tv News Al Jazeera April 22, 2014 3:00am-3:31am EDT
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>> >> an al jazeera exclusive from south sudan - where bodies litter the street after a mass anger in bentiu -- mass anger in bentiu. >> live from our headquarters in doha - also ahead - less than a day after presidential elections are announced in syria, some are declaring the vote a farce. the al jazeera three get ready to go back to court in egypt. the network demands its journalists are released immediately.
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and the final chapter in the life of a literary icon. thousands pay their respects to gabriel garcia marquez. the united nations has accused south sudanese rebels of massacring hundreds of people. piles of bodies littered the streets in bentiu since the killings last week. south sudan's government has been battling forces loyal to riek machar. he told al jazeera that the troops were not behind the attack. the exclusive report contains disturbing images. >> reporter: the things that could be seen along the road from the airport to the mosque were horrific. there were so many dead bodies, construction equipment was used to move them.
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outside the gate there was another pile of bodies - dragged there or killed together. the stench of death was overwhelming. even for the rebel guards standing guard. the rebels say many were butchered in the mosque, where muslims, mainly from darfur and sudan sought message. after filming these pictures we were told the real number of people killed in the mosque was over 200, out of 800 hiding there. bentiu, like other towns in south sudan changed hands several times since fighting between government soldiers and rebel groups in december. in bentiu people from darfur are believed to have been targeted for a specific reason. rebels are agreed to have been fighting alongside the south sudanese army. >> what is growing on is disgraceful. what we have seen is utterly
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horrible and beyond description. >> a lot of people left the town, heading to a u.n. base. the conflict forced a million from their homes, most are dependent on food aid. the food and agriculture organization warned next year south sudan will experience a wide-end famine. the only thing that will prevent it is the end to the fighting. the rebels have been accused of killing based on ethnicity. he told us his forces killed government soldiers, but denied all knowledge of the killings in the mosque. riek machar told al jazeera his fighters are not behind the attack. >> translation: i contacted the field military commander in bentiu who told me such accusation is false. first of all, we respect our people, and the majority of the forces are from the region, and we can't kill our citizens.
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>> it's his responsibility. these are his rebels. he admitted these are not citizens. he has to answer for it, definitely. these are his rebels, and he said it over the media that he is taking over the city of bentiu and forces are controlled. there is nothing more uncool than that. the government delegation will continue to be at the forum, in order to have dialogue with the rebels, so we bring the senseless war to an end. the government is committed to a dialogue. the rebels are not committed, as you can see what they have done. they have been violating hostilities, in which all hostilities must come to an end. they said that they were not going to respect them, they are
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killing innocent citizens all obvious the place. >> we are back in the south sudan capital juva, and horrific scenes from bentiu. no one claiming responsibility. did you speak to any fivers? >> yes, we spoke to people who had moved from the town to the safety of the u.n. base. we spoke to someone who said he'd been in the mosque at the time. tensions are running high. it's difficult to speak to people freely. everyone in the town of bentiu is fearful of neighbours and being overheard. everyone is being careful about what they say. it might be a stretch to say bentiu is a multicultural town. it's a border town, and home to people from north of the border from sudan, darfuries lived there. arabs. people now that the conflict has taken on an ethnic dimension, people are looking at neighbours
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and people around differently and there's a lot of mistrust and tensions over people hiding in the u.n. base. >> in the meantime rebels are saying they have taken yet another town. what are we hearing about that? >> well, the rebels claim to have taken a town to the west of bentiu, on the board of unity state. we are trying to get confirmation from the government. we don't quite know what the truth is, and it's not a place that is accessible. it's important to understand why unity state is important to both sides. it's an oil producing state. it's no coincidence that the two states are the main places of conflict. what the rebels have been clear about is the military intention is to take and stop production of unity and nile state in order to strangle the government.
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militarily it will be a difficult task. they are far away from the capital. if they are able to stop oil production they'll be taking away 90% of the revenue, and there won't be more money coming in to support the government of south sudan. >> those fleeing to the u.n. bases, trying to get away from the attacks. as we saw, the u.n. bases are vulnerable to attack. where is the security? >> well that's a good question. last week we saw in the town of bor, the capital of jeongo lease state. that -- jonglei state that people gained access to the protection of civilians area and attacked and killed people hiding inside. a couple of days later in bentiu we see a mosque is stormed and more than 200 are killed there. the people of south sudan are looking around to see where they
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might be able to find sanctuary. they are looking at the u.n., and find that the religious places where they felt, no longer are. it must be a difficult time to seek sanctuary. >> thank you for bringing us up to date on the latest there in south sudan. dozens of muslims in south african republics have fled the capital. french peacekeepers escorted the group from bangui to a town controlled by muslim seleka fighters. thousands fled the coup. a u.n. peace-keeping pores will arrive in september, as part of efforts to restore stability. >> there has been two separate attacks on mrs. in north-west pakistan. three died in a bomb attack, targetting their vehicle.
