u.s. president donald trump has lifted the sanctions imposed on turkey after an crowell launched an offensive into syria earlier this month trump's ace turkey has agreed to a permanent ceasefire in northern syria. you're watching news from berlin coming up next is the so-called islamic state aiming to use the philippines as its bridgehead in asia stay tuned for our documentary. don't forget you can get all the latest news on our website a state of new doc thanks for watching. welcome to the book is the game here for d.w.i. . we have plenty to talk about and. let's toss out coverage. 3 more. as a whole we have got her let's have a look at so many of them at least look so you don't want to miss that.

p.w. . there we go don't know what all we will burn to please let it go and it. really. if i have a minute of my job i want doing the ice. this was caused by an

ideology that's foreign to us. extremism coming into the country from other countries. i think since the terrorists will never anything. that. gets ugly british a couple says this is just 8 announcement of a liberation. of. the names could lie in the blink of an eye my children were gone and i will never see them again and that some bearable. but. what the president has a good lesson. it's

only difficult. from. the. room you. move to mood. to me. we are on mindanao the 2nd biggest island of the philippines. the. it's in the

south of the country a little smaller than south korea and famous for its natural beauty. this is also the site of one of the longest running conflicts in asia it's mainly a conflict between the christian majority and the muslim minority more than 100000 have been killed over the past decades. may 2017 saw a catastrophic development the self-proclaimed islamic state also known as i got involved in the conflict. with just a few 100 fighters seized the mainly muslim town of mirali and held it for 5 months . the consequences were devastating. for all the philippine president rodrigo to taft known for his brutal 0 tolerance approach proceeded to bomb the city the litmus the

world. we want to find out how it was possible for i.a.s. to gain a foothold in the philippines. and. we meet someone who witnessed the battle for murali the people they thought it's a joke how can you attack a cd. and they cost tens of thousands of people. it's unthinkable but it happened and the terrorism plays its part because it can explode with a breakout any time you are run out of notre dame look maan is a historian and a member of a powerful muslim family nonetheless he has to ask the army for permission to accompany us into the center of morality it's now an exclusion zone the city has

a population of 200000. is not allowed to enter his house not all the booby traps and explosive devices in the area have been cleared away. soldiers tell us where we may go and how long we may stay people here called the exclusion zone ground 0 tens of thousands have lost their homes.

this used to be the central mosque. he used to come here and scream here and pray for the dead. artillery mortar our helicopter gunships jet fighters. everything west's. bombs placed. i was watching it the whole time but my told there's something troubling here. there was a time on this 2nd day think my brother went to channel bautista. and us going through the bombings but the new rejected because they say. they can't handle the situation. fontanes they were not able to handle the situation. spiders taken downtown on may 23rd 2017 government forces responded

swiftly and harshly. in this warfare you have to flush out the enemy from the defensive position. if you look at the experience of. aleppo. all of this experienced bombings but in the case of always. we are when we did the bombings it was been pointed to specific targets only. the battle lasted 5 months more than a 1000 people were killed for the armed forces it was the toughest battle since the 2nd world war i as terrorists took hostages and murdered christians.

desperate terrified people sought shelter are no deano man's property both muslims and christians. i was not afraid i just want to make sure that everybody is safe i don't care about death i was waiting to die. i don't know i did not fear death because. you know i was schooled you know really just so. the situation. we never think about that as an enemy. if it's god's will that you die you die if it's god's will that you really believe even if you're. right in the middle of morse or. or in damascus or where.

after 12 days of siege food and water were running out in iraq. look man whose nickname is norway decided to flee with those he had been sheltering . in front of a building. a boy was blocking my path. i was right in that. ring and then when i got near. he recognized me and said no way. and i said what are you doing here i know he's. here what are you doing here. i tried to help him and he's even so proud of it and then after that he said this is no way that split the past at the past so. when i passed by there i saw some snipers there in that building putting bullets in their guns. were looking at me as i did. but this they stopped firing and

i felt so happy i mean you cannot explain experienced that in any other situation but. i i felt that elation i did that it's almost divine. i'm still alive and people are alive nobody got hurt that's ok thank god. look man became the hero of harare he led more than $150.00 civilians to safety. in parts of the city that were not destroyed life looks like it is back to normal though martial law is still in force throughout mindanao.

