniper teams, and he authored the Naval Special Warfare Sniper Doctrine, the first Navy SEAL sniper manual. He left the Navy in 2009.

"American Sniper," which was published last year by William Morrow, became a New York Times best seller.

Read More..

Hillary: Secretary of empowerment

Girls hug U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a 2010 tour of a shelter run for sex trafficking victims in Cambodia.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Donna Brazile: Clinton stepping down as Secretary of State. Maybe she'll run for president


• She says as secretary she expanded foreign policy to include effect on regular people


• She says she was first secretary of state to focus on empowering women and girls


• Brazile: Clinton has fought for education and inclusion in politics for women and girls

Editor's note: Donna Brazile, a CNN contributor and a Democratic strategist, is vice chairwoman for voter registration and participation at the Democratic National Committee. She is a nationally syndicated columnist, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and author of "Cooking with Grease." She was manager for the Gore-Lieberman presidential campaign in 2000.

(CNN) -- As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton steps down from her job Friday, many are assuming she will run for president. And she may. In fact, five of the first eight presidents first served their predecessors as secretary of state.

It hasn't happened in more than a century, though that may change should Clinton decide to run. After all, she has been a game changer her entire life.

But before we look ahead, I think we should appreciate what she's done as secretary of state; it's a high profile, high pressure job. You have to deal with the routine as if it is critical and with crisis as if it's routine. You have to manage egos, protocols, customs and Congress. You have to be rhetorical and blunt, diplomatic and direct.

CNN Contributor Donna Brazile

As secretary of state you are dealing with heads of state and with we the people. And the president of the United States has to trust you -- implicitly.

On the road with Hillary Clinton

Of all Clinton's accomplishments -- and I will mention just a few -- this may be the most underappreciated. During the election, pundits were puzzled and amazed not only at how much energy former President Bill Clinton poured into Obama's campaign, but even more at how genuine and close the friendship was.

Obama was given a lot of well-deserved credit for reaching out to the Clintons by appointing then-Sen. Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state in the first place. But trust is a two-way street and has to be earned. We should not underestimate or forget how much Clinton did and how hard she worked. She deserved that trust, as she deserved to be in the war room when Osama bin Laden was killed.

By the way, is there any other leader in the last 50 years whom we routinely refer to by a first name, and do so more out of respect than familiarity? The last person I can think of was Ike -- the elder family member who we revere with affection. Hillary is Hillary.

It's not surprising that we feel we know her. She has been part of our public life for more than 20 years. She's been a model of dignity, diplomacy, empathy and toughness. She also has done something no other secretary of state has done -- including the two women who preceded her in the Cabinet post.

Rothkopf: President Hillary Clinton? If she wants it

Hillary has transformed our understanding -- no, our definition -- of foreign affairs. Diplomacy is no longer just the skill of managing relations with other countries. The big issues -- war and peace, terror, economic stability, etc. -- remain, and she has handled them with firmness and authority, with poise and confidence, and with good will, when appropriate.

But it is not the praise of diplomats or dictators that will be her legacy. She dealt with plenipotentiaries, but her focus was on people. Foreign affairs isn't just about treaties, she taught us, it's about the suffering and aspirations of those affected by the treaties, made or unmade.

Most of all, diplomacy should refocus attention on the powerless.

Of course, Hillary wasn't the first secretary of state to advocate for human rights or use the post to raise awareness of abuses or negotiate humanitarian relief or pressure oppressors. But she was the first to focus on empowerment, particularly of women and girls.

She created the first Office of Global Women's Issues. That office fought to highlight the plight of women around the world. Rape of women has been a weapon of war for centuries. Though civilized countries condemn it, the fight against it has in a sense only really begun.

Ghitis: Hillary Clinton's global legacy on gay rights

The office has worked to hold governments accountable for the systematic oppression of girls and women and fought for their education in emerging countries. As Hillary said when the office was established: "When the Security Council passed Resolution 1325, we tried to make a very clear statement, that women are still largely shut out of the negotiations that seek to end conflicts, even though women and children are the primary victims of 21st century conflict."

