laterally cancel, then potentially billions of dollars in losses would fall on the local organizes. the contract says one reason to justify canceling, the olympics would be if the i o c has reasonable grounds to believe that the safety of participants would be seriously threatened or jeopardized for any reason whatsoever. for those who oppose the games going ahead, toby 19 could be just such a threat. john stratford al jazeera. ah and i take you through some of the headlines here. now america's top. the plot is in jordan to cement, to seize far between israel and hamas in garza, secretary of state and to be blanket met king of vela the 2nd do welcome us administration's decision to reopen its consulate in occupied east jerusalem. and i'm on my conversation with his majesty touched on again

a range of topics including the urgent work we need to do together to meet you mandatory and reconstruction needs and gaza while ensuring that the palestinian people not a mos benefit from this assistance. we discuss jordan's essential role as a custodian of muslim holy places and the importance of preserving the historic status, quote attributes on all the sites. jordan also plays a vital role in the west bank. the u. s. re engages with the policy people in reopens are constantly jerusalem, will have a lot of work to do together as well. as the lincoln was in egypt, 20 held talks with president of them for that has cc. lincoln said the 2 countries are working together. her life is rabies and palestinians live in safety and security. he said they also discussed egypt. human rights record. dodge court has ordered oil giant shell to cut its compet emissions by 45 percent by 2030. being hailed as

a major victory for environmentalists. the verdict could have major implications for similar cases around the world. the former chief adviser to the u. k. prime minister is told the parliamentary committee, the government failed the public in its corona virus response. dominant coming says he and other officials acted to light cummings with ousted from downing street in november amid rumors of a rift with the prime minister rounds president is urging the country supreme leader to allow more candidates in next month's presidential election. has sandra honey says he's written a letter, so i it's a lie hum. and i was a final say on all state masses. ro, honey, criticize the decision by the election watched on to reject several nominations. those the headlines. the news continues here on al jazeera, after inside story to stay with us. me.

ah ah, another wave of atrocities if you say gray region 1000 lea, their homes after attacks by through months of violence, a force to bite ministration to impose restrictions on its long time allied. but can that end? what rights groups are calling ethnic cleansing? this is inside story. ah hello and welcome to inside story. i'm hammer jim john. he was held by many after

he won the nobel prize in 2001, 900 for his work and in the decades of conflict with neighboring retreat. but just a year later, president ob reputation was tarnished by war and discrimination. if you open troops backed by new found ally, a retreat launched a military offensive and the great against the regional group controlling the region. thousands were killed in the crackdown in november and more than 2000000 people fled their homes. but even after claiming victory, accusations of atrocities committed by president are based forces continue. the un is warning of a famine after crops were destroyed and livestock slaughtered. and the pandemic, his only worse in the plight of the displaced if he has come under increasing pressure from the international community over the mounting violence and the great and now the u. s. is imposed travel restrictions and cut security assistance to its oldest ally in africa. if the o p is accusing washington of meddling and its internal affairs, you to them, it can carry gonna unit that afflictions in both washington did not take into

account the friendship between us. for 120 years, it will not only hum, buy that relations, but also lead to instability in the horn of africa and impact to fight against terrorism. in 1956 it okay. i had the us fight, thought korea. and recently, it helped in the fight against terrorism. and it appears role in peacekeeping is great, and the, the fictions will hamper those efforts. it will be our sovereignty is not negotiable. and because on washington to reconsider its decision, thousands of those displaced from t gray have taken refuge in neighboring sudan with the government enforcing a media clamped down. just as hubert morgan has been monitoring events from saddam's capital capital it's been more than 6 months since conflict began. if you know then take we're region, but to report of ethnic targeting of grants continue this time ethnic to grants in the towns of hearing thing. hundreds of displaced people were rounded up from camp by if you can and returned through and taken to unknown locations with that some of

them could have been killed. now the conflict posit in november between the government and the regional people to the regional front and left thousands killed and more than a 1000000 intended to displace with at least 70000 fling to neighboring sudan to the east of the angle body. odyssey, welcome to refugees. in those states who say that for them to be able to flee from any danger from the government truth as well as it were trans proof. they had to claim some other forms of ethnicity. the u. s. has reported what's happening in great as ethnic cleansing and human rights group have said that atrocities have been committed by force. now the u. s. has imposed visa restrictions on certain individuals as well as sanctions because of the conflict embassy grew region and has repeatedly called one of the withdrawal of troops by the government. prime minister has also called the conflict in the region stressful, empty, but he also wants to come to an end, but refugees and displaced people. now think that the return prove continued to be

