tv News Al Jazeera March 24, 2016 4:00am-4:31am EDT
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troubled waters there is fear anger in brussels after tuesday's bomb attacks. there are unusual scenes on the streets of belgium. people are being frisked as they enter the metro stations >> i was very sad, of course, but now it's anger. a lot of people feel anger here. such barbarian attacks. we cannot understand why it is. everybody really feels anger and some people want revenge. it is not so good feeling here there are now reports that a second attacker who took part in the metro attack is at large. this is the man at the airport.
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his identity is unknown. it is believed he had explosives but they failed to detonate properly. there were three would be bombers at the airport. he was born i morocco but grew up in brussels and was a suggestion expect in last november's attack in paris. the third was brahim el-bakraoui. he had been deported from turkey after being caught at the border last june but was released due to a lack of evidence. his brother, khalid el-bakraoui is believed to carry out the bombing at the station. he was also a paris suspect. one brahim el-bakraoui had been arrested in turkey last year. he was picked up close to the border with syria. the turkish president said he had been deported back to europe
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and officials there had been warned. >> translation: one of the brussels attackers was caught in gazian gazianteep in june 2014. he was released. despite our warnings that this person is a foreign fighters year, they couldn't establish a terrorism link the man police say is a key suspect salah abdeslam is the subject of a court hearing in brussels. the session will relate to his continued detention. salah abdeslam was born in belgium but has french nationality. he was arrested last week. the authorities have called for his extradition. as far as his legal team is concerned, what is the logic of the rational abouts e behind him staying in belgium and not ending up in france? >> reporter: that is the question that everybody here is
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asking. he appears toresisting extradition to france. he appears to want to stay here in belgium. perhaps more will emerge later today. as you say, the first hearing taking place for salah abdeslam. his lawyer has arrived in brussels to go to the hearing. answers to those questions will emerge at that point. certainly there are other questions being asked here today and in belgium about what happened at the airport and in the newspapers today some of that is being raised. this is the addition of the well-known newspaper here saying the government let the suicide bombers go and on the inside
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pages they appear to suggest that this there is cctv footage from the station of khalid el-bakraoui talking to somebody. the speculation was that other people that he was talking to connected in some way with the events that took place. then in another of the newspapers, they concentrate on the victims of this attack. as you can see, 331 innocents. they have put up the images of some of the people who were caught up in this attack. as you can see, clearly there are two elements in the center here in brussels, one about what was done by government, by the authorities and so far as finding these people was concerned, and the other emotion about the victims, and clearly that is also expressed with the floral tributes that you can see >ere >> five past 9 in the morning
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where you are. peak rush hour. what is the atmosphere like? >> reporter: the security forces are trying to secure the main transport area. just walking here, going ba past metro stations where soldiers with machine guns and frisking everybody, and i remember yesterday seeing soldiers asking travellers with large suitcases to show that there was nothing untoward inside them. clearly there is still this sense that this is still a city in a high tense atmosphere and so they're trying to secure everything that they can and we know, veng, that the main airport is glowing to be cloechd for some considerable time and there say cordon of police officers and soldiers around the airport. so clearly the government here is trying to secure as far as they possibly can, because, of course, it is quite possible
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that there is still this suspect on the run and they need to catch that person and that's why they justify the high security presence that they have all around the city turkey has been criticized for having been the main transit point for i.s.i.l. recruits heading for syria. the government says it's doing its part in shutting down that route securing turkey's 900 kilometer border with syria is not easy. the government wants to seal it off completely with concrete walls, watch towers and more guards. the construction started about two years ago. some residents here say it's already made a difference. >> reporter: they were passing from here, terrorists, man, woman, smugglers. they were all passing from here. >> reporter: turkey says it fears i.s.i.l. fighters are
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crossing into its territory with the intent of carrying out attacks. this is the closest we can get to the border with syria. you can see behind me the concrete wall. that wall was built about a month ago by the government authorities. they want to prevent all smuggling activities and prevent people entering illegally. western powers have accused turkey of turning a blind eye to the flow of foreign fighters in and out of syria. more than 30,000 foreigns from 100 countries are fighting in syria and that turkey was the entry point for many of them. the e.u. law enforcement agency estimates between 3,000 and 5,000 i.s.i.l. fighters have have returned to their countries in europe and could be planning attacks. the u.s. and nato says this 70-kilometer strik of the border
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is used by foreign fighters to go in and out of syria. i.s.i.l. strong hold is just a few kilometers away. the government has ridiculed all accusation. he says the concrete walls will run over 800 kilometers through five turkish cities bordering syria, with cameras an radars. >> translation: the men blew themselves up. how did they get there and get the bombs? why doesn't europe protect its borders. instead of accusing us, let's work together to solve the problem. >> reporter: turkey has increased its military police and personnel along it's border. even if it succeeds in sealing the border, ichl and other foreign-- i.s.i.l. and other foreign fighters will find another way to cross as long as there is war in syria
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violence continues in syria between government and opposition fighters despite the recent cessation of hostilities. the syrian opposition has reportedly killed 20 syrian government members in eastern ghouta. two syrian opposition fighters have been killed and several others injured in air strikes which hit in the damascus countryside. john kerry will press his russian counterpart over a political transition in syria as the two meet in moscow. a u.s. state department official said kerry hoped to discuss the future of the syrian president bashar al-assad during that meeting. our diplomatic editor james bays reports from geneva where discussions have continued this week >> reporter: one of the most senior officials in the european union after a meeting with the head of the syrian government delegation in geneva. there were no pictures of the actual meeting between her and
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the ambassador, but he was aware of the pr obviously giving interviews straight afterwards. at the same time she headed to the u.n. for a meeting with special envoy, staffan de mistura. she made it clear she had met both sides in geneva and there was no change to e.u. policy. >> reporter: why did you decide to choose this moment to reward the bashar al-assad regime with such a high-profile meeting? >> our support to the opposition has not only been in place for the last five years, but it is going to be there also for the future and this is something we discussed. as i said, what i have done told is consistent, fully consistent, with what we decided today as the european union, to actively support the work of the united nation and, in particular, of staffan de mistura in bringing the negotiations forward.
