confusion and controversy with just 48 hours before proposed syria talks, there are sharp divisions over the inclusion of a prominent kurdish group. you're watching al jazeera live from doha. also ahead, one person is killed and at least one injured as u.s. police arrest the leader of an armed militia in oregon. denmark passes a controversial bill to seize refugees' assets and valuables. >> translation: if we had an education it would be better

than this afghanistan's children trade away their future to provide for their family it's two days to go before proposed talks on the syria crisis and there is confusion and disagreement over who should take part. it does seem clear that one of the most influential kurdish groups, the pyd, will not be attending. russia says their participation is necessary but turkey says their group is terrorism. >> translation: negotiations without the kurds at the table cannot be inclusive. we're not against the attendance. it is unacceptable to let the terrorism organization join into talks. they cannot sit together with

the honorable groups. if someone wants to see the pyd it should be on the syrian regime. the pyd which co-operates with the regime cannot be for the people some groups have been invited but they have not officially accepted. they say they are seeking clarification on a few points from the u.n. >> translation: there are new things that are being discussed all the time. we are not here in riyadh to do nothing. we came to reassess these issues despite the negative decision, but this by no means suggest that there is a tendency to go towards a positive decision. the discussions are ongoing. they are constructive. there is no disagreement with the invitation which we consider to be very negative. there are vague and mysterious points. discussions are ongoing. we shouldn't be quick to take any position back in syria recent gains by government fighters backed by russian air power has changed the landscape of the territorial

fight. the current state of place is explained by our correspondent and talks to the to us about what is to happen next >> reporter: the battle field of syria is a huge one. while the syrian government is backed by hezbollah and others, all of this has changed the situation on the ground. the syrian government is in a stronger position and many say it now has the upper hand. >> the direction, the inter vepgs help bashar al-assad regime very much to survive because the regime was collapsed, fully collapsed, and also had them to protect the area through latakia to that

bashar al-assad dream. >> reporter: the army and its allies has also turned their attention to what is known as the southern front. the army recaptured one of the most important towns there. it lies on the road between damascus and deraa, the birth place of the revolution. south syria is one of the remaining strongholds appeared one where the rebels are considered moderates by the international community. further north strong holds are under siege. this has forced fighters to abandon their position, or agree to truces. >> sometimes the free syrian army withdrew from the places and the heavy shelling of the fighters, but it's easy to go back to that place. >> reporter: the army and its allies have made strategic and tactical gains but the war is far from over.

the battle for aleppo will be the tipping point. syria's commercial capital has been a divide city for years. the government and its allies are fighting to encircle the opposition-held east and they have been trying to cut rebel supply lines into the city from idlib and the turkish bored. >> aleppo has a name that is important, as a city is important, as a location is important important for the regime, important for the opposition, important for turkey, important for others. >> reporter: the government says it is winning the war and the officials are making clear that they are in no mood to compromise. the opposition may be on the retreat, but it hasn't been defeated. no doubt the government has strengthened its position with the recent battle field gains for more on this joining me here is a syrian academic and

also an associate analyst at the doha institute for research and policy studies. thank you for coming in to speak to us. one of the most contentious issues right now ahead of friday's that's talks in geneva, is which kurdish groups should be included in these talks. russia wants the pyd wants them to attend, turkey is dead against this. what is the strategy here? does russia want the pyd included to an tag nice turkey or is there a bigger strategy against the syrian opposition here? >> i think the russians actually tend to achieve both goals. on the one hand they want to punish the turks for downing the russian jet a couple of months ago and they think that the inclusion of the pyd actually does antagonize the turks.

turkey consider the pyd as the syrian ring of the p.k.k. which is considered as a terrorist organization and separatist organization. on the other hand the russians actually from trying to include the pyd within the syrian opposition delegation, they are trying to control the negotiation within syria opposition because the pyd agenda and the agenda of the others are completely different issues. the pyd doesn't call for bashar al-assad to step down. they have a completely different agenda we understand why the turks wouldn't wanted the pyd to attend, but the syrian opposition as an alcohol, the pyd are, after all, an ally of the americans and are fighting again i.s.i.l. >> the opposition consider also the pyd as an ally of the regime

because they fought against the syrian opposition factions on the frowned in north of aleppo and they have been fighting the opposition factions in north aleppo for the past few weeks with the support of russia too. the pyd is not only ally for america but ally for russia and iran and for the syrian regime. the opposition think the place for the pyd is with the delegation of the regime and they feel if they are going to attend it's not - they must not be able to represented within their own delegation the main opposition group, the syrian opposition group, has said they're going to decide whether or not to attend. they have been invited, of course. they seem to have been pushed into a corner here. what is their move likely to be? if they do decide to attend, they're in a weaker position >> absolutely. they're in a difficult position. if you take the meeting between john kerry, the u.s. secretary

