this is al jazeera. welcome to the news hour live from al jazeera's headquarters in doha. iraq opportunity scrutiny, the prime minister says he doesn't need foreign troops to fight i.s.i.l. others disagree. an al jazeera executi-exclude s. koreans take for the streets in seoul on anti-government

protests. >> we are now investigating these horrific acts as an act of terrorism but the f.b.i. says there is no hard evidence that the couple behind the mass shooting in california acted on instructions from i.s.i.l. our top stories so far tad. the debate is intensifying about foreign nations contributing to ground forces to combat i.s.i.l. in iraq. prime minister bashar al-assad says his forces are able to forb i.s.i.l. out alone. >> reporter: kurdish peshmerga troops keep watch on i.s.i.l. positions. they've had recent success in retap touring territory from i.s.i.l. in sinjar. they are hopeful they can defeat the armed group in other parts of the company with help from their allies.

>> translation: until now the international coalition has been using air strikes. you want to end this war from the sky and you need troops on the ground. >> reporter: prime minister doesn't agree. he says we reaffirm that iraq has no need for foreign ground troops. we did not ask any country to send ground forces. we will consider any troops to be an act of aggression. >> reporter: the united nations are concerned about the human rights violations. it goes on to say reports indicate: one of those groups accused of

abuses is the mop illization forces, part of the iraqi army. president obama won't authorize air strikes to support thechl. it goes back to the 2003 occupation of iraq. that's when paul brennan was sent by george w bush to over see iraq's transitional government. he made a series of decisions, including disbanding the army that have come to the rise of i.s.i.l. speaking to my colleague, he denied those allegations. >> i did not disband or destroy the iraqi army. there was not a single unit stand to go arms on 17 april as the general has test phid himself. >> reporter: hindsight is useful for understanding the fought of iraq and syria, but

the only debate is whether ground troops are needed, whether western, arab or turkish or iranian against the i.s.i.l. the international coalition is continuing its air strikes against in syria. they won't defeat i.s.i.l. there. troops on the ground are also required. who are the armed groups fighting in syria? is their main priority to defeat i.s.i.l. and are they ewe night enough? >> reporter: it is smimentd that there is as many as many 100 thousand fighters in syria. the british government which has given the go ahead as part of an international coalition says up to 70,000 fighters are moderate. they include the northern free syrian army with around 20,000

fighters operating near idlib. the southern front alliance has an estimated around 25,000 fighters. a number of other groups surrounding aleppo totalling around 14,000 fighters. all of them have so far been mainly fighting the syrian army which is battling to keep president bashar al-assad in power. around 20,000 fighters from the kurdish popular protection units or ypg have been battling i.s.i.l. for control of their territory in the north. the russian air force has bombed oil pelts controlled by i.s.i.l. oil revenue is vital to their finances. the institute for the study of war, a u.s. based think tank says the russian air campaign has mainly hit syrian opposition groups in the countryside south of aleppo and in another province. bashar al-assad's army is supported on the ground by fighters the lebanese group

hezbollah and other from iraq, iran and afghanistan. high ranking officers are said to be leading the iraqi and afghan militias in syria. 76 iranian soldiers have been killed in syria the in last two months. they were advising syrian troops on their battle field tactics against i.s.i.l. among those killed was a general from iran's rev had solutionry guard now living here on the news hour is co-editor of an online magazine focusing on the politics of the middle east and the culture of the middle east. welcome. the logistics of working with the people on the ground across the border in syria. the logistics are huge. can it be made to work?

indeed, any be defeated by solely bombing from the air. i think the record is clear that the answer is that is no. the second question is can islamic state movement be defeated by military means. there, i think, a question is clearly yes, but the problem is that virtually every party that would be in the position to do so seems to have other priorities which revolve primarily around whether to preserve or remove the syrian regime from power. the third question relates specifically to western intervention and i think it has been proven quite clearly that western military intervention can be effective militarily but is nothing less than catastrophic politically. were it not for the western

intervention in iraq over the past decade or two, i.s.i.s. would mean nothing more than the name of an egyptian godess if they manage to keep a large chunk of the 70,000 fighters on the same page, have different agendas, they would have to be run by a committee. the u.s. led coalition is not on the same page, so that's another committee. how do you get two committees talking to each other for a successful outcome?