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>> reporter: despite high representative's firm position that this is not a change in the e.u. policy, i can tell you i've spoken to diplomats from a number of different countries who say they are surprised that she held this meeting. one added there is only supposed to be one mediator in this process. earlier ambassador told reporters he would soon be returning to damascus. after almost two weeks in geneva, the opposition say he is not even started to discuss the key issue of political transition. they're angry that a man who has been stalling and delaying has now been granted a high-level meeting from one table of talks to another one to moscow. we can see john kerry there, the u.s. secretary of state, as we stay with these live pictures. we will talk to our correspondent. mr kerry is going to push for some sort of movement on the part of the russians. will he get it when it comes to
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this idea of actually nailing down the process or a timetable, even, perhaps, for some political transformation in damascus? >> reporter: that is what he is trying to get. they're going to discuss syria and ukraine and those subjects have become intertwined. there is a dealing going back and forth between the u.s. and russia. both of them agree that there is need for a conditional government in syria. both of them will say that syria should be united, and the new syria that would emerge after these talks should be united, but where the disagreement comes from is what role will the president bashar al-assad have. obviously, the u.s. has said more than once that it doesn't see any role for bashar al-assad in the future government. whereas moscow says it does see a role for him in that future
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transitional government t probably kerry would like to get assurances from russia that it will put pressure on damascus, it will put pressure specifically for it to become more serious in those talks in geneva. we just heard from james bays saying that so far the syrian government delegation has been avoiding really the core of the issue and that is to start the talks about the modalities of this transitional government can i assume that they make progress on ceasefire, violations of the ceasefire and also humanitarian assistance because everyone agrees that there has been progress on getting aid to the people that need it, but so many more, tens of thousands of people, still need vital aid. >> reporter: yes. absolutely. that is something that they will probably agree on even though we heard earlier in the week the defense ministry here saying or
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voicing its concern that the u.s. was not collaborating with russian at least at the level russian wishes to monitor that ceasefire. so they will probably also discuss the modalities of that. on the other side, there is a mechanism in place whereby any violations are reported to jordan and then to the u.n. and in that monitoring group you have representatives of both russia and the u.s. along with u.n. representatives, but russia has been voicing its concern about that. it has been saying and threatening that it will use force if needed, if it sees that there are serious violations of that ceasefire thanks. still to come for you here on al jazeera, why people in south sudan are still leaving their homes for safety despite a peace deal reached last august. ched last august.
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top stories here. the man salah abdeslam is subject of a court hearing in brussels. he was arrested in the brussels neighborhood last week. the hunt is on to find a suspect who was seen a security camera at the airport in brussels just before the explosions on tuesday. there are also reports that a second man possibly involved in the bombing of the brussels metro is also still at large. the u.s. secretary of state john kerry says he wants to see further reductions in violence
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and greater humanitarian assistance flowing into syria. he is pressing his russian counterpart for a political transition in syria as the two meet in moscow right now. the u.n. court at hague is expected to issue a verdict in the case of the war time leader of bosnian seb serbs. in an email interview he expects to walk away a free man. >> reporter: it is not so long ago that a european capital city echoed to the sounds of war. in the countryside people were herded into camps and in one town thousands of men and boys were massacred. they're still digging up bones today. this man, president of the bosnian serbs in the early 90s
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is accused of responsibly for these crimes. the siege of sarajevo, ethnic cleansing and a massacre. a psychiatrist, poet ee kolgs, the roll of water time leader didn't always seem a natural fit. after the war he disappeared. nato forces looked for him all over bosnia, but he was in neighboring serbia, not hiding in secret, but disguised in public as an mystic healer. when he was caught and taken to the hague, his trial lasted five years. defiant he defended himself. >> translation: my conscience is clear. i expect and i trust that the chamber will study carefully all the evidence. if that happens, i have no doubt that judgment of acquittal will follow. >> reporter: in bosnia many
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serbs still believe they were the victims. this week they gathered to name a building in honor of karadich. today's leader called the trial a humiliation. he said he was subject to selective justice. but what about sarajevo, the city that was his home for three decades but on which his serb forces turned their guns. this man was shot by a sniper 20-odd years ago. what will a verdict mean to him? >> i am looking forward to it. not because it would be any big satisfaction, but a step towards restoring the face in our society have today. for those who lost loved ones, the verdict is important. if the trial was meant to reconcile bosnia from its part,
