tv Newsday BBC News December 11, 2024 4:00am-4:30am GMT
4:00 am
israel says it's destroyed syria's naval fleet and carried out nearly 500 air strikes, since the toppling of bashar al—assad. and us defence secretary lloyd austin reaffirms america's ironclad commitment to the asia pacific region, on a visit to tokyo. welcome to newsday. i'm steve lai. some breaking news to bring you now, out of seoul. south korean police have raided the presidential office of president yoon suk yeol. police officials say president yoon is the subject of a criminal investigation on insurrection charges, but he has not been arrested or questioned by authorities. the president and his allies are currently facing insurrection charges, after his botched attempt to impose martial law last week.
4:01 am
there have been other develpments in the last few hours — a justice ministry official told south korea's parliament this morning that former defence minister kim yong—hyun attempted to take his own life while in detention. kim had publicly taken responsibility for carrying out martial law. let's get more from our correspondent, laura bicker. you have been in south korea covering the story. get us up to speed with this raid we have seen that the president's office. ~ , , , ., office. well, stev, this is a developing _ office. well, stev, this is a developing story. - office. well, stev, this is a developing story. we - office. well, stev, this is a - developing story. we understand the raids are still ongoing, so this is by the head of the corruption investigations office, who has raided the presidential office. he is also raided the seoul metropolitan police officers and the offices of the national assembly police force. now this is part of an ongoing investigation into the events that led to president you in declaring martial law, late tuesday night last week. now it really is an increasing
4:02 am
amount of pressure that's not just going on president yoon, but also going on the ruling party. remember, they failed to vote for impeachment last saturday, and now it seems that with these increasing investigations, they will be under increasing pressure to move away from the president and not support him publicly. now, when it comes to other investigations, the speaker of the national assembly has also launched his own probe. the key to that will be that it will compel president yoon to speak publicly, and speak on the record. there are a number of local reports in south korean media that president yoon himself is preparing a legal team. we do not know is for. when asked, and this is quite important, steve, when asked yesterday, the presidential office was asked who is running the country, the answer that they gave to that question is "there is no official answer to
4:03 am
that question at the moment", and that is the particular problem here in south korea. not only do we have these raids, these investigations, we have an increasingly isolated president and nobody knows who is quite in charge.— is quite in charge. yes, quite a lot of developments - is quite in charge. yes, quite - a lot of developments happening this morning, some revelations we have seen. and what can you tell us about reports that the defence minister attempted to take his own life? yes, that was a press conference that gave details at 11:52pm last night, that he attempted suicide. this is the defence minister who has admitted his part in the martial law declaration last tuesday night, and it said he attempted to take his own life while he was in detention. he is now reported to be in a good condition, and he is said to be fine. i think the other developments within the last few hours is that north korea, for the first time publicly, has mentioned that south korea
4:04 am
�*s declared martial law, and in north korea's newspaper, he said it was an insane act and he brazenly brandished blades of fascist dictatorship at his own people, so that is the first time we have heard from north korea on this declaration of martial law.— of martial law. thank you for caettin of martial law. thank you for getting us — of martial law. thank you for getting us across _ of martial law. thank you for getting us across those - getting us across those developments, laura bicker, our correspondent in south korea. if you want to keep up to speed with developments in south korea, you can follow the live page on our website and mobile app. let's turn now to syria. the bbc has heard testimony from syrians who fear for their lives, after the ousting of president assad, and from those whose relatives were gassed by his regime, and who've been too afraid to speak out, until now. the country appears stable for the moment. the main islamist rebel group in charge has appointed an interim prime minister, and even asked some civil servants to go back to work. mohammed al—bashir said it's time for stability and calm, after more than a
4:05 am
decade of civil war. but how long will that calm last? there's mounting concern about israel's bombardment of hundreds of syrian sites in the last few days, with the united nations' special envoy to syria calling for israel to stop the strikes immediately. israel says it is trying to stop weapons from falling into the hands of extremists and ensure its own security. we will have more on those strikes shortly, but we start our coverage with our international editorjeremy bowen, who reports on the winners and losers of the downfall of president assad. at the border, the biggest and potentially deadliest divide in syria. coming in from lebanon, syrians who fled the war and the assads, desperate to get home. in the opposite direction, syrians desperate to get out — families who fear they'll be singled out for revenge. some because their religious sect supported the former regime, or because the men fought for bashar al—assad.
