tonight on r t the nato led coalition upgrades its assault on colonel gadhafi to try and change the course of the libyan civil war which washington says is moving toward stalemate interventions are the full success so far while the human cost and financial price tag skyrocket. the grumman and the u.n. secretary general take a firm stance on libya saying the call should mossback strictly within its a mandate bunky more strongly in moscow for talks. plus russia's war on terror in the caucasus claims a high profile target after security forces kill lots of al qaeda militants.

then to have played a key role in almost every terror attack in the country in recent years more details just a hack. hello this is r t it's no eight pm here in moscow my name is kevin our top story for you the war in libya is on the brink of a stalemate says the head of the u.s. military despite the announcement to send american armed predator drones to target gadhafi as assholes here strikes have so far destroyed about a third of libya's ground forces for r.t. reports she's being finding out that the escalating cost of the campaign deadlock is raising questions. philippians it's been a long hard month straight after airstrike by nato forces in the middle of an increasingly violent civil war but in the midst of all that bloodshed what's been

achieved according to many not a lot i think the situation is deepening probably got rather worse the african union attempted to cease fire was scuppered i believe by western interests and now britain is putting troops in on the ground as advisors i think it's very dangerous we're involved in a civil war for which there is no problem interest or ship and at what cost priceless human lives certainly but the ministry of defense refuses to release information on how much the intervention in libya is costing the british taxpayer early estimates suggest. dollars a day that means a month's advance is me of course the u.k. as much as one hundred fifty million dollars and counting and this at a time when the u.k. is slashing spending on public services leading to widespread often violent demonstrations this is an incredible amount of money when they say the there is no money available but we could every week we could be building

a new hospital several new schools. we could be paying the student tuition fees which are going up to nine thousand the year next year defense cuts have already begun and the ministry of defense is expected to save nearly eight billion dollars over the next four years ironically experts say that's made the libyan war more expensive now that the u.k. no longer has an aircraft carrier every mission is longer and logistically harder if we still have a missile and. we could be doing a better job. than. six months that would cost us approximately one hundred million which. and for all that investment defense strategists are calling the situation a stalemate he is still in libya reportedly using illegal and indiscriminate

cluster munitions on rebel forces peace seems no nearer and nato appears to be settling in for the long haul until the libyans themselves can negotiate a deal after a month of airstrikes u.k. forces look more inextricably involved in the conflict than ever just in the last week the ministry of defense committed to sending military advisors to libya to organize the rebels this is seen by many as the most significant step so far towards deploying ground troops and once that happens many seen libya turning into another afghanistan ten years and counting your enemies r.t. london. the international community should comply with the no fly zone resolution in libya and refrain from taking sides of the country's civil war that's a statement released following talks between the u.n. chief and the russian president because it was can offer. the russian president and

the u.n. secretary general have strengthened their calls on the call ition to state strictly within its mandate which was given by the un northway zone resolution it's calls to protect civilians but nato's operation in libya has been going on for over a month and every day more civilians are killed i just personally. the reason we spent two weeks there saw various commemorations services in memory off the victims of violence and of course all this is a regime while a lot of concern among the international community and now to the year you were asked who is planning to use the on man's predator drones in libya and they do have quite an unpleasant history in afghanistan when it comes to civilian deaths all of this makes it highly unlikely that people will believe that the real goal of minos operation in libya is to protect civilians. you go off there was a ground from the start all coalition is on the line now from london to share his

view for the campaign in libya jim evening to you so what is nato's goal now do you think. i think it's very clear especially in the light of the. cameron sarkozy statement ten days ago when ever it was it it's very clear that they have intervened. in order to decide who shall and shall not be the government of libya and even if they from time to time refer back to united nations security council resolution nine hundred seventy three it doesn't change the fact that they paly are going for the. overthrow of the tripoli government and anything less than that would be. a severe blow to them i think. so jim i guess you saying that you think at this stage what listen to those calls we heard from the russian president of the u.n. secretary general today reiterating for the allied forces to stay within the terms

of their original mandate you think. aid at this stage yet. i think so and i think clearly there's been a lot of closed door sessions with lawyers in the last few days and then you have this flurry of announcements i think quite deceptive so you have for example the british government announcement that it's releasing stockpiles of flak jackets put in for a fast. all right all forces you have the united states government yesterday that it's releasing twenty four million dollars worth of of defense department supplies but they say that. they really aren't off and see if they are things like how loud meals and once again. and then you have this announcement that they're sending military officers in plain clothes and that's pretty early because some lawyer has advised them that you have to be very careful but the fact is that for example if you take the question of defensive body armor the fact is that war consists of