present in the town up degree and continue to commit atrocities. have morgan for impact theory hutton. all right, let's take a closer look at what started this unrest. t gray is a semi autonomous area and if you're p as north governed by the t great people's liberation front, it's estimated to have up to a quarter 1000000 fighters. it was the front line for if you open during a 2 year conflict with eritrea and large amounts of military equipment are still stored there. despite ethnic to grands only making up 5 percent of the population, they controlled the national government for nearly 3 decades that were for prime minister. obey ahem! it came to power in 2018 that led to tension when t grey's leaders twice defied. ahem! it's government once by refusing to join his coalition and again last september by holding elections against the orders of the central government. ah. all right,

let's bring our guests in addis ababa. samuel, get you, is a journalist in oslo. go to him, gabriel. the well is political analysts and researcher focusing on the horn of africa. in washington, d. c. william lawrence is former us diplomat and professor of international relations at american university, a warm welcome to you all, samuel, let me start with you today. if your p and diplomats have said that if washington implements these measures, if you will impose restrictions on visas for american officials, how is all of this going to impact the ethiopian us relationship? let me begin by 1st of all saying thank you for inviting me. you know, sanctions has never worked in any, most of the countries that has been sanctioned by the u. s. the inside is reacting to what's, what's been happening or the discussions are taking place in washington dc with the bite and administration. but you have to appreciate the fact that what has we truly

changed as the for an investment that has been coming to go beyond the visa restrictions. there's an assumption that everyone wants to go to the us, you know, might as well be. but if that's the punishment they're entertaining. i don't think that elite. so if you really would suffer if you, if you restrict their us or from going to the us, what worries us the most as how much it will affect the, for an investment that's happening in the future. you know, us, you know, in the last 2 weeks the children government decided to invite for an investment to the country, including border combs dot has pleased to invest to $850000000.00 to the local, ethiopian telecom sector. and there's discussion that this restriction or sanction might really affect the kinds of investment, ethiopia really needs what does truly change. and the last, you know,

many years is the fact that for an investment was coming to the country. and that's what is really concerning too many people, but whether you restrict an official from going to the us, it's again, it's an assumption that everyone wants to go to the us. and it's the wrong assumption, william from your vantage point there in washington d. c. how unusual is it and how significant is it that the u. s. would take a step like this, against one of its key allies in africa? it's quite unusual and i, well, i would disagree that sanctions are always an effective. they actually can be quite effective as we saw, for example, recently in libya, the use of sanctions to health care key players to the negotiating table. i think that the way this was done with sort of ham handed in secretary blinking announced blanket sanctions for a wide array of political figures in ethiopia. and even their families without

naming anyone in particular and also, and now picking sanctions. and then a bunch of exceptions without naming what they actually were. and this is, this is one of the ways in which sanctions go wrong in that, if they're not targeted enough on actual people that you're trying to get to respond to them in a certain way. they engender the very nationalistic response that we're seeing right now ahead of the open elections that are in the midst of the civil war with which is quite popular with most or a war effort that's quite popular with them. i really think has the potential that backfired. i know that secretary lincoln knew that action had to be taken to try to bring about humanitarian intervention corridors and all that and negotiations to bring them into the conflicts. but i don't think it was handled in a way that will be particularly effective at this point going on. if the o,

p as foreign ministry has said that if u. s. restrictions continued, if yo, yo would be forced to reassess its relations with the u. s. which might have implications beyond our bilateral relations. and some analysts take that to be a thinly veiled threat. my question to you could all of this impact if you'll be as role as an intelligence partner monitoring armed groups in the horn of africa. unlikely. because the, if you're as power and influence in the region has been significantly decreasing over the last 23 years because of the nice administration by this government they've gone to war, would, should, on, they've decimated their army in the economy is in shambles because of their internal conflicts, they have to pull back some of the troops from somalia because of the conflict with

saddam saddam wants to change the peacekeeping force in, in, in i b and, you know, overall the role or if you're as a stabilizing force, you get your been sort of africa was based on the circumstances of the past, and those were fairly stable. the missed the conditions, relatively good relations with neighbors. and, you know, a foreign policy of restraint in the region. the ones that relied on family diplomacy. once all of that is gone. if you're bad, does not have that leverage anymore and it doesn't. it's not even a threat to the region. in addition to that, i would disagree with some of the things that the my colleagues just said

in terms of the issues. we have to remember that they came 7 months after mass rape ethnic cleansing, starvation crimes, mass murder, the u. s. has been trying so hard to avoid this ending up on this collision course with the government. but the government led by, i'll be mad, has insisted on it's right to commit the den genocide and it doesn't have that life . and in fact, the world has a responsibility to, to intervene. and i think they've been extremely solved. and given all the clients that they have been engaging in and given the fact that it took them almost 7 months to make these take these measures. samuel, obviously this is being interpreted as a big rebuke to prime minister ave. what does all of this mean with regard to his future and is he feeling a lot of pressure right now? is he concerned?