here stopped repeatedly at military checkpoints. wanted posters for suspected terrorists are everywhere. who are they and what do they want. as we meet abdul he was recruited at the age of 17 he didn't have a job i asked offered him money and a gun he says he trained in the jungle alongside local and foreign fighters. says i mean less obvious but not enough and the comfort taught us what the qur'an says. is an eye for an eye. and we have the right to take revenge upon our going on planes and i've been let out. the i.a.s. commanders launched the attack earlier than planned abdul wasn't in morocco at the

time. you know. when we heard that they had started fighting those of us outside my rafi max and we discussed how to get to the center. i mean. now but i mean we tried 7 times we even used motor boats to try to get in from the lake but it didn't work. out but. i do past information about the movement of government troops to his eye as comrades inside the besieged city by cell phone he tells us that 40 of his friends were killed none the less he could imagine joining battle again.

so. we have an advantage because we are young people just blend in with the population. the military can't easily identify which of us are fighters who know how to use a gun. fight their own i don't know coming on. i wouldn't fight in iraq. or any other muslim area the same thing would happen again . only muslim people with. but if the battle took place somewhere else i would join somalia. is out of a job again and he's disappointed about losing the battle and about the empty promises said. the leaders of the i.a.s.

fighters in morale we were 2 brothers omar and abdullah martin. members of a powerful clan they are revered as heroes by their young followers. but most muslims on mindanao have no sympathy for the ideology of the so-called islamic state other conscious raef is a leading figure in the local muslim community he knew them out of brothers because of his long beard he has been dubbed bin laden as in osama bin laden. sharif likes the nickname even though he says he is opposed to violence and said that to the local fighters. visiting me in my house and convincing me to go in there sometimes they told me please join us we will make you as our army. yes and he will make us our leader actually

when you have talking with me to say but they have been letting me join us because we cannot trust in them or people have been governments because they are always betraying us yes so that's why i did become. back because. sharif did not join the group led by the malta brothers he told them he could not fight because he had heart disease. islamic state called on it sympathizers around the world to support them out of brothers in the battle on mindanao. day. impossible because even you. win this water but the highlight of the philippine go but i mean we're not. the heartbeat if you see have been in that. joint.

meeting so what. you will lose. sharif run several religious schools in morocco way he says the kind of islam they teach is peaceful and has nothing in common with i.a.s. ideology. he tells us that muslims here are concerned to maintain their own culture independence is not a priority in fact he says many muslims in iraq we had actually voted for do territory. and yet it was the president himself he continues who provoked the attack on the city. what our president did is didn't buy the. ok you can bore. me and bore. a college

in may on opinion this is the day. but the goldberg the go betterment also has a point because the did not allow us to negotiate with the devil. we accompany shareef to midday prayers in the mosque. safe. muslims make up just 5 percent of the philippine population the majority are catholics almost all the muslims live olenda now or.

sharif says that many here feel marginalized and abused by the philippine government a feeling only confirmed by the bombing up. as a result of the conflict and the destruction tens of thousands fled the city. we visit one of the many camps set up for the displaced. fatima is a widow and used to run a small shop downtown she has 8 children since the battle erupted she hasn't seen 4 of them. and you know what i know a lot of my strength comes from allah only from allah he keeps me alone.

before i could hear my children's voices but not anymore. before in the middle of the night at 1 in the morning i could hear them crying for help but now i can't hear them anymore my children are too far away already i can no longer hear their voices. normal. the 4 who have gone missing 3 girls and a boy were all in qur'an school when the fighting began. and the 4 children still with her are tormented by thoughts of what might have happened to the others were they seized by the i.a.s. fighters are they long dead. honestly. trying to hide my suffering

from my other children. it turns when i prayed to god to ask him to take my life. but when i see my children. i still so young. although about them as a little my request and instead ask him to give me more years to live the look on when i'm out. what. you think you can. do most of the children in the displaced persons camps don't go to school most of the families are poor. but the great and important person has come to visit some miracle talk she's running for the senate and if she wins she will be the 1st muslim senator in

a quarter of a century she's critical of the way to turn take conducted the campaign to retake or just. the liberation of all of this is just the kind of announcement of our liberation but the real liberation is not living in this kind of the ways on this is not the way we were this is not the kind of life we want this is not the kind of freedom that we want for children missing amongst 1000 people missing is not an achievement it is a moral disaster it's in funny it is infamy for us. that can never be repaired. nobody knows how many civilians were killed during the siege.