component parts which is a time can define so or as it was known for the last few thousand years the sword in the shield and if you increase somebody's shield if you give something back to shield it makes this all the more effective so they clearly are intervening in the in the civil war itself by these movies but taking great care to appear to abide by the known intervention causes of the resolution this is the same time as today the u.s. saying the libyan conflict moving towards a stalemate does despite all the resources you talking about three thousand across missions that coalition has conducted already what's not doing wrong. i think they seriously underestimated the the level of support the the tripoli government has i know that officially moammar gadhafi doesn't have

a position but if we if we are showing that he is an effective control. the fact is they did he does have a basis of support the fact is it is civil war and i really think they thought it was in some way or another. issue that they could move in. with air force and. get rid of moammar gadhafi and i think they miscalculated and i think that miscalculation will be fruits of it will be. because they can't get around the fruits of that basic miscalculation but another thought did you want to run past you could mention this rumble about a still maybe an attempt to repair the public for a further escalation of force possibly even the ground in operation invasion be talking about. yes i think this through things i think that they have to follow the course that they've set and if they've declared from their point of view it's an issue of getting rid of the government of regime change if we can revive that

phrase from a few years ago in relation to iraq if they've decided that whatever you know whatever they've signed up signed up to the issue is regime change then i think they really have to follow that logic the other thing that's very interesting about this case statement that thirty to forty percent of the government. equipment is neutralized destroyed i believe that's exactly the same as they said a few weeks ago i remember exactly the same phrase about three weeks ago and clearly the half the trains the violence it really is a stalemate and they have i think they have to follow the logic and the logic has to be i think ground forces in one way or another ok. thank you being on the program was appreciated fully a stop the war coalition joining someone from london. coming up lifting the veil of the mysteries of the exclusion. right now for the first time ever on international

television we'll be trying to look inside the chernobyl to facility will reveal one of the soviet union's darkest military secrets which was kept hidden for decades. first the russian security forces have killed a top al qaeda terrorist during a special operation of the north caucuses it was part of a group of militants ambushed by police are these are things moving in a question of who's got the story. during a search operation led by russia's interim ministry troops a group of six armed militants was found in a wooden mountain area in the shall leave history and after six hours of shooting in ara strikes three militants were killed one of those militants mcdaniel was so identified as a chief agent for the international terrorist group al qaida in north caucasus now russia's antiterrorist committee says that he was in charge of cash flows of funds paid for terrorist activities in russia i do as one of those killed was

a donor for me as an agent of the card is news in the north caucasus a native of saudi arabia. has been raised in the north caucasus since nineteen and you're not going to it was also a key guarantor and coordinator of the funds coming from abroad to fuel the militancy in russia. alongside was the was on the top list of the world's most wanted terrorist was the most notorious figure out and he was also perceived as an absolute religious authority as well as an influential field commander and now according to russia's antiterrorist committee he was also identified among militants as a rival to as the main leader of islamist militants in the north caucasus he was also believed to be involved in almost every terror attack that happened across russia over the recent years and indeed russia has been rocked by a number of terror attacks the latest tween suicide moscow metro borings that happened last year and more schooled then why did the airport terror attack that

happened this year and claimed thirty eight lives now my guy knew it was on the list of top priority targets for russian security forces and that's why he had gone deep into hiding when russian security forces launched a search operation for him last fall currently further until terrorist operations are underway here in the north caucasus especially in chechnya and ingratiating. but in a culture of reporting the world's attention turning to ukraine as it prepares to mark the twenty fifth anniversary of the chill novel disaster kiev is holding a milestone event dedicated to the future safety of nuclear energy and r.t. crew gained access to the chernobyl exclusion zone and filmed one of the soviet union's biggest military secrets jet ski as the story. twenty five years ago when the chernobyl fallout happened in the soviet ukraine the world saw a large debate on the safety of nuclear energy the same thing is happening now a days with the fukushima nuclear disaster unraveling in japan now the anniversary

of the chernobyl nuclear disaster twenty five years ago i see lots of events in ukraine with lots of international v.i.p. guests coming here to train to attend the services internet in trouble and different called france is related to that sounds now all of them most of them have been speaking out in defense of nuclear energy tokyo is ready to invest almost fifty billion u.s. dollars into trying to contain the contamination around the fukushima plant the same thing which was happening in chernobyl twenty five years ago when the soviet government to was spared no effort and money to trying to contain this novel radioactive threat and in fact the still this area indeed crane needs some financial attention as he has already managed to persuade the governments of different countries to invest more than five hundred million euros into building the new circle for goods which would last for more than one hundred years who spent