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they haven't. this country is as divided as ever the warring sides in yemen have agreed to a cessation of hostilities in a little over two weeks time. there have already been failed attempts to end the conflict. our correspondent reports from the u.n. in new york. >> reporter: a year since saudi arabia began its bombardment of yemen and 18 months since houthis took the capital. finally some hope. >> i am pleased to announce today that parties to the conflict have agreed to a nationwide cessation of hostilities beginning at midnight on 10 april. in advance of the upcoming ground of the peace talks which will take place on 18 april in kuwait. >> reporter: the u.n. envoy staffan de mistura said another two weeks were needed for a
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deescalation. some 6,000 are thought to have been killed in the last year. over half civilians. the u.n. said the majority killed in air strikes. al-qaeda in the peninsula has consolidated its presence in the country amid the chaos. despite both sides taking and retaking territory from each other, it is difficult to see what they're actually achieving. in fact, human rights watch suggested the main beneficiaries of this war have been the country's who have sold billions of dollars in weapons since the war began >> it is one of the most shocking example of double standards sometimes by countries such as the u.s., u.k. and france who have denounced human rights violations in other places, but when the close ally and a major arms importer is
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involved, have a very different tone. >> reporter: the u.n. special envoy said he was confident there was a commitment to the upcoming talks but he warned this may be the last chance for peace the u.n. is setting up a commission to investigate human rights abuses in south sudan. this after a u.n. report found atrocities being committed since late 2013. the three-person panel will look at whether multiple rapes and attacks on people have constituted war crimes. many forced out fled to neighboring countries. sudan has taken the biggest number. our correspondent reports from white nile states. >> reporter: the south sudanese voted to political from sudan in 2011 hoping to end generations of conflict and persecution. just a few years later thousands
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have returned to sudan desperate to escape the violence in their ayoung country. >> translation: we voted for independence to end the depression but we came here to get safety. here we are not a refugee. we have become citizens of sudan. >> reporter: the government policy is to treat south sudanese as citizens with the same rights as sudanese. the war in south sudan was ignited over a rift between the president and his former vice president. both sides have been accused of massacring and displacing people along tribal lines. a peace deal was signed last august. the violent continues though. aid groups estimate that since 2013 more than 130,000 people have fled to sudan's white nile state along the border. hungry, homeless and sick. the number of displaced keeps increasing.
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>> translation: in spite of the bad economic situation here, we receive people with open hearts because they're our brothers and sisters. we're putting the spotlight on our other humanitarian partners to assist us in sharing the responsibility for this crisis >> reporter: citizens are also supreming over the border. many owned business and property in south sudan. the government says they're returning home facing dire circumstances, forced to leave everything behind. this woman and her six family members are crammed into what was supposed to be a temporary shelter. when they speak of home, they speak of the milk they used to drink from their cows, the fish they used to eat from the river and having sugar on hand. they long to return to south sudan, but they say they can't until there is a genuine lasting peace. >> translation: i didn't expect to stay here for two years, but we're in a war and we should expect this. here we are safe
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>> reporter: here she found an unexpected gift. she has adopted an orphan child china correspondent was among a handful of journalists invited to an island occupied by taiwan. it lies in the middle of the spratly groups where china is build seven artificial islands complete with runways. neighboring cunts worry that they could be used by the military potentially. >> reporter: about the south china sea heading for one of the specks of land here. taiwan's government had waited more than 50 years for this moment. to finally allow foreign journalists to see for themselves how taiwan is protecting and enforcing its
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sovereignty. taiping is very small, half a kilometer long and is dominated by the runway. to but tremendouses its case taiwan is spending more than a hundred million dollars upgrading the oneway and also the port. >> this is the actual natural formed island, sustainable and good for the living of the people according to international law. the island enjoys the rights of an island. it is not a rock. >> reporter: the tour was to try to prove that life here is becoming sustainable. the population is now almost 200. coast guard personnel mostly as well as a few scientists and medical staff. this doctor will spend eight weeks here. >> lonely.
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sometimes. that's okay. i think two months is a great period, not too long, not too short. >> reporter: taiwan's government says its sovereignty claim grants its rights over the surrounding waters for around 370 kilometers. that's important because these waters may contain rich reserves of oil and gas. china claims almost all of the south china sea. it also claims taiwan, but china's leaders normally sensitive on issues concerning sovereign ultimately, have not objected to what taiwan is doing here. in these sdpumentd waters the two chinas appear to be on the same side. >> reporter: taiwan's isolated status means that it can't be represented at the united nations or other international bodies that have been trying to resolve the south china sea dispute. this trip was trying to ensure that taiwan's voice is also
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