removing bashar al-assad and the syrian regime from power. they're basically being asked by the international coalition to kind of forget about their own agenda so that they can prioritise the agenda of outside powers and become nothing more than of a proxy for us, for others in terms of going after thesis lambic state movement. ---ise lambic state if they perceive what the u.s. led coalition wants from them as a two prong approach, prong number one trying to defeat i.s.i.l. and number two for some of them to get rid of bashar al-assad. the period between those two could be messy some >> exactly. as i think as many analysts have pointed out, this is not an issue that can be resolved solely through military means

but also requires sustained political engagement. primarily in terms of reconfiguring the state and the regime in both iraq and syria and here the issue is that if you look at all the parties that claim to have the defeat and destruction of the islamic state movement as a priority, they have very different and more often than not contradictory objectionives-- objectives with the regimes in iraq and syria, making cooperation between them virtually impossible. that means a continued weakened state and zones without effective government authority in eastern syria and western iraq. that is precisely under such circumstances that a movement like the islamic state movement, which is not particularly powerful militarily can nevertheless thrive and continue to expand

thank you very much. in lebanon at least three people have been killed near tripoli after an army raid on the home of a suspected fighter. the suspect blew himself up and killed two female relatives. he had been wanted for a year in take the part in fighting. some security officers were injured. director the of the institute for public policy, he says this is the latest incident in a long running conflict. >> there have been pockets of these hard line sunni groups all across north and northern eastern lebanon. a decade ago they were in the mountain areas, isolated camps, and then they started growing inside tripoli and the poorest areas of tripoli. of course during the iraq war, some of the palestinian camps in

lebanon were areas where they were trained and sent to fight in iraq with the groups against the american army. this has developed now with the syrian war and has become more complex because with hezbollah fighting inside syria against the al-nusra and i.s.i.s. and the rebel groups in syria, this has spilled over into lebanon where some groups in lebanon are fighting against hezbollah or against the lebanese army. most of the fighting has been in the north-east on the border with syria, but occasionally you get incidents like this in tripoli and very occasionally in other pockets around the country the stand off between russia and turkey over the shooting down of the russian jet continues. turkish authorities have stopped russian ships in the black sea port. the vessels have been prevented from leaving the port.

that comes after another incident outside the russian port earlier this week. officials there reportedly didn't allow the turkey vessel to approach the port. our correspondent in istanbul, what is going on there right now in that port? >> reporter: well, we understand from a port official that turkey is exercising its right essentially to inspect boats in its port. these are four russian car go ships that are in sample son port on the black sea. we don't know whether they contain car go or have off-loaded, but that doesn't matter. turkey says it's inspecting its boats. it's in its right to do it but normally it doesn't bother. it seems this is tit for tat. we might see more of this in the coming weeks as russia's

economic sanctions begin to impact on turkey. we know that russia is to impose sanctions on russian fruits and vegetables. they're not supposed to hit until january, but already we've been hearing reports of lorries being turned away from ukrainian borders containing citrus fruits and other fruits that are being sent back to turkey. those economic sanctions might beginning to be starting already. from the turkish perspective, this seems to be them saying to russia you can do this to us and we're going to do the same to you. we will try and make life harder for your car go go ships as well let's get the russian perspective to you. rory, any word from the kremlin on this yet? >> reporter: no. i think they will see this as a trade issue for the most at

least and they probably won't say anything for a few hours at least, maybe a couple of days, but i think what the russians are fundamentally worried about is that turkey has control, essentially, of the flow of shipping between the black sea and the immediate mediterranean seas. on the treaty signed in 1936, for turkey to stop any russian ships from using that straight, they would have to be a state of war between these two countries. we're not at that point yet despite all the tensions. there are other ways that turkey can remind russia that it is vulnerable to turkey's goodwill essentially, and with russia hitting turkey with trade embargos and sanctions and things like that coming in

formally on 1 january, turkey may be looking to a way to respond to that. this could be a gentle reminder to russia that it has at least some influence over the behaviour and the access that russian shipping has to the waters of the black sea and the mediteranean thank you for that. in the capital of burundi three gunmen wearing police uniforms have been killed after attacking a car belonging to a police commander. it is the latest incident in a nation hit by violence over the president's third term in office. catherine soi spoke to some of the armed men who say they are just protecting their neighborhoods. here is her exclusive report. >> reporter: when the sun sets what begins in the suburb of burundi's capital bujumbura, pierre and a few others are the neighborhood watch. they say they're direct

protecting their homes from security forces and the youth wing which they blame for the recent state of random and regular killings in the city. we will defend ourselves this man says. a little earlier we meet two other young men. they dressed like police and dig out a hidden grenade. he says he will use this today. they wouldn't say whether they're an organized unit, have a leader or where they get their weapons from. >> translation: police have been coming to our neighborhood at daytime to arrest and kill us, but at night we go to where they are and fight them. >> reporter: what started out as peaceful protests in april against the bid for a third term by the president, has evolved into armed violence. people are being killed almost every night and their beds left in the streets or dumped in trenches. both the government and opposition factions blame each

other. >> the protesters fell they could, but they found that they tried to negotiate with the government, but this is not fair, you cannot negotiate with government when you are committing homicides like this one. >> reporter: the united nations, welcome back.