4:06 am
ali read out a facebook post from a small militia, swearing vengeance. so is this such a threat that you want to take your family out to lebanon? you're worried about your lives? translation: yes, sure. the kids, my wife, i'm afraid for them. that's why i'm taking them out to lebanon. violence consumed iraq and libya, after their dictators. their fear is the same for syria. it's notjust about the legacy of the war. it's about the legacy of more than half a century of dictatorship. these are people, and there are thousands more coming down the road, who don't feel safe in the new syria, aand going in the opposite direction are all those who just want to get home. the duty—free shop, once a favourite of those the regime had made rich, has been looted and destroyed. islamist anger at a decadent regime. we drove on to damascus.
4:07 am
the rebels took syria, as assad's army faded away, but the country's still under fire. to stop islamist rebels taking over syria's abandoned military infrastructure, across the country, israel's bombing it to pieces, and not farfrom this road, taking more syrian land for what it calls "a buffer zone". so far, damascus is mostly calm, but here, someone tried to burn down a mobile phone shop, already looted, from a chain named after bashar al—assad's british—born wife. the family earned billions from its control of telecoms as millions of syrians starved. the firemen have been talking to syria's new rulers. he said, "they're going to cooperate. "we don't know our destiny, but god willing, it "will be good." next stop was mezzeh 86, a poor district, named after a notorious regime military unit.
4:08 am
it was a stronghold of assad supporters, until they bolted, the same night bashar did, as a relieved and happy safar al—safadi told me. translation: when we woke up, with the sound of - gunfire and the smoke, we saw their weapons and their uniforms thrown away in the streets. safar said the rebel fighters took the weapons, and showed me the uniforms thrown onto the street�*s rubbish dump, and into the dustbin of history, like the dictatorship. bashar al—assad. this area used to be full of posters of bashar and his father, because it was a centre of loyalists from his own alawi alawite community. a lot of the guys who lived around here supported their families by carrying guns for the regime. they were in the security, in the mukhabarat, the intelligence, or they
4:09 am
were in the military, and now, like him, they've gone. jeremy bowen, bbc news, damascus. asjeremy was explaining — israel has been accused of exploiting the downfall of president assad by bombing military targets in syria and moving some of its troops beyond the demilitarised buffer zone between syria and the israeli—occupied golan heights. israel says its ensuring the security of its borders. so what do we know about israel's actions? here's merlyn thomas from bbc verify. this is the aftermath of an israeli strike in a port in western syria. several strips that completely destroyed and submerged by water. israel said it had successfully destroyed syria's fleet. it is one of a number of military sites israel has been targeting since the fall of president assad, which we've been verifying, including these four across syria. this is one on the outskirts of damascus. it is a site that has been linked to the country plasma chemical weapons programme, according to the un,
4:10 am
and this is the aftermath. the un found that chemical weapons were used by assad in syria, including in the capital damascus, in 2013, which reportedly killed hundreds of people. israel have also said they've deploying troops into syria to a demilitarised area called the buffer zone. now let me show you what that looks like. the golan heights are an area that israel seized in 1967, and later unilaterally annexed. the move wasn't recognised internationally, apart from by the us, but we've seen evidence that they've moved further into syria. we verified this image of an israeli soldier about 700 metres beyond the buffer zone. we located him by matching this photo up with satellite imagery, and these distinctive features of the terrain confirm his location, which you will see here. the israeli army acknowledged some forces could be operating in technical points on the syrian side. however, they say their focus is to maintain the buffer zone.
