they're pitching him he's a historian and political analyst specializing on the arab world he's traveled extensively to the countries that have gone through since so-called arab spring and he's also written extensively on these countries the most recent one being syria thanks very much for joining us today thank you and the first question we'd like to you know ways we've been to syria the most latest country you visited a couple of times what was your goal in going to that country unless you need to in . syria is a country that is very much diverse in terms of ethnic and religious groups you have to be inside syria to understand what is really happening there on the ground my goal was to get reliable information us so i had to screen all the reports coming from the western news agencies magazines and other media i did some research and found out that there are actually two rival syrian human rights groups that monitor developments and supply the bulk of information to the west you know what i discovered too was that the uprising was supported by

a minority of the population which differs from what the western media are saying when they quote the syrian observatory for human rights also this eerie an opposition is very much divided they do not share the same goals and they use different methods to reach their goals actually i never questioned the credibility of the information that was coming from the region on my way to syria i thought i would see a country torn apart by a raging conflict a country aflame with revolution a country where it would be extremely hard to move around so i was very much surprised when i was given a visa and i mean these stories that it's so difficult to get into syria are sort of miffed you you know by some of the right saying you've talked to the opposition in various rooms in the opposition can you tell us about what you discussed with them and how you would assess them. you're saying here you first there is no such thing as a single opposition in fact there are many opposition groups and. some of them are

in conflict with each other. i'll try to present you with a clearer picture there are two hot heads of discontent with one in the city of hama where the muslim brotherhood led an uprising in the one nine hundred eighty s. the demonstrations that took place there were peaceful in july the syrian army surrounded the city but stopped short of occupying a security early in august the army moved into the city and establish control over it and they've been these demonstrations are continuing the army and the police are present there to prevent the protesters from accessing major squares in the streets with the protesters to throw stones at the police from time to time but it's a sort of intifada with these rallies over a very moving and exciting event but they never turn violent so the army does not have to respond although the media often say that the police opened fire on protesters and it's not true at least i mean i have never seen any use of weapons their homes and other historical center of discontent has become the fighting ground for many armed rebel groups you know you know so i was there with the

residents of homs i would call the members of the civil opposition because these were ordinary people who took up any weapons they could find and defended their neighborhoods from the army in fact they were very badly aren't you however along with this civil uprising we have witnessed a much more dangerous one gash i'm talking about the islamist movement which is fighting in homs it's mainly represented by the foreign brigade which originally even before the revolution was a terrorist and the shiite organization does operate in homes to what the rebellious city residents do not want anything to do with this also there are insurgents who call themselves the free syrian army that it has been active on the border with turkey and lebanon mean the free syrian army has been using refugee camps in northern lebanon and turkey's have type provinces as their bases to get food and training barely they're trained along with urban guerrillas and helped by the french army and you could read about it in the french newspaper for example in luck canard and shot up. these rebels then cross the border and again raid

neighboring towns and cities in syria. who are they were desert but there are not many of them the syrian army has largely remained loyal to the government there are fighters who came from libya qatar and saudi arabia so it's not quite clear what kind of force the free syrian army is with me after the armed opposition groups inside syria there are also several salafi groups who are responsible for terrorist acts and times will commit her renders atrocities they may kidnap their opponents execute them cut corpses into pieces and leave them in the neighborhood. how do we classify this movement in syria then is it a civil war is it an uprising is it a revolution. i think it is a revolution i think we can say that it is but there are islamic groups in syria that are trying to use this situation and turn syria into an islamic republic something like a salafi caliphate in

a way this is similar to what happened in libya there was a civil war between tribal clans and now a group of salafi is represented in the new government of libya the same is happening in mali this problem has recently become a popular topic of discussion islamic groups spread throughout the sahara and god just sub-saharan african countries but there is something unhealthy about these groups acting alongside the revolutionaries ordered feel it's impossible to identify or contact if they are truly secretive groups. now you've been critical about the usage as well as the reports in the syrian observatory for human rights but in a scenario like this it will be very difficult. to clarify very fly every single death in the country and what would the fifty deaths how would it be different to five hundred deaths how do you put that into context of what you saw what is your criticism based on. your. first of all

