>> simply for his supporting prowess and the way he has carried himself thro throughoute events in the recent weeks. leaving them, and the demonstration and involves amnesty of all the people who have been involved in political protests. the protesters really what

people would like to figure out. that is definitely the prize deal. it appears that the president to a certain extent to co-op the opposition. as part of the pop dea oppositil in which the president's powers were significantly reduced. >> i guess the question you >> if you talk to people down behind me at tahrir square.

now this surprise announcement, surprise involving the opposition leaders the government with the weekend president is something that nobody i've talked to has focused the hypotheses. i think what would happen in the next few hours after the last few rounds of negotiating to go by the three main leaders of the

>> the current serbian government in normalizing relations and the journey towards european union integration. on the other hand they have been criticized in their handling of the economy and failing to tackle rising foreign debt. the question is whether the government will respect th the path. >> this comes after a french magazine published reports that mr. hollande is having an affair

with an actress. he has not denied the report,, and i'll have more news in europe. but for now it's back to doha. >> after nearly three years of civil war that has killed more than 100,000 people and displaced millions more both sides of the syrian conflict sitting together. their mediator, the envoy said that progress has been slow. we have reports from geneva. >> they have taken the first step in what is expected to be a long road to peace. delegates representing the syrian government and the opposition sat in one room. they were face to face but they didn't speak to each other.

the special enjoy is the one who did the talking. they didn't achieve much but it seems that aid will reach a besieged city. >> necessities, food and none food items, and medical suppli supplies. i hope that this will be allowed tomorrow. >> the syrian government has made clear yet again it is not here to handle the power. it's something that the foreign minister told the envoy in person and syrian government officials also insist there is no need for transitional authority. >> syria is still a state. it has institutions and armies. transitional government does not exist in international law. the transitional body is needed when there is no state and the state has collapsed. that is why we'll discuss the terminology in the geneva communique before we take any

stance. >> the opposition is left with few options. it doesn't have much ammunition to negotiate the regime still strong on the ground and enjoys the backing of regional world players. they will try to push for cease fires. >> we will not use that, it is unacceptable today. the other part is releasing prisoners of conscience. there is a huge number of them. we're expecting to see women and children released first, and then the rest will come. >> even short-term agreements with prisoner exchanges are not done deals. >> over the past few days syria's warring sides spent time accusing each other for the violence. they called each other terrorists. the opposition said the regime has lost all legitimacy. the authorities for their part

said the opposition has no credibility on the ground. what is clear is that neither side sees the other as a partner for peace. both sides have only hardened their position since arriving in geneva. the opposition now fears the regime is buying time. >> we came here in a responsible manner. we're serious, we want to save lives and we want to achieve peace. we'll give it the time. we'll give it the necessary time but of course subject that the other party should also admit and adhere to the platform and essence of the process. >> this is the biggest diplomatic effort so far to end the war. this won't be a political deal this week that is clear because they still haven't started negotiating peace. >> we're live in geneva, we just heard from them a short time ago. nothing groundbreaking yet seems to be the conclusion so far. >> no, did he say not much has

been achieved, but undoubtedly if it does reach the old city, it will alleviate the suffering of the people there, because the old city has been under siege for months now. now this is what we understand was discussed during the second session this afternoon. according to brahimi the government is making contacts with the governor and contacts are being made by the red cross. we understand tomorrow on the agenda they will discuss the issue of prisoner exchanges and those who are kidnapped. but undoubtedly if aid is able to reach the old city this will boost the credibility of the syrian coalition. many were doubtful that geneva would be able to achieve anything or change their lives even a little. but if it can improve their lives for now it will be welcomed by the people of syria.

>> looking at some of the procedural issues, the body language, the fasty face-to-face, and separate entrance and exits of the regimes, they highlight how difficult this con frontal >> undoubtedly there is a lot of bad blood. they have been accusing each other of the violencing doing their best to discredit each other. there is no common ground. we've been hearing officials reiterate time and time again. they've been speaking to the press more than they've been speaking to each other. they say we're not here to hand over power. the regime seems very confident. even in their body language when they talk to reporters they feel that we have the upper hand on the ground. we have backing from regional powers. the agreement will have to come about if regional and

international powers will sit together and decide because we all know that both sides have regional backers who are--and their rivalry is not only playing out in syria, it is playing out in the whole region. a very long and complicated process. but according to the diplomats this is the only alternative or else the war will just continue. >> well, inside syria no let up in the violence. >> we cannot independently verify this footage but it apparently shows barrel bombs being dropped. the area has been under siege since november 2011, and is mostly under rebel control. and fighter jets have reportedly carried out airstrikes in aleppo. that is also a rebel stronghold in the north of the country. the last few days have seen further violence.