4:11 am
what it means now is that israel has troops in gaza, lebanon and in syria. dr ariel cohen is a nonresident senior fellow at the atlantic council's eurasia center and a member of the council of foreign relations. what's your take on israel's actions in syria since bashar al assad was deposed? are these actions legitimate? these are actions of self defence in the face of a massivejihadi defence in the face of a massive jihadi terrorist group thatis massive jihadi terrorist group that is taking over damascus, and successfully defeated the 50 plus year dictatorship of the assad family. israel cannot tolerate that weapons of mass destruction, that the west and the rest of the world stood by idly, while assad was amassing these weapons, to destroy israel, building a nuclear reactor with help of north koreans to create nuclear
4:12 am
weapons, that these weapons of mass destruction will fall in the hands of the organisation is recognised as terrorists by the uk, the us and others. israel is bombing military targets, whereas turkey is conducting a military offensive in the north of the country, destroying kurdish civilians, men, women and children, with the help of the syrian national army proxy, and the turkish air force. so let's put it in perspective. weapons of mass destruction and chemical weapons versus girls being kidnapped, women being killed by the massive turkish proxy wars. so that's number one. number two, you cannot ignore the tragic history of syria, that was always either under the colonial occupation first, by the ottomans for centuries, then by france for decades, and then by france for decades, and then in the hands of oppressive
4:13 am
governments, leading to the bath dictatorship in the 1950s and then the assad dictatorship and then the assad dictatorship and then the assad dictatorship and the civil war. the country was a creation of western imperialism drawing the lines on the map, despite the fact that sunni arabs, alawites, christians and the kurds have a very hard time living together. so it could be, i hope and pray for the long—suffering syrian people, that this is not the case, but it could be a we are witnessing the disintegration of syria. witnessing the disintegration of s ria. ~ witnessing the disintegration ofs ria. ~ , ., ., , of syria. well, israel does like to get _ of syria. well, israel does like to get its _ of syria. well, israel does like to get its retaliation l of syria. well, israel does | like to get its retaliation in first as we have seen in other parts of the region as well, but these actions it is carrying out in syria, are they illegal under international law? it is effectively expanding its territory. no. it is protecting _ expanding its territory. no. it
4:14 am
is protecting its _ expanding its territory. no. it is protecting its borders, - expanding its territory. no. it is protecting its borders, and| is protecting its borders, and going to the demilitarised zone for the duration of the transition period in syria. if the transition period succeeds, i am sure israel is going to go back to the lines of 197a. however, if the syrian state continues to disintegrate, we see the kurds in the north, the john hardie is, the isis, all controlled different parts of syria, so effectively my question is does the syrian state still exist, or are we witnessing a failure of the syrian state?— witnessing a failure of the syrian state? witnessing a failure of the s rian state? . ., , ., syrian state? that leads me to m next syrian state? that leads me to my next question _ syrian state? that leads me to my next question about - syrian state? that leads me to my next question about how i my next question about how israel sees hts and this transitional prime minister that's been put in place. is israel looking for a fresh start, perhaps, to look to make relationships better between syria and israel? i relationships better between syria and israel?— relationships better between syria and israel? i very much ho -e syria and israel? i very much hepe that — syria and israel? i very much hope that the _ syria and israel? i very much hope that the israelis - syria and israel? i very much hope that the israelis are - hope that the israelis are reaching out. in fact, i read that israelis are reaching out
4:15 am
through the druze community. that is a hagrid box sect, you could say it is a branch of islam. 0f could say it is a branch of islam. of course the islamists don't recognise them, israel muslims, but regardless they lived in syria and lebanon and israel for hundreds of years, and there is a back channel dialogue between israel and the current groups that are controlling syria as well as between israel and turkey, which is very important, because turkey came out as the winner, as well as qatar, in this confrontation, whereas russia and iran suffered probably the greatest russia and iran suffered probably the greatest geopolitical setbacks in their geopolitical setbacks in their history of recent decades, when history of recent decades, when iran was trying to build its iran was trying to build its quads are in serial —— quasi quads are in serial —— quasi from iran suffered imperial structure from lebanon imperial structure from lebanon onto the mediterranean and the 1530 00:15:53,382 -- russian were putting these basesin russian were putting these bases in tartarus, the naval
0 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
BBC News Television Archive Television Archive News Search ServiceUploaded by TV Archive on