Hillary also included the United States in the Trafficking in Person report. Human Trafficking, a form of modern, mainly sexual, slavery, victimizes mostly women and girls. The annual report reviews the state of global efforts to eliminate the practice. "We believe it is important to keep the spotlight on ourselves," she said. "Human trafficking is not someone else's problem. Involuntary servitude is not something we can ignore or hope doesn't exist in our own communities."

She also created the office of Global Partnerships. And there is much more.

She has held her own in palaces and held the hands of hungry children in mud-hut villages, pursuing an agenda that empowers women, children, the poor and helpless.

We shouldn't have been surprised. Her book "It Takes a Village" focused on the impact that those outside the family have, for better or worse, on a child's well-being.

As secretary of state, she did all she could to make sure our impact as a nation would be for the better.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion

Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Donna Brazile.

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Peres tasks Netanyahu with forming new Israeli government

JERUSALEM: Israeli President Shimon Peres tasked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday with forming a new government after two days of intense talks with the parties recently elected to the new parliament.

"I have decided to charge Benjamin Netanyahu with forming the government," Peres said at a press conference at his official residence in Jerusalem, after 82 of the 120 members of the Knesset had declared in favour of the premier.

- AFP/de

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Alabama hostage standoff enters 5th day

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The suspect has been identified as 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes


• Dykes is accused of killing a school bus driver and abducting a child


• Authorities have said there is no connection between Dykes and the boy

Midland City, Alabama (CNN) -- As an armed standoff entered its fifth day Saturday, authorities negotiated through a ventilation pipe with a man accused of barricading himself and a 5-year-old hostage in an underground bunker in southeastern Alabama.

Police have been tight-lipped about a possible motive since the hostage drama began unfolding in Midland City with the shooting of school bus driver and the abduction of the 5-year-old.

In a sign of perhaps how tense negotiations are between authorities and the suspect, officials have refused to detail what, if any, demands have been made by the suspect.

On Friday, the Dale County sheriff did confirm what neighbors have been saying and news outlets around Midland City have been reporting since the standoff began -- the suspected gunman's identity.

Charles Poland was fatally shot in Alabama on Tuesday.

Suspect Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, is a Vietnam War veteran and retired truck driver.

'We don't want to make any mistakes,' Ala. governor says

He is Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, a Vietnam veteran and retired truck driver who moved to the area about five years ago.

The sheriff's department released a photo of a gray-bearded, unsmiling Dykes and brief physical description: white male, 6 feet tall, weighing 170 pounds with brown eyes and gray hair.

Officials have been in "constant communication" with Dykes, Sheriff Wally Olson said Saturday. Dykes has told police that he has an electric heater and blankets for the boy. The sheriff publicly thanked Dykes for taking care of the child.

This much is known, according to police and witness statements: On Tuesday at about 3:40 p.m., bus driver Charles Poland Jr. was shuttling children from school to their homes when he dropped children off and the gunman boarded the bus.

The gunman demanded that Poland, 66, hand over two children. Poland refused, blocking access to the bus's narrow aisle as at least 21 children escaped out of the back emergency door, according to police.

The gunman shot Poland four times, killing him; grabbed the boy and then barricaded the two of them inside a nearby bunker.

It's unclear whether the gunman was after a specific child on the bus. Police have said there is no connection between the suspect and the abducted boy, whose identity is being withheld.

The suspect, who police have identified as Dykes, is holed up in a bunker 4 feet underground and built at least partially out of PVC pipe, authorities have said.

A hostage negotiator has been communicating with the alleged gunman through a 60-foot-long plastic ventilation pipe in an effort to end the standoff.

Authorities believe the boy is physically unharmed.