most of the cities in government control rewhere corridors remain in rebel hands. they're preparing a cease-fire for the city. coming up, bank accounts strained and homes auctioned off. it's nearly chinese new year. we'll tell you why the year of the horse held the biggest human migration on the planet. plus all the sports coming up, including a painful night for the world's most expensive footballer. >> a muslim politician and former health minister of central african republic has been hacked to death murdered by a crowd of men o. he was accused of being involved

with seleka rebels. his brother managed to escape. christian and muslim gangs roam the street despite the appeal by the newly sworn president to lay down weapons. al jazeera cannot report from cairo because journalists have been detained. our producers mohamed fahmy and bader mohammed and peter greste have been held for 28 days. they're accused of joining spreading lies and joining a terrorist group. al jazeera say the allegations are totally unfounded. two others from al jazeera as sister company have been held

for five months. peter greste says: >> you can read the full

transcript of peter greste's letter on the al jazeera website at www.aljazeera.com. now a shooting at a shopping center in the united states has killed at least three people. the shooting happened in columbia near baltimore in washington, d.c. maryland police on saturday warned shoppers to stay inside while they searched the sprawling complex with around 200 stores. the president of afghanistan said he won't sign the security deal of the united states until there is a genuine peace process. he was also warning that he would not sign anything under pressure. >> this relationship which benefits cannot come at the cost of the likes of the people of afghanistan. it cannot come at the cost of the lives of women and children of afghanistan, and in turn signing this agreement we want peace and security for the people of afghanistan. without that it's better to leave and let afghanistan

determine it's own future. >> thousands of people are fleeing in anticipation of more bombing raids. there has been an escalation of violence killing at least 50 people in the last ten days. pakistan military jets then targeted the stronghold killing 25 suspected fighters. the united nations is calling on the government of myanmar to investigate reports of violence against the rohinga minority. it happened in the village state where there has been repeated violence against the muslims and buddhist. coming up flash point in vienna. the big night out organized by a far right political party infuriates protesters. and they will h we'll have moree

english cup we'll have more on that story and more. aljazeera america presents extraodinary films from the world's top documetary directors. >> it's the world's most powerful financial institution. >> i think we're mysterious to people. >> what really goes on behind closed doors? >> the fed is kind of this black box. >> it's your money... >> somebody screwed up. >> ... or is it? >> i worked to save that money and now i get nothing. >> inside the fed. on al jazeera america. attacked. the mourners have been refu

>> following breaking news out of columbia, maryland, where

police have confirmed three people dead after a shooting in a mall. authorities say they received a call an hour after the shooting at the mall. no shots have been heard since that body was found. and the dead yet have not yet been identified. police tweeted that the location was believed to be security. helicopter and security vehicles are now on the scene where we find garon hayes. >> there i are emergency vehicls parked outside of jc penney and sears. i was talking to people telling

me it was ladies night out. just the day out to pamper themselves. they were getting facials when they heard pop sounds, people were telling them there was a shooter, and people started to hide as well as others with the mad rush away from the food court. they said that there was so much sort of chaos and people separated. >> do you know how many workers were inside? >> it's a saturday and it's a very popular day for people to go to the mall, a cold day like today, but they did see a lot of armed police going through the, getting out through armed vehicles and even coming in on

sort of a public bus. and about 12 armed troopers walking towards the mall. we still see them organizing through a plan. >> that's right, we see the sears store. we see the flag flying and we are now waiting for a press conference that looks like it's about to happen now. let's take a listen in, oh, it's not happening yet. gearegaron, you frequent this m. garon, we're going to come back with you. >> please follow our twitter account, we're posting minute by men afminute they will take some

questions but we're sharing every detail we know right now. there are some things that they won't be able to answer at this point. we expect to do another briefing at 4:00, and hopefully we'll have more information at that time. i'll turn it over. >> listen, i just want to make a few points. we do have three confirmed fatalities. so we want to send our thoughts and prayers to the family members of the victims, the loved ones of the victims. i want to thank the public of howard county here in columbia for their patience, the folks here at the columbia mall. for their patience, all of the shoppers, the other folks who work here at the mall. this is obviously a tremendously