you're watching al jazeera news hour. the turkish authorities in the black sea were searching for russian car go shifts. they have been prevented from leaving the port. south korea. the debate is intensifying about foreign nations contributing to a ground force to combat i.s.i.l. in iraq. the prime minister says they are able to push i.s.i.l. fighters out alone. let's stay in iraq where the president says the forces are in his country in violation of the law. he are demanding the immediate withdrawal of the troops they believed crossed into the

country on friday. they are said to be deployed in mosul which is under i.s.i.l. control. they have already been in that part of the country on a training mission since last year. more on that story. an iraqi member of parliament who joins us on skype from london. what is the problem with having turkish forces on the ground in that area?

the borders internationally is certainly a grand violation of international law without coordinating this with the iraqi government. this is an act of aggression against iraq and without any prior knowledge or consent from the government of iraq just to interrupt you for a second, they have been there for a long time. that's their line. presumably they were either invited in or them crossing the border was sanctioned at another level under the auspices of someone like nato or the united nations, but probably nato in this case. if they had gone in, and you didn't want them, are you saying it's, in effect, an invasion, because it can't be surely?

being invited by the government of iraq. what are they doing there? are they fighting the pkk, training the tribal fighters or are they fighting d.a.e.s.h.? what are they doing there? i think they have a lot of questions that they need to answer and they need to go back to their own bases and if we need from nato or u.s. or u.k., we said we don't need boots on the ground because we have one million iraqis why has your country taken so long to take offence at this? why didn't you say what you're saying today several weeks ago or a few months ago?

saddam time and it was also given that permission to attack the pkk positions in the north of iraq. that was even after 2003. now, this is recognised, agreed upon and consented by the government of iraq, but not troops on the ground, no boots on the ground, no incursion through the international border by the turkish military. this is totally unacceptable i put two points. your

just ahead of the arrival of one of its

she is determined to fight

for her political survival. she is accused of the minuting accounts by budget definitity. >> translation: i will fight this because i have done nothing that justifies this procedure and primarily because i have a commitment to the people of this country who elected me protesters in australia have demonstrated against the arrival of the countries's first shipment of nuclear waste. it originally came from a reactor producing isotopes for medical and research it issue. it returned from france for treatment. >> this is a terrible safety record. it should never have been put on the ship in the first place. is it high level waste on the

intermediate waste on the ship earlier in the year we visited a fisherman on an island that has already sunk below the water line. >> reporter: after this year's devastating monsoon is it is time for this man and his mother to start rebuild their lives. he can barely get out of the house in the rainy season much less work. >> translation: it gets really muddy here and i can't see where i'm walking so i slip and fall all the time. it is very dangerous for me. >> reporter: his home is vanishing fast. this is at the front line of climate change. a mosque where we saw people take shelter from the storm in

may lies teetering on the edge of water. this was one of the strongest monsoons people can remember. >> translation: it rained so much and then you had the anger of the current. i've never seen water come with such anger. the water with wash away the home befores but this time it smashed them away-- before >> reporter: . this is the largest dock, the main connection to the rest of the country. the landing was swept away by the waves a few months ago. it left of the island even more isolated. are with no ferry to the mainland it is difficult for this man to find a job even though the rainy season is over. it seems there's not enough going on in the island economy to accommodate those with disabilities. >> translation: you need to get out on the boat and work with nets with others. i can't do the work without my eyes, so the boats don't hire

me. >> reporter: after a rainy season like this one, he is worried that he has to leave his home once again. with no heating system in the house on an island where temperatures can drop below 10 degrees celsius, he and his mother are preparing for i atough winter cambodia's opposition leader has told al jazeera he has been forced into exile. he has a defamation conviction outstanding. it raises concerns over the elections in 2017. >> reporter: for now he is watching developments at home from france. it is something he is used to. >> this is not the first i have been forced into exile during my previous exile my party kept growing and we are strong. >> reporter: the leader of