i think the pressure is coming from all sides. so just the us. it's also among fuel guns. you know, he won the nobel peace price not too long ago, and the expectation of a nobel peace prices much higher than a regular african president, for example. but you know, there's an infection that's happening in a few weeks and the job and many people are voicing their opinions when to be at an open secret. if this is going to be a true democracy that he promise 3 years ago. but the fact is, you know, what's happening in the to great, i have to highlight is really when the side for many of us, you don't have to be from the region. you don't have to be a co, what's being said, including the u. n. many people are being affected, you only have to speak to the victims that are going to the student. but ultimately what's facing is not just the prime minister,

the future. i think it's also affecting the image of your country. don't move a country that was welcoming for an investment function by whether it's going to be effective or not. you know, the dominant job at the moment is china, for example, whether the us decides to take it's a money away at the end, i think it will ultimately. so why, but all monthly, what worries me and what worries, lots of people is not just the future of prime minister. i think it's the country. we want it to be self sufficient. we want more piece. you know, we've gone through all kinds of conflicts. the conflicts, no, it's happening just them to write this happening in all parts of the country. and that's what worries most of us when it comes to the okay. william, us secretary of state anthony blink. and has said that these restrictions on economic and security assistance that essentially they're meant to push the parties

that are involved in this conflict to try to settle it. do you believe that these us measures can actually put a stop to the conflict? can actually get these people into some type of dialogue or negotiation and that it ultimately could put a stop to the suffering of so many civilians who have suffered so massively and te gray these last several months. so let me start by saying the reasons for the sanctions are excellent for the reason that your 2 other guests said the atrocities being committed by all sides, but particular by the european era, treat and forces are just atrocious and, and, and beyond the pale as can be seen among the riving refugees in sudan. now as i said, the way in which this has been ruled out,

i think it's been ineffective and will have to be retaliated. but sanctions can have the desired effect is very targeted and done properly. and the prospects for negotiation on the short term are quite low. busy all and who are saying this? so most people are saying that there needs to be a step by step approach, starting with humanitarian assistance. starting with allowing the humanitarian organizations to talk to the degree of rebels who are sort of off the grid and in rural areas. now, even though there's a lot of popular support for them, it's great because of the atrocities committed particular by the entry and their calls to push the era trains out. i don't think that's going to happen anytime soon because abby is served by having these buffer forces and circling the degree and in addition to the yoke in forces. and so i step by step process means sanctions

leading to humanitarian a. me leading to local to fires and accommodations, and then this larger dialogue has to take place, which i agree with, samuel has to be on the national level. and re imagine that if you can federalism rather than focusing only on to gray. but a, a direct negotiate to grants is needed, but not likely at this point going from i want to go back to a point that you were making a few more to go when you were speaking about the atrocities that have been alleged to have been committed in t grey, the un has said that women and girls and t grey are being subjected to sexual violence with a level of cruelty beyond comprehension. the reports that have emerged so far of rapes from the region have been absolutely horrific. how much is rape and other forms of gender based violence being used as a tactic of war right now? it's extreme and very extensive,

but i think it's important to understand the logic of the war. this is a war on people. and the purpose is effects are i'm a nation. so sexual violence, for example, is not the pattern that we're seeing is that we're not dealing with soldiers misbehaving. this is a systemic. busy attempt to destroy the reproductive capacity, so that entire society soldiers are raping women in groups as largest 2030. and the purpose is to destroy them physically and mentally. and this is just one for more violence, but doesn't have a very, you know, i would say the whole military purpose at all. another one is the destruction of cultural heritage. and of course, finally, the most important or the most devastating one is the use of famine. when you put

all of this together, what you see is systemic attempts to exterminate an entire society. so the idea that you know this was a war waged on p p a less and that it was initiated by an attack on the northern command by the last is absolutely ridiculous. if that was the case, there would be no reason to re pullman and certainly not with this nature. and would this extent they would not be burning churches and mosques that are very central to, to grand cultural heritage. the purpose of that is to attract to grandness a such. and another thing we need to consider is that i'll be offered spent to 2 years preparing the european population. for this genocide, he spent 23 years you know, ordering and demonizing to grants as

a whole population every time something happened, it was blamed on the grands and he really sort of nurtured ratios that was present already in, in sections of the society. and we see that racism today also in civil society. you know, human rights organizations have indirectly embraced his war. famous human rights actually is such a guy here, but kind of was now the commissioner for human rights is actively working to cover up the government across if you seem to gripe and in other parts of the country. so racism is a central part of this war, samuel, i saw you nodding to somebody, gotten, was saying, so want to give you a chance to jump in if you wanted to react to any of that. but i also wanted to ask you are all parties to the conflict in te gray responsible for the atrocities that are being alleged to, to take place right now. and also,