trying few hours, and we've seen a lot of--a lot of patients. we would ask that people continue to bear with us. this is an activity crime scene. it is going to be an active cream seen for some time. we'll give more details potential of when the mall will be reopened. i want to thank our brave law enforcement here in howard county who rushed in to the scene immediately. this was an incredibly well run, thankfuthoughtful operation witp from our neighboring agencies. we've had help on the ground from every regional department including the state police, and we appreciate that. now i'll turn it to bill

mcmahon, who has been running the operation on the ground. >> i'm chief police here in howard county. thank you for your patience. as you can imagine this is a very complex and trying scene for everybody that is involved. and i know it also causes great concern in the community. we thank our communities for their patience and understanding and our friends in the media, we appreciate your understanding as well. we're giving you and have give you information as soon as we received it because we know how much concern there is when something like this happens. in such a public place as the mall. about 11:15 this morning we received a number of calls and shots fired at the columbia mall. we had officers quickly get into the area, and we were able to identify three victims in an upper level store in the columbia mall.

bear with me, this is two hours into the incident, there are still a lot of details we need to confirm. we think one of the deceased is, in fact, the shooter. we do not think that there is any more shooters in or around the mall. we're going through a process right now, please think about this on a saturday afternoon at the mall how many people may be in there. when something like this happens people run in many directions and we do what we've trained people to do, and that is to shelter and place. we have many, many people still in the mall that have secured themselves inside stores. our s.w.a.t. teams with a lot of support remains on the state at the local state and federal level, frankly. are going through. as we held this press conference they are inside continue to go clear that mall to make sure

there aren't any more victims. and to get those people who have sheltered in place out, and make sure none of them have any injuries from the shooting. we don't think there are any but any injuries that have occurred when people do panic, that is what is going on actively in the mall. we do not have the identity of the victims yet. we do not have a motive for the shooting. again, this is two hours and 15 minutes into the scene. we're still trying to secure the mall to make sure again there is nobody else injured. we're trying to get the investigators into the crime scene which will enable me to be able to answer the questions that you do have, questions that i can't answer right now because i don't have the information. let me thank the columbia mall

who has been nothing but a fantastic partner. we have a great relationship with them and drilled this in the past. and that experience has been very beneficial for us. we want to thank again our public for their patience. we disrupted a lot of people. i know there are a lot of people at home concerned about the well-being of their family who may be at the maul. we understand that. that's why we're working as quickly as we can to identify the victims and give them peace of mind. we understand that. we would like to give all the support that we have from law enforcement, local, state and federal level. we'll take a few questions. >> can you provide the genders? >> i cannot provide the genders or the ages. >> police chief, can you describe where does this exactly happen in the food court and what types of weapons. >> i didn't say it was a food

court. i said it was in the upper level at a store. i won't identify the store right now. >> what types of weapons were recovered? >> again, we have not gotten our investigators in to identify all that. >> is there true that there was a domestic issue involved here. >> we don't know the motive yet. i understand the question and the interest in it, but understand our position. >> you have been speaking to witnesses. do they give an educatio indicat there was an argument, people knew each other, or a random event where people pulled a gun and started shooting. >> i don't have that information yet. our investigators are talking to witnesses, and we don't have that information yet. we're very confident that it was a single shooter, that there is no other shooters in the mall or anything like that. >> was he being engaged by police officers. >> did law enforcement fire?

>> we did not. >> did this shooting happen where there were a lot of people around? we've had people tell us that they saw people drop. >> it was in a store in the upper level of the mall. you know how many people there are in the mall on a saturday afternoon. it's a chaotic scene. we'll get that to you as quickly as we can. i understand the importance of those questions, and we'll get that to you as quickly as we can. >> people who responded in the mall, were they pretty well prepared? >> i don't have enough information to know, but i sense because we have so many that are sheltered and in place they did what they thought they should do, and they did what we encourage people to do in these situations. some of the people are still in there, i don't know, but the fact that it's barely--we didn't have stampedes. we didn't have any injuries

throughout the evacuation program. >> the witnesses in the mall, are they free to go or are you asking them to go to a specific place as you question them? >> we're asking them what they saw and what they didn't, and we're continuing to talk with them. >> is this something that they shot him or her self. >> that is what we have reason to believe, a very fluid situation, many people have not been spoken to yet, but that's what it appears at this point. i don't know how many shots from fired. >> the responding officers, did they find all three dead at that point? >> i'm not sure what order, but yes, they were all found at the same time. >> nowadays the presumption of the police departments is to get in quick. did you send in the s.w.a.t.