cambodia's main opposition party is staying away to avoid a new arrest warrant. it was issued in respect to a conviction for defaming the foreign minister seven years ago. he was given a two year jail sentenced that were never enforced. he says they're politically motivated to squash the opposition. he has run this country for more than 30 years. he and his party have always pitched themselves as the only people who can stop this country sliding backwards and more recently he warned that if the opposition wins the next election, cambodia could descend into civil war. a spokesman for the ruling aparty says his views are dangerous, likening them to the brutal party that ran the country for four years in the 1970s. >> translation: they do not represent democracy and they don't have democratic understanding. they lead the opposition as a

hostile enemy against the government. >> reporter: at the moment it seems to be the opposition that is facing heading hostility. >> eye sockets were broken, nose, two teeth broken and my wrist broken. >> reporter: the opposition suspects it's all happening because the government is scared of how popular it is becoming ahead of the next general election in less than three years. >> they know that there is a growing popular support for the opposition, especially the young generation who wants leadership in the generation which is getting more and more powerly. >> reporter: he believes he will be a strong opposition leader when the democratic process is back on track

still to come here on the news hour from al jazeera, the latest surge in violence casts a dark shadow on christmas celebrations in the occupied west bank. we look at how football corruption is affecting latin america.

welcome back. as ever at this time it is time for news sport. >> reporter: we start with the latest of the english.

manchester city have both goals at the moment. arsenal have more injury problems ahead of their game. there are two ruled out and no less terre who began the day level with man city at the top. >> for me swansea is a very good team and there is no play well how they deserve what they can do. i told my players be careful because swansea is a good team. >> reporter: in the next hour, the spanish premier comes a day after they were thrown out. they will appeal their punishment for playing in the cup game on wednesday. the russian was meant to be serving a ban.

he said set in the table. >> translation: we know there are a good team and well trained. from what we've seen they're well organized. they know what

the heads of the bodys that govern football in the americas. other accused are trying to distance themselves from the investigation. >> translation: i am a public figure. i have spoken out to legal activity. if it needs to be proved that one is innocent, then this must be done. to my knowledge i have never been involved in any kind of scandal. >> reporter: u.s. authorities have arrested several top officials in may. that led to the suspension of the long serving president. most of the 27 indicted by prosecutors are in latin

america. >> four or five senior manager of latin american football who using marketing rights, everything that had to go with money. they managed everything in a room and looking here. >> reporter: the u.s. investigators here raiding a spanish tv office say that millions changed hands to screen big games. who pays for the failure of the football associations to deliver? ultimately it is the long suffering fans for a game that once was. they complain about paying increasingly high prices to what is steadily deteriorating football in ram shackle often violent stadiums. these fans want these areas cleaned up. there are other unresolved

issues. >> translation: football here is dominated by the violent fans. these fans control players and sometimes officials who work with them. >> reporter: the suspended f.i.f.a. boss called the u.s. investigation political, but no other country has tackled the football associations which are either too powerful to touch or work in collusion with their governments. the incident of the poison infecting the football is slowly being ex-closed. >> reporter: cricket in india have increased their gap to 203 on the third day. india got the first century partnership of the series. there was an unbeaten 133. india on 190 for four in their

second innings. formula won in paris. he has claimed ten victories and seven further podium finishs. he wrapped up his third driver's total back in october. the defending champion has a share of the lead at the halfway stage of the world challenge in the bahamas. the world no.1 is 11 under. nine of the 18 men are within that three shots of the leaders. johnson is outside that on seven under, but had one of the shots of the day on the second. that's it for me talk to you later. thanks very much. a surge of violence and tensions between palestinians and israelis, christmas preparations are taking place in the occupied

west bank. they're getting ready for the celebration in bethlehem. 112 palestinians and 17 israelis have been killed since the start of october. >> the killing of palestinians, this affects the celebrations of christmas. we will go ahead with the traditional celebrations, no problem with that, but the general atmosphere will be affected by that. >> we are celebrating today with a very critical situation in palestine. injuried, still remaining wars, check points and mostly still the message of peace and the political solution of justice and peace is so away we're back in just a couple of moments.

see you then.

iraq under scrutiny, the prime minister says he doesn't need foreign troops to fight i.s.i.l. others disagree. hello and welcome. you're watching al jazeera live from our headquarters in doha. also coming up, an al jazeera exclusive. we meet the armed vigilantes in burundi who say they are preventing their community. >> we are now