The suspect agreed to let police send down coloring books, crayons and prescription medication that the boy needs for treatment for Asperger's syndrome and attention deficit disorder, State Rep. Steve Clouse told CNN.

Neighbors have said the bunker has electricity, and Dykes has been known to stay in it for up to eight days, said James Arrington, the police chief in nearby Pinckard.

Dykes has been described as a self-styled survivalist with "anti-government" views, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center's Hatewatch.

As negotiations continue, preparations were under way for Poland's funeral.

The late school bus driver will be memorialized Saturday night at a visitation service, followed by a funeral service Sunday at the Ozark Civic Center.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley praised Poland for protecting the children on his bus.

"He stood in that place, and when that man came to take two children, he said no. And he lost his life because of that ... he did his job, and I'm proud of him as the governor but I'm just proud of him as a human being," he said.

CNN's George Howell reported from Midland City and Chelsea J. Carter wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Joe Sutton, Greg Botelho and Tristan Smith contributed to this report.

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Clinton's legacy: Smart power, celebrity status

(CBS News) After four years as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton was officially replaced by Sen. John Kerry Friday. An improbable pick after a tough primary battle with Barack Obama back in 2008, Clinton has used her celebrity status around the world to make changes both at home and abroad.

John Kerry sworn in as secretary of state

In a heartfelt goodbye to thousands of State Department employees Friday, Clinton said, "I am proud to have been secretary of state. I leave this department confident, confident about the direction we have set."

Friends and colleagues say there's a side to Clinton many people don't know. CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan talked to those people about Clinton and the legacy she's leaving behind.

She's not a typical Secretary of State saying goodbye. Anne Marie Slaughter, a former Clinton adviser said, "The first trip I took with her was like traveling with Madonna."

At times, Clinton's celebrity has overshadowed her diplomacy. But Slaughter said it shouldn't. "She elevated the roll of development. She's elevated social media, all sorts of new ways to reach people, ways of engaging youth, women, entrepreneurs."

Those tools are what Clinton calls "smart power" - finding ways to connect with people so that they then are able to influence their governments. She's said her extensive travel to 112 countries helped to build goodwill.

Others dismiss it as a vanity project. Critics also complain that she did not craft a clear policy to stop the war in Syria and point to security failures at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

However, longtime aide Philippe Reines disagrees. "For the last four years she has been, you know, working, literally killing herself for her country," he said.

He said her outreach made it possible to levy sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and to broker the November cease fire in Gaza. Reines has been aboard Clinton's plane for nearly every one of the almost one million miles she flew as secretary of state.

He told CBS News that most people don't know that how normal Clinton is. "I mean, she likes and dislikes a lot of the same things that you and I don't like or do like," he said.

He also said that she's not caught up on her future. "She does not sit around and do that as much as people think she does. It's more sitting around thinking, I saw 'Argo' and that's a great movie, did you see 'Argo?'"

Clinton is reluctant to make any decision yet about running for president in 2016. At a global town hall for students at the Newseum in Washington, Clinton talked about a bid for the presidency.

"I am not thinking about anything like that right now. I am looking forward to finishing up my tenure as secretary of state and then catching up on about 20 years of sleep deprivation," she said.

But few believe she'll stop working, and if you want to know what she'll do, aides say, look at what she's done.

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Obama Clings to Shotgun in WH Photo

(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

After a week of speculation over the authenticity of claims by President Obama that he regularly participated in skeet shooting at Camp David, the White House released a photograph today showing him firing a shotgun.

The photo shows Obama targeting clay pigeons at the presidential retreat last August, according to the White House. In an interview published Sunday the president said he shoots skeet “all the time” during stays at the compound. The comment was a response to a question of whether he had ever held a gun.

“Not the girls, but oftentimes guests of mine go up there. And I have a profound respect for the traditions of hunting that trace back in this country for generations. And I think those who dismiss that out of hand make a big mistake,” he said.