if things are as dire as they are being described right now, after 67 months of conflict, how much worse could they get if this continues to go on, it becomes a much more protracted conflict. i call what boys him said in terms of the dire situation and to great region. we've seen it up close. we've seen that from far, people are being a fix it, but i have to go back and defend daniel daniel. but was the human rights activist who spent so many years in prison. she did not have to come, he did not need to come to the to contribute. he left a very promising position from the u. s. and he's a well exposed, respected person. has he done enough? i don't think so, but you have to understand the job in human rights commission has limited resources . i don't think he's he wants to cover what's happening in that country,

but you have to understand it has limited resources. has it done enough when it comes to great? i don't think so. but you know, this kind of sad situation start happening everywhere in the country. i don't think daniel has enough resources to investigate. that's why the us wants to get involved . and that's why we should all welcome it because we need to know exactly what happened. again, i'm not trying to discount what's happening and it's a great weekend. i call what i'm said. we watched it and i believe the victims, the victims are saying the same things, sexual harassment, sexual violence is happening in the region. i don't deny i've, i've seen it from far enough. seen it from being echoed by different organizations, including the one led by daniel. but, but you know, the situation, any is overwhelming, utopia has a population of almost 110000000 people. at the last count. the last county field

was in 2007. it might even be much higher than $110000000.00. and it's hard limited resources. what's happening in all regions of the country. i know we're talking about today. i'm not trying to discuss what's happening in the gray region is overwhelming in the side. and you know, i grew up in new york for the children family and my dad was working for the children government. then as a human, i see your monetary and working for one of the endorse. he's always told me the happenings of the country, which is 20. i mean, i remember in high school in be in canada watching the farm and victims from far and to see it's happening in 2021 is overwhelmingly tied. and, you know, the comment is, seems to be, i think that's a great region once again after so many years. and again, i cool what i'm said, you know, me and myself and go from obviously have you know,

differences in terms of the cultural is the ethnic backgrounds we do have. but what, what she's been saying, because what's happening in the field is even for myself, it's just overwhelming side. and to those people who've all the support of the field, their goal is they must be very disappointed because too many people are dying for something that shouldn't be prevented from the get go. william, let me ask you how concerned is the us about the potential for a wider regional conflict? if things continue to get out of hand in te gray and do you believe that this has the potential to play a destabilizing role in the region? they are very concerned. we have 4 different arms, distinct armed forces from 2 different countries fighting in the region. we've had an armed conflict, sudanese border. we've got to spill over effects in some audio. we have the threats

of the egypt, sudan, sorry, egypt, yoga conflict, which we're not even talking about, which is increasingly intermingled in the international politics of this issue. and other still over effects in the region subsidy and several countries. somalia are all affected. in fact is report to somali troops involved. busy as well, and as, as the credit history by far was issued for, it said it's the lynch family, the horn of africa, the european stability radiates out in the radio. and so it's very, very important. and that's why blinking took this dramatic action, which i think was just miss the target, a little bit of instrument, a dramatic action needed to be taken because this conflict needs. all right, well we have run out of time, so we're going to have to leave our conversation there. thanks so much to all of our guest, samuel, get it. you gotten gabriel? well and william laurence and thank you to for watching. you can see this program again any time by visiting our website at 0 dot com and for further discussion,

go to our facebook page at facebook dot com forward slash ha, inside story. you can also during the conversation on twitter, our handle is at a g inside story from him. how much i'm german, the whole team here. bye for now. the news news. news. julie, the debate don't favor the fiction and amplify your voice. they're only given a certain narrative, the media will miss the true story, know topic it off the table. why in the world,

what do we humanize an individual domestic parent? this was an illegal occupation of a country. what they're doing is they're removing knowledge vision at the, the stream where a global audience becomes a global community on al jazeera, i be a refugee mean starting a game. but building a new life in a new country is no easy to drive. the witness follows one of the last refugee families from syria to be granted an american visa. from their personal sacrifices to the families priam meet the syrian on just 0. the latest news, as it breaks off of the coal lying by separatists, is re labeled as washing coal and transported out to markets in asia. and europe with detail coverage for into withdrawal is underway and will be completed after

the may 1st deadline from around the world. will these demonstrate would change your mind, the british government, about any new laws designed to curtail people's rights of assembly damage the country democracy? oh, this is al jazeera. ah, hello, i'm tammy. say, dan, this is the news. how live from dolph coming up in the next 60 minutes? we see the fire, not as an end, but as a beginning, something to build on. america's top that flies to jordan and egypt to rally, regional support for the gaza. see fun of.