almost a week inside the chernobyl exclusion zone filming a documentary which was will be able to see on the twenty sixth of april which is of course the twenty fifth anniversary of the chernobyl nuclear fallout we see that we've managed to get into the darkest and the most secret parts of the exclusion zone including one of the biggest secrets of the soviet union a regular geisha station called assured noble to the whole world knows that your global nuclear power plant and the thirty kilometer exclusion zone which surrounds it but few are aware that this area holds a secret which had been kept hidden for many decades. for the first time ever on international television r.t. is able to bring you one of the biggest secrets of the soviet union this facility behind me has many different names that your novel to the degree or a more technical name beyond the horizon radio location facility in its prime prime goal was to detect a missile launch anywhere on the european continent but it's test launch in one

thousand eight hundred proved that its signal is so powerful that it can reach the eastern coast of the united states this facility was one of the most expensive projects of the soviet union it cost around seven billion soviet rubles which is twice as expensive as the construction of the chernobyl nuclear power plant just fifteen kilometers from here even getting this close to the fence of this top secret facility has been impossible before for a t.v. journalist for a t.v. camera but what we've managed to find here this should be helpful this is a hole in the wall and right now for the first time ever on international television we'll be trying to look inside the chernobyl to facility. spight the official claims that it was decommissioned and put out of service straight out and after the trouble fall out in nineteen eighty six it still remains under the protection and there are still armed guards at the security checkpoints around the area not letting anyone inside. of the theory was put forward that it

wasn't really an over the horizon radar station rather special facility for influencing people's minds and for using psychotropic radiation that would enable malicious forces to control people however there is no such thing it's like attribute radiation he was just another me a workman feeling for the definitions all the people behind this technology were describing it as their pride as something the soviet union the soviet union space technology should be proud of because to that date in one thousand eight hundred none of the world's readers could have had such a strong signal as the station like this there are only three stations like this in the world. this is the only one which we could get access to as the other two are still remit still remain as classified facilities and there is no access whatsoever to those facilities were interesting programs put together there are correspondent next series yes we can watch that documentary by the seekers of true novel next week here on r.t. . next the u.s. is launching an investigation into the energy markets for possible oil and gas

price manipulation comes in the wake of soaring petrol costs and the threat in the top two thousand and eight record high policy directorates just foreign policy right now and joins us on the line now from chicago mr lyman good evening to you some experts quite a lot of experts saying that the hike in oil and gas prices is unlikely to be the result of price speculation alone what is the u.s. government trying to achieve by this investigation if you say it. well clearly part of what they're trying to achieve is political to indicate to the public the american public which is upset about the gas prices they're in ministration years doing something about trying to do something whether they actually have any evidence that manipulation is a significant factor in this room prices is much less clear from pressure or since they have anything they haven't shared there's some indication there quote unquote

speculation but it's not clear what they're really means people are. purchasing oil futures because they think their breasts are going to go up. either there if they're powerful nothing to play the market but if they're here for rational belief . in more expensive future then that's not manipulation it's a normal functioning market and there are reasons to think a. boil in the future and that the price prices that we saw in two thousand and eight are the norm and they were seen today are are the norm that people can look forward to in the future and the fall in between. there was a world economic crisis and that always causes oil prices to fall is result of. them in the long term trend of creased communion in the growing faster

than. this morning when we're likely to hear the results of this investigation and what it affects do you think future u.s. foreign policy depending on what may come back with. it's not clear when they'll have anything to report it need some preliminary best a geisha hasn't come up with anything as far as. press accounts will affect future u.s. foreign policy it's also hard to say you know if the if were really true yet many people believe the u.s. policy in the region is motivated by desire for. all perhaps but if that were true then the us policy in libya for example would make any sense whatsoever least in the short run us policy the british and french policy has contributed to the run up in oil prices by exacerbating the civil war. and so if there

was a concern the us policy in exactly the wrong direction i think the long term trend is more. of us and its friends intervene to protect governments that are widely known and opposed governments that are are not allied to the united states even at a cost as we saw in the in the run up to invasion of iraq and now in the military is often living actually thriving of all of those those costs go up you know the u.s. government splashier going into dollars at the same time financing wars do you think the money big so tight at the moment should be spent on the resting policy instead back at home should america be looking on what's happening in its own borders. well clearly in washington there is a notion the money course part of the story is the.