READ: Skeet-Shooter Obama Has ‘Respect’ for Hunters

But amid a White House-backed push for stronger gun-control in the U.S., some questioned whether the claim was an embellishment or even true. Politicians who regularly use firearms often advertise the fact to gun owners, but ABC News has not found a quote from Obama referencing his own use before the statement on Sunday.

“If he is a skeet shooter, why have we not heard of this?” asked Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. “Why have we not seen photos? Why has he not referenced it at any point in time as we have had this gun debate that is ongoing?”

PHOTOS: From 2009 to Now: Obama Since His First Inauguration

Appearing on CNN this week, the congresswoman challenged Obama to a skeet shooting contest.

The Associated Press reported in 2010 a second-hand reference to the activity. After a visit with the Texas Christian University rifle team, a student reportedly told the AP that Obama told her he’d practiced shooting with the Secret Service.

This the only known image of Obama holding a gun.

Asked Monday about the president’s interview, Press Secretary Jay Carney responded to reporters about how often the president participates in shooting.

“I would refer you simply to his comments,” he said. “I don’t know how often. He does go to Camp David with some regularity, but I’m not sure how often he’s done that.”"

On Wednesday, Carney addressed the issue again, telling press that when the president travels to “Camp David, he goes to spend time with his family and friends and relax, not to produce photographs.”

White House officials and some Obama supporters have compared skeet-doubters to “skeeters” or “birthers,” the label fixed to those who deny Obama was born on U.S. soil in his home state of Hawaii, and therefore is ineligible for the Oval Office.

“Attn skeet birthers. Make our day — let the photoshop conspiracies begin!” senior adviser David Plouffe wrote on Twitter this morning, referencing the popular photo-editing software.

In January, Obama signed several executive orders strengthening gun regulation and revealed proposals that, if enacted, would include bans on assault weapons and high capacity magazines. The move began in response to the December mass-shooting of 20 first graders and six adults at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school.

INFOGRAPHIC: Guns in America: By The Numbers

A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found 53 percent of Americans viewed Obama’s gun control plan favorably, 41 percent unfavorably.

The photo’s release comes two days before Obama travels to Minneapolis for a speech continuing his push for tougher gun control, where he is expected to appear alongside local law enforcement officials.

Read More..

Hillary: Secretary of empowerment

Girls hug U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a 2010 tour of a shelter run for sex trafficking victims in Cambodia.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Donna Brazile: Clinton stepping down as Secretary of State. Maybe she'll run for president


• She says as secretary she expanded foreign policy to include effect on regular people


• She says she was first secretary of state to focus on empowering women and girls


• Brazile: Clinton has fought for education and inclusion in politics for women and girls

Editor's note: Donna Brazile, a CNN contributor and a Democratic strategist, is vice chairwoman for voter registration and participation at the Democratic National Committee. She is a nationally syndicated columnist, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and author of "Cooking with Grease." She was manager for the Gore-Lieberman presidential campaign in 2000.

(CNN) -- As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton steps down from her job Friday, many are assuming she will run for president. And she may. In fact, five of the first eight presidents first served their predecessors as secretary of state.

It hasn't happened in more than a century, though that may change should Clinton decide to run. After all, she has been a game changer her entire life.

But before we look ahead, I think we should appreciate what she's done as secretary of state; it's a high profile, high pressure job. You have to deal with the routine as if it is critical and with crisis as if it's routine. You have to manage egos, protocols, customs and Congress. You have to be rhetorical and blunt, diplomatic and direct.

CNN Contributor Donna Brazile

As secretary of state you are dealing with heads of state and with we the people. And the president of the United States has to trust you -- implicitly.

On the road with Hillary Clinton

Of all Clinton's accomplishments -- and I will mention just a few -- this may be the most underappreciated. During the election, pundits were puzzled and amazed not only at how much energy former President Bill Clinton poured into Obama's campaign, but even more at how genuine and close the friendship was.