team or regular officers go in first? >> the regular officers went in first. we were training s.w.a.t. members for another assignment, so we were fortunate to have well-trained officers to support our patrol officers. >> do you very any idea from how long from the first 911 call to the first police officer on the scene. >> we'll have that for you at 4:00. >> all the activities took place at one time in one store. >> the deceased shooter, he was deceased at that time. >> that's my understanding. we'll be back at 4:00. believe me, i'm very sensitive to the need to get these questions answered. we'll do our best to come back at 4:00 and answer. thank you for coming out to our community. >> the question was were there

two other people who have been transported. the fire department has prance transported a seizure and sprained ankle due to the aftermath to the scene, as you can probably imagine. >> live from columbia, maryland, that was a press conference from the officials from howard county. that is ken olman. the county executive say three are dead, and it is an active crime scene, and it will be for quite some time. he called it well run tactically, and then the police chief called it a complex and trying scene. at 1115 they heard shots fired and there were three victims in the upper level of the mall. they think one of the deceased

that was found near a gun and ammunitions is, in fact, the shooter. he thinks there is no more shooters in the mall. they're not searching for abandon more shooters, and people are still in the mall. they have not released the identity of any of the victims, and so far they have not been able to identity a motive. a lot of people asking if. it was a domestic dispute or a random shooting. he did say that he was coming back, but there is no shooter inside the mall. there was a seizure and sprained ankle because of the aftermath of the shooting. although they found one of the three bodies, they do believe

that that was the shooter, but they did not believe that there was no firing at all. can you speak to the injuries. >> no, it's more emotional injuries. i was trying to get information, and they would break down and start crying. it's not something that they were used to seeing. i felt for them because you did see total shock to them. i'm not seeing 20 people it looks like people from inside the mall are being ushered out. i'm not sure if these were people identifying. inside stores, i haven't seen are a loom come out to. >> we're seeing what looks like armored trucks.

garon, you said this was something that people would not expect at this mall. can you give us an idea if this is a safe neighborhood, a neighboa safeneighborhood. >> it's been called one of the best places to live in america. it's supposed to be an utopia in the sense that there is home closer to the mall that are less expensive, but people who can still live in the community and provide and look for jobs that people need as well as a very affluent folks that live on the outside of the community. it's really nothing that people have seen in this part before. >> faigaron, please stay with u.

we want to go over to shannon who was in the mall at this time. shannon, can you tell us what you heard. >> i work in the mall. a lot of panic was going on. so the people who were running by, they were saying get out of the mall, they went on lockdown because they could not find the shooter. >> we're running-- >> that was a little after 11:00, i think, and i evacuated the mall 10 minutes ago. >> you evacuated 10 minutes ago. >> yes. >> shannon, what was going through your mind as you saw people running and cowering for cover. >> well, first you don't know what's going on because like i said nobody told us.

the people on the other end of the mall, we had no clues what was going on. after that, when i found out it was complete panic. one of my coworkers in the mall, they have a stand, a free standing stand that sits close to the food court. he said it was the guy running through the mall with a gun. >> you saw a guy running there in the mall? >> yes. >> how long have you work there had. >> recently since september. i've been in retail over the past ten years. >> over the past ten years have you ever seen nick happen before? this is the least expectant thing you would expect. >> not at columbia mall. it just seems that this is our world. >> and if that is your world

what kind of security measures are in place for people like you who are working there? do you feel like there have been clear mandates of what you're supposed to do if something like this happens? >> no, not at all. we had security mandates, as far as the mall we didn't know what was going on. like i said, unless if you wer t in the immediate area, no alarms went off. people on the outside probably knew more than we did on the inside. >> where are you now, shannon? >> i'm talking to my car. they gave us one exit. >> what were some of the actions around. >> you nobody stood around to talk about it. people got out when they could get out. a lot of people were visibly

shaken up, crying a lot of us had to walk past the crime scene out of the ways outside of the mall, that's a his business traveling j. >> you're ready to leave now? >> yes. >> what are you feeling? what are you going to do? >> i'm going to see my haved ups. i'm a little changen shaken up. >> have you seen anyone outside of the building? >> yes, a lot of colleagues we talked and made sure that we were okay physically, emotionally. >> how do they determine who to let go. how are the authorities able to determine who would go and who would stay. i know some were in the mall

covering for fertile. >> well, some people just started to run out before they started the evacuation. >> they just ran as soon as they saw an opening? >> yes, as soon as they began to go through the mall, they told employees not to leave, they were sweeping the mall. >> you've been working there for ten years. is there anything you're going to do differently when you go back to work? >> pray. that's all you can do. that's all you can do. >> do you feel it safe going forward? >> that's a tough question. do you feel safety walking outside of your own home at this point. so it's not just the mall, it's do you feel safe in new jersey. >> shannon, it's been a pleasure speaking with you this