of state, and the leadership of the opposition in riyadh last saturday, it was a very difficult meeting when he said if you don't go to geneva, you will lose your allies. i think he was threatening them. if they decide to go, this is going to be very difficult because that would antagonize their basis on the grounds in syria. the base of the syrian revolution does not want the syrian opposition to go to geneva, but on the other hand if they don't go, i mean, then they will lose as kerry said, the support of their closest allies. this is a very delicate situation for the syrian opposition thank you very much for your insight. 30 iraqi security forces have been killed north of ramadi. i.s.i.l. are believed to have carried out the attack at the headquarters of the tenth division of the iraqi army.

they have been fighting to regain full control of ramadi from the armed group. in the u.s. five people including the leader of an armed militia occupying government property have been arrested. authorities say shots were fired during the operation in the state of oregon. at least one person was killed and another injured. the group has been occupying a wildlife refuge near the city of burn since 2 january. the take over of the property was in support of two farmers ordered to go to jail for setting fire to the government land. the occupation became about landownership. they accused the government will illegally stealing land from the farmers over decade and demanded it to be given to local control. our correspondent has an update. >> reporter: it appears that a caravan of militia members had left the wildlife refuge and were on their way to some sort of community meeting. details are still a little

unclear, but at some point on a rural highway outside of the refuge is when f.b.i. and local law enforcement officials confronted these militia members. that's when a gun fight ensued. five militia members arrested and the key point is that ammon bundy, the leader of the group, he was one of the five arrested. the person killed militia member lavoy finicum, he was killed and he was the number two in command, often the spokesperson for the militia group. what is going on at the rough uj right now, they're continues - doctor refuge now, there are members still there. they have put out calls asking for other members around the country to come join them to make a last stand there. it's unclear if federal law enforcement officials will try

and arrest the remaining people there, but either way it could be complicated as there could still be women and children inside as well the u.s. president is urging the rapid development of a vaccine for the virus zika. 200,000 troops are trying to crackdown mosquitos. >> reporter: there is a somber mood here. seats, fencing and food stands are all drenched with insecretarity sides. in-- insecticides. in two weeks it will be packed for a celebration of an up coming festival. then it will be home to the olympics. >> translation: any crowded place is considered a strategic place to combat the mosquitos. all the football stadiums are

considered strategic points. we have april different strategy for that. the summer dome is another point, especially this season. >> reporter: brazilian laboratories are trying to confirm if there is lank between the virus and berth defects in hundreds of babies. the u.s. says it too is beginning research to find a possible vaccine. the president obama has been briefed on how the virus might spread and the possible economic impact. cases of zika virus have been reported in the u.s. states of virginia and arkansaw. u.s. airlines are offering refunds to passengers worried about flying to areas affected by the virus. here at california so far there has been only one confirmed case of zika virus infection in a teenage girl who travelled to el salvador late last year. she has made a full recovery. but in brazil some say warnings about zika and ways to avoid

contracting it are not getting through. >> translation: when i arrived here in the city, i did no see any information about anything. we knew about it from the television, but here in the city i have not seen or heard about it. >> reporter: 25 countries now have the zika virus and scientists estimate that more than 60% of the u.s. population live in areas where the virus might spread during warm months we want to take you now live to tunisia where the u.n. special envoy for libya martin cobbler is speaking after the recognised parliament based in tobruk based for a government. >> these are opponents, these

are tribal dignatories, these are municipalities and we must bring them abroad into the political agreement. now, the fourth principle is there should be a peaceful transfer of power, the rejection of violence to use violence for political purpose. the fifth and last principle, but which could also be the first principle, this is the libyan ownership of the process. we never interfere in the domestic affairs here at the united nations. it must be libyan-led not

u.n.-led. it is libyan-led with the-- we seem to have lost that press conference there. let's take a short break and then when we come back, we will talk more about the situation in libya. we will also join the search for unaccompanied children in france as they wait to join their family. do stay with us. stay with us.

>> we tend to band together, so we have a voice. >> we're just surviving. it's really hard.