Obama was given a lot of well-deserved credit for reaching out to the Clintons by appointing then-Sen. Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state in the first place. But trust is a two-way street and has to be earned. We should not underestimate or forget how much Clinton did and how hard she worked. She deserved that trust, as she deserved to be in the war room when Osama bin Laden was killed.

By the way, is there any other leader in the last 50 years whom we routinely refer to by a first name, and do so more out of respect than familiarity? The last person I can think of was Ike -- the elder family member who we revere with affection. Hillary is Hillary.

It's not surprising that we feel we know her. She has been part of our public life for more than 20 years. She's been a model of dignity, diplomacy, empathy and toughness. She also has done something no other secretary of state has done -- including the two women who preceded her in the Cabinet post.

Rothkopf: President Hillary Clinton? If she wants it

Hillary has transformed our understanding -- no, our definition -- of foreign affairs. Diplomacy is no longer just the skill of managing relations with other countries. The big issues -- war and peace, terror, economic stability, etc. -- remain, and she has handled them with firmness and authority, with poise and confidence, and with good will, when appropriate.

But it is not the praise of diplomats or dictators that will be her legacy. She dealt with plenipotentiaries, but her focus was on people. Foreign affairs isn't just about treaties, she taught us, it's about the suffering and aspirations of those affected by the treaties, made or unmade.

Most of all, diplomacy should refocus attention on the powerless.

Of course, Hillary wasn't the first secretary of state to advocate for human rights or use the post to raise awareness of abuses or negotiate humanitarian relief or pressure oppressors. But she was the first to focus on empowerment, particularly of women and girls.

She created the first Office of Global Women's Issues. That office fought to highlight the plight of women around the world. Rape of women has been a weapon of war for centuries. Though civilized countries condemn it, the fight against it has in a sense only really begun.

Ghitis: Hillary Clinton's global legacy on gay rights

The office has worked to hold governments accountable for the systematic oppression of girls and women and fought for their education in emerging countries. As Hillary said when the office was established: "When the Security Council passed Resolution 1325, we tried to make a very clear statement, that women are still largely shut out of the negotiations that seek to end conflicts, even though women and children are the primary victims of 21st century conflict."

Hillary also included the United States in the Trafficking in Person report. Human Trafficking, a form of modern, mainly sexual, slavery, victimizes mostly women and girls. The annual report reviews the state of global efforts to eliminate the practice. "We believe it is important to keep the spotlight on ourselves," she said. "Human trafficking is not someone else's problem. Involuntary servitude is not something we can ignore or hope doesn't exist in our own communities."

She also created the office of Global Partnerships. And there is much more.

She has held her own in palaces and held the hands of hungry children in mud-hut villages, pursuing an agenda that empowers women, children, the poor and helpless.

We shouldn't have been surprised. Her book "It Takes a Village" focused on the impact that those outside the family have, for better or worse, on a child's well-being.

As secretary of state, she did all she could to make sure our impact as a nation would be for the better.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion

Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Donna Brazile.

Read More..

Tennis: Nadal braced for struggle on return to action

SANTIAGO: Rafael Nadal admits that he could find things tough on his return to competitive tennis next week after seven months on the sidelines.

The Spaniard arrived in Santiago on Friday amid great expectation and was received by Chilean president Sebastian Pinera at his residence, La Moneda Palace.

Nadal, an 11-time Grand Slam winner, is preparing to take part in the ATP event in Vina del Mar, 120 kilometres to the west, next week.

He will team up with Juan Monaco in the doubles on Tuesday, before his singles return on Wednesday.

Nadal is a wildcard entry into the singles event, and sought to play down talk of a winning comeback after such a long time on the sidelines.

"Undoubtedly the clay surface is a little less aggressive on my knee," he said, explaining why he chose to return in the first clay-court tournament of the calendar year.

"My aim is to compete courageously and hopefully the knee will stand up to it.

"There is always the possibility that I will lose in the first round after so many months without competing."