so mira go talk to. to a mass grave outside of town it's not known who is buried here. none of the victims were ever identified. is an example of discrimination of not allowing traditional indigenous mediation systems if we keep on making peacekeeping as a decision of only men in uniform and the national with local civilian population on it will always be a lock and failed experiment it's a failed decision my ra is a failed decision it cannot be any more used as a template for any other. the following day we have an appointment with the largest muslim rebel group on mindanao the moral islamic liberation front or m i l f we are told to follow the

black pickup in front into territory controlled by the group. for decades the rebels fought for independence from the central government in manila many thousands were killed in the fighting. wait wait wait wait. what sense i asked burst onto the scene the former archenemies the front and the government have become strategic allies. you know. we lead a rebel leader who played a key role in dialogue with the government under successive presidents. god's only john tells us of his determination to establish an autonomy homeland for his people

young some moral. negotiations lead to a deal codified in the bungs a more organic law the basis for the new bunga moro autonomous region in muslim and a known with its own current government budget and islamic legal system. what is there is from this not always seems like if this because of this injustice this young people are never fed up that's why i say then here come the group which is more militant. of course or in all. they isis. and they. better be. outside of the middle east. and.

they believe. men are a place. because. the muslims are not satisfied what example are there so much. and miss marr administration there is no development. we are allowed to visit the headquarters of the military wing of the liberation front.

for us please. the chief of staff isn't in uniform a sign perhaps of the shift from armed struggle to political action and responsibility. or we ask what might happen if the project of autonomy doesn't go well. then maybe de. people are. us but our committee really did a lot of people really become diminished the time that the isis with. the station before me all. told joe in their little time that they can become. safe liberation front has a lot of support among the muslim brotherhood poor many believe their ancestors

were victims of a historical injustice committed by christians the spanish an american colonists and the philippine government in manila. the prospect of autonomy and peace has given the people here new hope. the m i l f says it will disarm up to $30000.00 fighters once autonomy for the muslim majority region is implemented. what they have not been based that that's going to them and we will not. nicol mission our forces and we will not also give up our fight arms which we promised that a government. the rebels take us on patrol. out in the marshes here there are still fighters loyal to i.a.s. lying low. and. we have the impression the m.i.l.f.

men want to show that they are still in charge as if to say without us there can be no peace on mindanao. the movements leaders evidently think highly of president hu territory for advancing peace but also because he too is from mindanao and has muslims in his family. peace of innocence even forcing the peace process that's why really that us president the good thing because obey his pronouncement his actual. goal is. a given if the words have been displaced that's why it really but i suppose that instead. we ask ourselves who does the land really belong to to the muslims whose ancestors

settled on mindanao in the 13th century or to the christians who came much later but now account for the majority of the island's population. we visit the village of mt 100 families live here they're all catholic. the only duster kaba looks after the small chapel the villages within the new bangsamoro autonomous region. possibility.

my worry is that we just don't know. if we go to the town hall for example we don't know what will happen to us when the muslims are in poland and what they can do to us. even a minor one and not bomb and. in that book i know that's why i'm scared when our date is in town and not christians. and security. more. and imagine. that we now are good i don't let that was my cause i'm afraid that my robbery will happen again i saw what happened in mirali the city was destroyed and our livelihood would also be destroyed if this were to happen somewhere here in our area that he left leaves daily income it was all i want to in

. god we did not ease our life here. we don't want to be evacuated we don't want to live without direction and they've done among the muzzle in the mine but with the man. when i met he said but yeah. unfortunately one who would be. the villagers are descendants of christian settlers from the north most of whom came here while the philippines was under u.s. control which only ended in 1906. many here don't trust muslims have seen anything but when muslims come to our village there's no problem but when we go to where they are they want to cut off our heads let me in. the middle of you know melissa long as that's why we don't want them to rule in our community didn't someone but that's the attitude of muslims is very different from our christian attitude was dumb i live. on money it's terrifying. what will happen

to our children when we have to live under muslim broke. muslims and christians are different of them or that wasn't based on simply had. once the muslims rule they will make us the slaves and steal our harvest. i'm going to welcome. after church on sunday in a nearby village it's time for some cock fighting. it's a bloody spectacle and a favorite pastime for many in the philippines mainly among christians.