tax cuts for the richest americans have contributed to the budget issues and washington as well as the recession government receipts for recession but there is a political debate in the us about cutting the budget and people more people are now talking about cutting the military budget which in the past has been kind of a sacred cow and there is more debate today in particular about the war in afghanistan for example there are now republican presidential candidates saying that we need to get out of afghanistan so this to be will definitely intensify. both the debate about the war in afghanistan in any near withdrawing the troops questions about what the u.s. is going to do in afghanistan has twenty four gene probably pieces of it also the larger question of the u.s. the you know gargantuan u.s.

military fighter aircraft carriers the weapon systems the five hundred military bases are. definitely coming on the go to your thoughts policy director just foreign policy you are joining us now live from chicago thank you. elsewhere around the world tonight syria first where police have fired bullets and tear gas the demonstrators in these twenty people being killed in several towns across the country tens of thousands took to the streets after friday prayers a protest against president bashar assad's government leaders formally ended five decades of motion see rule seen as an attempt for the fumes the arrest human rights groups say more than two hundred people died during several groups of violence. a u.s. drone attack on a house in pakistan's volatile afghan border area has killed twenty five people there are reports. militants and civilians are among the casualties the officials in the was there a stand reagents of the house was being used as a militant hideout hundreds of insurgents attacked

a checkpoint in the northwest of the country killing fourteen security personnel. an american pastor who sparked outrage for burning a copy of the qur'an last month is facing a jury trial in michigan decide whether its latest anti muslim out can go ahead terry jones plans to hold a protest outside the largest mosque in the u.s. is christians mark good friday on thursday the judge gave jones the option of facing a jury or pay a one hundred thousand dollars bond to cover the security costs for such a demonstration a florida pastor chose to stand trial in a japanese government announced a fifty billion dollar emergency budget following march's earthquake and tsunami it's aimed at disaster relief including providing temporary housing restoration of infrastructure and disaster related love and government estimates of the cost more than three hundred billion dollars to rebuild the country in march eleventh earthquake left more than twenty seven thousand people dead or missing. one

of those sport just over twenty minutes time tonight from which boxing legend sammy to get his career back on track with a boat right here in moscow that's to come but into the working week business round up next that would be. thank you kevin hello and welcome to business r.t. russia's two largest oil companies states owed rosneft an independent lukoil have signed a deal over offshore exploration this marks the corals first offshore deal well has initiated the host of such partnerships with ford majors like he chevron and exxon but the muslim course from north capital believes the tie up with luke while was mainly due to problems with the arctic deal with. i think there is a continuation of the old saga. and there are exploration fields oil fields as we know that was not quite successful communication with the soul apparently is considering some alternative scenario

including collaboration allows me with a rush hour coverage of rush. just lukoil lukoil obviously has some certain experience in developing fields because it's known by its quite successful deals only cost b. and c. and obviously we cannot compare our environment with the cost be an environment obviously of the success working from the scratch well such a complex projects obviously give certain advantage to. less compared to any other company which my come across they're all sniffed at the card point highlights they can look at the markets now european and u.s. borders are closed due to easter holidays meanwhile here in russia both the r.t.s. and my six continued their games with average wages leading the growth on friday my

second because an individual shares a friday's close bank of one point two three percent one of the biggest skaters in heavy weights. just a notch despite that deal with ross nothing pretty significant and polymath so after dropping significantly the previous session put on two and a half percent in friday's session and. the trading with. major events over the past week was a reduction of four years. and quite interesting all markets globally reacted very negatively and there was a sharp decline just never think all prices dropped for. two percent on the russian market drop five percent as well i think it's. quite interesting that this is the future of the current situation the market so there are so many respects in the market generally that starting from japan to very high all prices that everyone is ready to start selling even at the minor negative events but in forty three days

the market totally recovered and we see right now we're simply at probably six months right and if we break through these levels i think there will be very good rally in the united states and i think russia will just follow it and russian oil company bass now says more than trebled its net profits of one point four billion dollars last year the head of massenet's alexander course extends the company has not even the bank and is looking for a place to spend. the summer. we're in. the sort of the company's bottom. if we want to. prove some christians will begin to solutions. really. push. this forward since and. since we will be. all right we will be back next hour with an update stay with us

for the headlines with carol. the king has been to the chill yeah the inspiration for the long lost secret of the mask steel has been discovered. now articles east of lake baikal.