afternoon, and i can't thank you enough for sharing that with us. >> no problem. >> right now i'm going to go back to garon hayes who is live on the scene. what are authorities telling people to do right now? are they treating it as an active scene as an active shooter? what's going on. >> when i first got on the scene there were a lot of s.w.a.t. thames coming in. it vacillated at first because i heard the gunman had been killed or shot. all of a sudden it seems a lot more calm now. as we heard in the press conference it sounded like they were going through the mall carrying it out. as we saw a little while ago were folks coming out of the mall. so i think things have maybe died down a little bit here. >> you say you haven't seen anybody coming out sense but we understand those who were inside

the malibu didn't witness the shooting were evacuated to a movie theater. is that true? where are they now? >> there is a movie theater on the other side, the opposite side of the mall from where the series is. >> you say the movie theater is on the open side of the mall from where sears is? >> you can go out across the parking lot to get to that. there is a cheesecake factory and all that, but i haven't seen that, actually. >> three other witnesses have said that the gun used in the shooting was a shotgun. can you confirm that. >> no, i'm not. >> what about the women who were separated. are they okay now? >> they were having a women's day, and they were getting facials, and they overheard popping sounds and people told

them to take shelter. they ran out with their facial cream on faces, and masks on and what's going on. one of the victoria secrets rooms. we were walking towards the other side of the mall where you describe where they have going to the movie theaters. there were police cars and ambulances over here. it may be that we're not seeing the full picture here. >> and gather ron, for those who are just now joining us can you give us a recap of what happened? >> yes, you know, this is a columbia mall. it's sort of a quiet time. not a very busy area, not a very large mall, either. there had been reports of shootings, and the police pointed out there had been three people found dead on the second level of the mall near the food court. and one of the victims was found

near ammunition and the police confirmed that this person was, they believe the shooter, and there was no more threat here. however, a lot of scared people who said that they heard these pop sounds and started rushing out of the mall in an one directional run and described a panic scene, a very emotional one for many people who started breaking down and describing the scenes. you're walking with your kids or your loved ones. and one men you're with them in the scene where there are reports of gunfire and you can't find them. a lot of people are very emotional. >> sure, sure, understandably. you said that this is a small that you frequent. can you give us an example of how close mall is. i grew up in a smaller town, and the mall was the police to go.

by 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. the mall would have been packed. is that how it is in columbia. >> oh, yes, it's closer to baltimore, so it's not a city area, but it is, you know, very popular community. when i drive around trying to find parking, i have a hard time finding it, so very popular. opens on a cold day where people are just wanting to get off of the house, you can imagine what we would find here. >> what exactly is inside? >> it's not a very large malibu it has grown over the years. they have common things. they've got gap, sick tore i can't secret, they have a nordstrom macy's. you know, over the years they've added on cheesecake factory and

different restaurant. for the most part it's a common mall. you can walk it pretty fast. >> how long have you been living there? >> i think i've been here for ten years, and you know, there is nothing like this has ever happened. the reporting on the shooting at annapolis mall a couple of years ago, that was shocking for us to hear that here. never would you think that this would lan in this year. >> have you heard about the extent of the injuries? >> i only heard from the press conscience that people had fallen or had a soldier. the people i spoke to were more hung considered town and wait it out. >> have you seen more people

leaving the building since we've been speaking. >> i do, i see a large group of people, and i and there was a grand bus taking people to the movie theater. >> have you heard more instructs people what to do? >> when we arrived they said this is not a playground. they were very seriously of what was going on, and they were told to steer clear, they were debriefed, and then asked what they saw, and they let them go. >> we heard from son none who was working in the mall. they heard the initial burst of gunfire. have any of the witnesses you spoke to heard any more since

then? >> no, none at all. >> we want to recap what we heard from the officials. they did see three bodies that were dead. they believe one of the bodies may have been a shooter. they say he was lying besides the gun and ammunition. so far none of the injuries have been reported. it appears there was a sue sure and broken ankle. we spoke with shannon who has worked at the mall for ten years, and she said she has never heard of anything like this happening while working inside this mall. so far people have been coming outside of the mall. we heard reports that people are hunkering down inside of a movie theater not far from where the shooting occurred. the shooting occurred in the top floor of the mall, but where the shooting did occur has not requested if this was a random

shooter or perhaps it was a domestic apaus abuse. the police said they will be coming back at 4:30 to bring us the latest right here on al jazeera.