muslim religious leaders and the moral islamic liberation front disapprove not of the cruelty but because it involves gambling.

we reached the biggest city in mindanao. president to territory was mayor here for more than 20 years. this is where he began his notorious war on drugs seemingly deploying the police as extrajudicial hitman. estimates of the number of people killed ranged between 502-0000.

the next morning we meet an old friend and confidant of the president his sister a son. he invited us to see his fish farm. so this is what i earn my money beyond what they are needed over there and more here than we think people from an ok. oh he's a busy politician so he soon heads back to the city. we arranged to meet him again later.

is the mainly catholic city and it's striking how prosperous it appears to be compared to muslim communities in mindanao it is also considered the safest and cleanest city in the country. many say that's thanks to rob riggle 2 territories tenure as mer. case used to raise some agrees we meet him again at his waterfront resort he says to turn to is a man of action not words watch only what the option that it takes that is how you measure him don't measure him by what comes out from his small he's doing the unprecedented when he was mayor here for more than 20 years in this city the plus his way of doing things and he had to do it hands on you know i he's my friend.

during night time during times when there are high incidence of holdups drivers he would drive a taxi himself. how about guns ready and drive and go to places where holdouts are usefully happening he once also will be held up because he can personally counter them in his own way drugs corruption violent extremists if you handle them with kids gloves and all that maybe you will just prolong the agony. for you but i'll try to research does p.r. for do territory when ever he can. for many years he was presidential peace and visors he explains the peace plan from mindanao to a group of visitors many of whom are fans of the president. let's see if we.

get. to the races says it's a very western point of view to accuse the territory of abusing human rights and argues that to turkey is so popular because he both pursues reconciliation and embodies toughness as he demonstrated with respect to morale we. it is a stroll signal to the bad guys that don't play around with this country have been in the peace process under several presidents and we have not moved as far as we have this time the president feels that we can improve as a nation if we try to give more authority and power for the locals. we head back to murali to meet. again. he shows us the small museum that

his family sponsored. the central exhibit is a painting depicting a battle between muslims and spanish colonizers who arrived in the 16th century and were the 1st christians to settle in mindanao. what happened in my our city is a continuation of the colonial war against our people. and that is what's happening now. and until. these historical i mean more city has that in result. and hopefully. we can resolve this peacefully without

going through a war. like that i said. look man says he's going to run for deputy governor political developments over the coming months will prove decisive. little little. he views the prospect of autonomy for muslims in the region as an opportunity to overcome old enmities but as a historian he's all too aware of a long history of conflict of many centuries for many decades for many generations . most of the problems that are being sought in india now has to go to war. every don't walk toward a more but if it comes then so be it. at

the end of our trip we take part in a ceremony to mark the start of reconstruction in the wrong way well over a year after the brutal battle oh well. the event had been postponed several times so that president to turn to a critic tend. but in the end he doesn't show up. will leave mindanao with the feeling that regional autonomy will not amount to much unless the muslim minority see real improve. for months in their everyday lives. enduring poverty and discrimination would only keep the threat of islamist terror a life and rendered peace an empty promise to her.

and her. healthy downsizing sustainable growth. in the economy and economics need to be green invented. we have to change our ways in order to save up planet. cars are people willing to forego consumerism and amenities gadgets.

made in germany 30 minutes from double to. enter the conflict zone confronting the powerful. ethiopia has come a long way in a short time there's a new peace deal with eritrea a new prime minister a foundry determined to bring accountability for the human rights abuses of the hostages all my guest this week here in brussels is his previous us uk haile mariam desolate. conflicts of. 90 minutes on d w. i think in everything challenging 1st on how to make a muslim. so much different culture between here and there somewhat challenging for

him to. leave. traditional business and i think it was worth it for me to come to germany. months ago my license to work as a swimming instructor up to shine our 2 children 100 adults just one of the toughest decision. what's your story take part cherish on info migrants dot net. this is the news these are our top stories. u.s. president donald trump says he's lifting sanctions on turkey just 9 days after they were announced that's after he said he received confirmation from ankara that it is permanently ending its offensive against kurdish militias in northern syria turkey and russia say they are now establishing

a safe zone along the syria turkey border line russian troops to move into areas still under kurdish control.