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it happened shortly after another attack on a patrol on the outskirts of petrowa. >> 10 people have been killed in a suicide attack at a polling station in northern iraq. it happened in kirkook. 200km north of the capital. security is being stepped up ahead of parliamentary elections. it's the first election since the withdrawal of u.s. troops in 2011. the united states is investigating whether syrian soldiers attacked civilians with chlorine gas earlier this month. amateur video shows dozens of people struggling to breathe. rebels and the government blamed each other for the alleged attack in hama province. the syrian government has until the end of the month to hand over a stockpile of chemical weapons. >> the head of the u.n. says syria's newly announced
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presidential election will undermine efforts for a solution to the civil war. the opposition says the vote for june 3rd will be a farce. the government says it's committed to the election, a referendum approving a new constitution in february 2012, allowing a number of parties to run in the vote three months later. presidential candidates may run only if they have lived in syria for three years with no foreign passport. that has ruled out many opposition figures. it's unclear how the government plans to organise a vote when 6.5 million have been displaced in the country, and 2.6 million have fled. hoda abdel-hamid has more. >> this is what it is like in rebel areas in syria, it's not clear how an election can be held. in a government-controlled neighbour hood a campaign to re-elect bashar al-assad is
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under way. he has not nominated himself, bashar al-assad said he will if the people want him. that is what people are asking for, that is the message from those that have taken part in rallies. there are people who don't want bashar al-assad as their leader. the war was a consequence of an uprising against his rule. >> translation: who should i vote for? the man that killed many. >> if millions of syrians who left their country and are displaced want to cast their ballot. they are not able to. the government can't hold a ballot in territories outside their control. raising credibility issues. >> reporter: the syrian government said the vote would be different. syrians can only choose to support bashar al-assad, and his father. now parliament approved laws to allow candidates to run for the post. >> not anyone can stand for
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elections, one of the companies is that they must have lived in syria for the past 10 years. most of bashar al-assad's opponents, even officially tolerated ones are excluded from the race. some formed a government in exile. members are not interested in competing with a man they want out of power. they are not able to prevent the vote. >> the mistake of the position was that they had no executive body, like government, that is actually providing essential services for the syrian people. in areas where he controls functioning. and - and that has been actually also his advantage. >> he may remain in power, but the opposition and its allies will not accept the election as legitimate and free and fair. whatever happens, onening is certain. the -- one thing is certain, the poll will not resolve the
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denied being involved in the massacre of hundreds of people. his forces have been accused of ethnic killings. more than 200 people died in one mosque alone at the recapture of a petrol town. investigations that the syrian government used chemical weapons in one of their areas later this month. rebels and government blame each other for the attacks. >> syria's newly announced presidential election could undermine the solution for mar. that is according to ban ki-moon. the vote is planned for june the 3rd. >> al jazeera's detained journalists are due back in court in cairo in a few hours time. mohamed fadel fahmy, peter greste and baher mohamed are accused of providing a platform for the outlaud muslim brotherhood. they have been in detention for 114 days.
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a fourth journalist, abdullah al-shami, has been in detention since august. reporter: journalists for al jazeera appear in court. peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy, and baher mohamed have been in gaol for more than three months. they are falsely accused of spreading news and providing a platform for the outlawed muslim brotherhood. during the last hearing the prosecution produced video they said supports the case against the man. none of the videos have anything to do with the case. this video, for example, was a tv report by peter greste from kenya on the attack of the westgate mall last year. the court was shown this report, an award-winning documentary on somalia that peter greste produced before joining al jazeera. the court ordered a special manner to look at the special
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material. abdullah al-shami, a fourth journalist in detention, has been held in egypt for more than nine months, and has been on hunger strike since january 21st. his detention was extended by 45 days on march the 13th. abdullah al-shami recently sent a letter from prison expressing his feelings: >> his parents are concerned about his health. >> translation: i would like to remind journalists and rights activists that my son is on hunger strike risking his life to defend journalists freedom. he is fighting for a cause, wanting to stop the practice of intimidating, arresting or killing journalists over the world. >> the trial of the al jazeera
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journalists attracted global attention. advocacy groups and governments have condemned the trial. al jazeera strongly rejects all the the charges, and continues to call for the release of its team. >> well, our journalists in egypt are four of the 211 journalists held in government prisons across the world. 40 are in turkey. 32 in china and 35 in iran. 40 journalists are in government prisons in syria, and 29 held hostage by opposition groups. 99 journalists were killed last year, one in four in syria. >> let's bring in the academic and turkish opposition activist, campaigning for media freedom in turkey and across the world and joins us from istanbul. you have been following the trial in egypt closely. what do you make of it?