>> to have reservations on article 8. and here our line is very clear. after this agreement there was a security council resolution 2259, which is our united nations but also should be the libyan's guideline. and it says that the libyan political agreement is the only alternative here for the libyan political process and it should be implemented in its entirety.

now, it is if somebody wants to change the libyan political agreement, there are mechanisms inside the libyan political agreement. and this mechanism is very clear. it says that any changes only can be done by the house of representatives in consensus with the state council. there can be no unilateral kind of change. in this question, the state council and the house of representatives, they're like simese twins. that's why coming to the third pillar of the agreement, the state council, this does not yet

exist. i urge all those who now want to convene the state council to go ahead and to have this third pillar as a strong pillar in pla place. now, this is a tie angle where the government is a strong parliament and the state council with the competencies as they are within the political agreement. we accompany all these institutions to bring about the

necessary next steps. this is the first of all now the house of representatives decided to give back the names of the ministers of government of national court to the presidency council and they have ten days to submit a new cabinet list. as i said, it's also very important now to have the state council as the third pillar in place. the third point is really the security questions to at the end of the day the presidency council, the government must be in tripoli.

i see three driving factors. the first one is the expansion of the d.a.e.s.h. sometimes i think that the political process is slower than the military process. but the political process must be faster than the military expansion of the d.a.e.s.h. the second driving fact is the dire humanitarian situation. 2.4 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. out of six million libyans and 1.3 million are in need of food aid. this is really not acceptable

for the libyans to live in a rich country and to be dependent on humanitarian assistance. of special focus this year on again zaz ee-- benghazi, we are bringing ceasefires to the area. there should be every week one day where there is a day of peace that people can do their shoppings and that the goods, the humanitarian goods, are able to go into benefit glaz ee we've been listening to martin cobble rshr.

the rival tharts based in trip. it was p hoped that this unit government which was announced on january 19 would reach a political divide in libya, but is basically under mind the fight against armed groups, i.s.i.l. libya currently has two rival administrations and parliaments. the international authorities which are based in tobruk and a rebel backed authority holding power in tripoli. let's bring in our correspondent now who has covered this. tell us martin cobbler is speaking just days after this unit cabinet was rejected by the parliament of libya. why did they not want this unity cabinet which was approved by the united nations >> two reasons. the first one they told him that the number is huge, about 32, the make up of was 32 ministers

says that. this is a critical situation in libya. we want to reduce the number to 10 or 15 because we want an efficient government. the main reason is the political divide which continues. not all of the numbers of the parliament are united by an official unity government. some say that is not going to make any difference whatsoever with the political divide going on now they have ten days to submit a new cabinet list. >> they have, but then again, i think the biggest problem that the united nations faces in libya is they're trying to come up with an agreement without addressing the issues that create the political divide. let's assume the council greece on a government, it has to show the world that it is functioning. i don't think it will because the gnc, which is the authority in power in tripoli, is against this national unity government. so the divide will continue. problems will continue.

the presidential council which has been agreed in december is based in tunisia. it should be moving to libya and they know that they can't because of the divide we heard martin cobbler say there the political process must be faster than the expansion of armed groups like i.s.i.l. this is becoming a real issue now for libya, the expansion of i.s.i.l., which is basically setting up a rare base there in libya. >> this is why the americans and the europeans are not putting more pressure on the two parties to come up with an agreement as soon as possible. i.s.i.l. has managed to expand in the coastal area that stretches east to not from another area. they're talking about a coastal area of 170 kilometers not far from european shores. they can use that as a platform to launch attacks against europe. why a national unity government because it is the only one to

has the authority to form a national army and span the militias to be able to take on i.s.i.l. the biggest concern if the divide continues, i.s.i.l. is going to be the one to take advantage of the situation and further expands in the area there is there is concern whether with the former u.n. representative who helped meet the former agreement which is negotiating a large paying job, one of the rival parties >> it has undermined the united nations in libya. it is not seen as an honest broker to the point where when the revelations were made in the international media members of the gnc which controls tripoli, they said they won't accept what came out of morocco in december because that was under someone who was colluding with the

united arab emirates who they see as a country that gives substantial aid to the government based in the east. i think martin cobbler is going to face a tough time ahead to convince to form an agreement to have a settlement in the country you have i.s.i.l. rising on the one hands and a terrible humanitarian situation which was talked about there. >> it is a horrible situation. you have thousands of people driven out of their places, hundreds were killed in the fighting between armed groups and the fight between the east and the west, but to be able to solve those problems you have to have a strong government operating in tripoli that can reach out to the whole factions of the whole regions of the country thank you very much indeed for that.

a reminder, of course, that you can keep up-to-date with all the developments on all our stories at aljazeera.com >> every year, the u.s. imports more and more produce - fresh fruits and vegetables - from mexico. and every year, wages have stayed the same for the people that harvest that produce - sometimes the last people to touch the fruit bought by u.s. consumers. but after years of long, hot days and stagnant pay, workers left the fields and took to the streets to demand better working conditions - and a living wage.