World number five Nadal won the last of his 11 Grand Slam titles to date at last year's French Open but has not played a competitive match since losing to Czech outsider Lukas Rosol in the second round at Wimbledon last June.

"Of course I still feel pain in the knee that sometimes stops me from playing, but you have to start sometime and I am here to try and give my best and hope that my knee comes through it," he added.

"The injury looks much better. There is no risk that I will suffer any setbacks here."

- AFP/jc

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Protesters attack presidential palace in Cairo

By Ben Wedeman, CNN

updated 1:56 PM EST, Fri February 1, 2013

An Egyptian protester in front of the presidential palace in Cairo on Friday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: State television reports security forces were clearing the area in front of the palace


• Protesters hurl Molotov cocktails and rocks; security forces respond with tear gas


• Egypt has been embroiled in violence since last week


• Protesters, security forces battle outside Egyptian presidential palace

Cairo (CNN) -- A fire erupted at the entrance of Egypt's presidential palace Friday night as protesters hurled Molotov cocktails and rocks in a battle with security forces, who responded with tear gas and water cannon.

Egypt has been rocked by violence since last week's two-year anniversary of its 2011 revolution. Protesters have fumed over the slow pace of change and recent edicts by President Mohammed Morsy, who imposed a 30-day curfew on areas engulfed by violence.

READ: Egyptian secular, Islamist groups meet to try to end conflict

State television reported that security forces were clearing the area in front of the palace as rioting continued.

Earlier this week, anti-government protesters ignored Morsy's curfew order in cities along the Suez Canal and clashed with police and troops, raising more questions about the stability of the Middle East's most populous country.

Outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in an interview with CNN this week, echoed concerns about what a collapse of the Egyptian state could mean for the region.

"I think that would lead to incredible chaos and violence on a scale that would be devastating for Egypt and the region," she said Tuesday at the State Department. "There has to be some understanding by the new government that the aspirations that the people were expressing during the revolution in Egypt have to be taken seriously."

The protests are the latest in the seesaw struggle between Egypt's first democratically elected president and dissidents who say his tenure is a throwback to past dictatorships, particularly the reign of President Hosni Mubarak, toppled in the popular revolt two years ago.

Could Egypt fall apart?

Dozens of deaths have resulted, prompting Navi Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, to denounce the violence and call for dialogue among all parties.

She said Morsy's state of emergency declaration should be governed by the rule of law, in line with international standards, and urged him to listen to the demands of demonstrators and take action to deal with problems in the judicial system.

Part of complete coverage on

Egypt

updated 11:18 AM EST, Fri December 14, 2012

In scenes reminiscent of the mass demonstrations that brought about the downfall of former president in 2011, thousands of protestors have turned out in Cairo.

updated 11:39 AM EST, Mon November 26, 2012

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy's decree giving himself new powers has unified opposition groups that fear any moves toward Islamic rule, critics say.

updated 12:11 PM EST, Tue November 27, 2012

Morsy's decision to grant himself unquestioned authority was not the final phase in a Muslim Brotherhood plan to erect a holy autocracy, writes Tarek Masoud.

updated 9:18 PM EST, Tue November 27, 2012

Clashes between protesters and security forces build over Egyptian President Morsy's decrees. CNN's Reza Sayah reports.

updated 8:53 PM EST, Tue November 27, 2012

CNN's Reza Sayah goes into the heart of the evening crowd in Tahrir Square for a personal look at the anti-Morsy rally.

updated 5:40 PM EST, Tue December 18, 2012

Activists have been camping out in Tahrir Square to protest what they consider overreaching powers for the president.

updated 2:58 PM EST, Thu November 22, 2012

Morsy has won praise for his government's effort to bring about a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

updated 9:02 AM EST, Tue November 27, 2012

iReporter Ahmed Raafat tells CNN why he is protesting against Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy in Cairo.

Are you in Egypt? Share your stories, videos and photos with the world on CNN iReport.

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