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>> thank you very much. in egypt we followed the developments. we can see parallels between what is taking place in egypt and turkey and around the world. the case against peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy, baher mohamed, is a classic textbook example of the abuse of anti-terrorism legislation. we have seen examples of abuses, since september 11th. since september 11th, in a decade's time, something like 35,000 people got convicted on the so-called terror charges. what we see is terrorism charges are brought against three al jazeera journalists too. we have listened to your report. what is the conduct that is attributed to them? there is no single act of violence. there is no act, no conduct other than reporting. and it's a classic example of the abuse of anti-terror
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legislation. when we analyse the number, given the numbers according to the statistics of the committee to protect journalists, there's almost 215 journalists in gaol. almost 65% of them are in gaols based on terrorism allegations, and this is the monster that we created all around the world. remember the case of a couple of other al jazeera journalists, who did and spent time in guantanamo bay, and american officials accused them of terrorism again. this is, therefore - this is a worldwide trend. >> if the facts don't add up, how is the trial continuing? >> when it comes to the analysis of the trial itself, what we can see is if in addition to the substantive violation of freedom of the press, with respect to the specific case of the three al jazeera journalists, various
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violations of the right to fair trial. it is a universal right. it's enshrined in the international civil rights. in the very first place, in order for there to be a fair trial, there needs to be an independent and partial judiciary. the egyptian judiciary is all but independent, all but impartial at the moment. justice must not only be done, but be seep to be done. the political environment, the debate in the country must not judge anything. the situation in egypt is the opposite. we hear that there's a media blackout. only news supporting allegations can be published in egypt. this is a violation of the right to fair trial. moreover, according to the news reported that follow, there's clear procedural violations too. there is a violation of the
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so-called equality. this is a very well-established principal of criminal law and international human rights war. prosecution and defense. they must have an equal chance to prevent their cases. we will not be saying the defense cases will be presented from today. this is the idea anyway. when you look at media freedom, the clamp down on media, not only in egypt, but this region and the world. does that provoke journalists to sell a sense of themselves. do you think it pushes journalists to break boundaries. what do you see, for example, in turkey. >> it's a great question. thank you very much. what we see is yes, these are violations on human rights. they cannot - such oppressive policies cannot stop society or the members of the media.
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this will cause further radicalization of the society, and further radicalization of the journalists. they are part of the society, because what such policies demonstrate is there is not much to achieve through peaceful means. this is a what people in opposition in egypt believe. if you can't report, if there's no free media or a chance to demonstrate against the government, how will they demonstrated, manifest anger against the government. >> i'm afraid we'll have to end it there. thank you very much for joining us and making your points. good to speak to you. >> thank you very much. thank you. more than 100 bodies have been recovered from a south korean ferry which sank last week. more than 190 are still missing, many still children. investigators are looking into why the vessel capsized. the captain and several crew members have been arrested, some of them reportedly appeared in
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court. >> the u.s. vice president is in kiev in a show of support for ukraine's interim government. joe biden is meeting the acting president and is expected to look at ways the u.s. can prop up the economy. the u.s. released photos of armed men in ukraine that it says could be proof of russia's involvement in the unrest. russia denies it's operating in eastern ukraine. >> as afghanistan tries to wean itself off foreign aid, a housing development is used as an example of how the country can move forward on its own. it has many changes ahead. >> on the outskirts of the afghan capital a new town is emerging. this is not a wall of checkpoints. there'll be 10,000 modern apartments - a mixture of private and government subsidised. >> translation: we are proud to
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provide affordable accommodation, giving employment and investment for money that would otherwise leave the country. >> the land grabbing is happening outside the vast scheme. warlords are building houses with impunity on state land. inside the projects, a government-subsidised 2-room apartment can be brought for $26,000, paid in five instalments. >> there's more demands. >> and people trying to come here. the people trying to have houses here. we are getting it for people. >> the apartments are sold only to those who fulfil government criteria, which include already not owning property. they are 40% cheaper than flats
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sold privately. there's a demand for full-price properties within the project. >> there's a common belief that the outside world use them as reliant on foreign aid. this is afghan funded, designed and built. they are proud of it. here they want to show the world that this country has got pension. to succeed the developers need a stable, economic and political environment. that's a challenge as reduced funding leaves the government with a shortfall, white the country goes through a long presidential campaign. thousands of people have been paying last respects to columbian author. >> reporter: staying goodbye to one of the most celebrated writers of the last century. family, friends and admirers of
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all agers paid their last reports to a style that erased the line between fantasy and reality. >> translation: he placed latin american literature, the vanguard of world literature. he untangled the essence of the lern and gave it to the world. millions learnt and loved latin america thanks to his literature. >> outside mexico city's palace of fine hearts, people waited in line to go inside. >> we used to play music and came to say farewell. >> reporter: there are thousands here carrying yellow flowers. not just because it is a favourite. but because they could not bring
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butterflies. this is a clear reference to an endearing character. a love-struck young man who was follow by clouds of butterflies. >> thousands of kilometres away in a columbian town, where his widely read novel was loosely set. people paying tribute to his favourite tonne. >> gabriel garcia marquez was built here, insisting his stories were rooted in reality. >> you are reading in a novel that suddenly it rained flowers around town. there are a lot of legends. it's like a common landscape. it is magical. >> in the later years he told friend that what worried him about dying was not being able to die of love. the 87-year-old writer would
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have been pleased to see how those that loved and admired his work september him off with butterflies. >> you can keep up to date with the latest news on our website. there it is, aljazeera.com. jazeera america. >> both its biggest fans and owe knowns said nafta would bring big changes. now who is right about nafta, that's next on "inside story"
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