reason i don't think it's too hard to have a more or less clear idea about what's happening in syria i've been able to visit the country twice in the last six months i rented a car drove all over syria was able to go even to hama and homs i was never detained at any military checkpoints the western media choose to rely exclusively on the syrian observatory for human rights of and i published the results of my investigation in the africa magazine last month there i say that there are two such observatories and that they are both connected with the opposition and in reality these organizations are the oppositions propaganda agencies propaganda tools i don't understand why the media choose to use them as a source it is part of the journalist's job to think critically verify sources and be extremely cautious but if they decide to just spread the information they receive from the syrian observatory for human rights without asking any questions to let me give you a clear answer to your question that i am saying that several dozens were killed in

the armed conflict you know what journalists are talking about reprisals by the regime if the government attacks peaceful protesters we can call it reprisals but if the syrian authorities are dealing with an army based in refugee camps in lebanon and turkey financed from qatar and trained by the french army it's not repression the regime is defending its territory from foreign aggression since the beginning of the crisis the government has always stuck to one line which is these are armed groups or they're supported by outsiders by foreigners. are they blind to what is happening in the country in the past or the possibility that this is a we will revolution are they right are they how would you assess the government's hand. and also could you know will in the first of all we'll ask for the government's rhetoric i don't believe the syrian government is blind you know rhetoric and reality are two different things syria's government is in denial of the fact that a revolution is taking place. they are talking about some foreign conspiracy about

israel and the us plotting against syria or that my analysis of the situation is completely different i think that starting with two thousand and one after nine eleven the us chose to cooperate closer with the syrian government and they both discovered a mutual enemy the islamic values and i think that the us is very unhappy with what is going on now. israel is also very concerned now should the syrian regime collapse the country could sink into chaos and then israel will have significant problems with it where is now despite the prevailing anti israeli rhetoric in damascus israel is in fact quite comfortable with the current regime in reality they are getting along pretty well you know at the moment we see that the ruling regime has successfully established control over most of homs as well as over it leave and hama and is fighting the free syrian army on the borders of them or the regime is far from collapsing it's nowhere near a downfall only assad has

a lot of sunny days ahead of him many people ask me how can you say such things you're advocating the regime you know i'm not advocating the regime i'm doing my research i want to see what happens on the ground and i take the facts and draw conclusions that are going to fish. assad has agreed on the piece by presenting by coffee at nine but bashar al assad has made a lot of promises in the past and a lot of them who did not do you think is going to make good on his promise this time for a cease fire and this this place when. they move in with kofi annan plan wasn't very well timed but the more as far as the syrian government is concerned you can't really demand things from the government when it has the upper hand and is defeat on the free syrian army at the moment the government biggest problem is cross border raids from refugee camps in turkey and lebanon that so what happens is that if you well the government gets the upper hand and is defeating the free syrian army. a demand comes in to stop the violence and it comes from those

who helped the free syrian army conduct their training lethal qatar and france were directly involved in helping them get new arms advanced and heavy weaponry and help them reorganize and review their strategy you cannot demand this from the government it is certainly a dictatorship but it's a legitimate government according to international law under the westphalian system and it's suppressing an armed revolt to reestablish control over its territory i understand that bashar assad said yes we should comply with the plan and i will stop the violence because he wants to buy some time but in reality they continue their offensive against the free syrian army and frankly speaking i find it quite consistent and logical. so how do you see the syrian conflict ended at all. unless of course there is an intervention from outside the office i expect that the baathist government will be able to control the situation with military force after

that i think it will conduct aggressive reforms to develop democracy this may even be a formal democracy at the initial stage i believe is going to a large degree this democracy will be formals yet civil society is awakening and making its position known and in the future you're going the government will have to make a turn towards a real democracy but how can we speak about democracy or democratic change with the new constitution approved in syria would allow bashar al assad to stay on for many more years since. it is a transitional period which is absolutely necessary when the you can't expect too much straight away you saw what happened to more market duffey in libya and you saw what happened in tunisia and egypt but i think the situations are similar neither the government of bashar assad nor any other government is ready to allow bloodshed i also think that the moderate opposition and there is moderate opposition in syria which is not ready to take up arms the moderate opposition realizes. but

a transitional period of five to ten years will be necessary in order to accomplish this change peacefully without the country being engulfed in civil war and the whole bit i guess and here pitch it and thanks very much for your time. download the official auntie up location on the phone oh i pod touch from the top story. which all teachers life on the go. video on demand on t.v.'s money fuel costs and says feeds now in the palm of your. questions on the dot com wealthy british style.

market why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy with my stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kinds a report. if . soon which brightened if you need someone from feinstein christians. who threw stones on t.v. don't come. time for

a recap of our breaking news story on r t a brand new russian passenger plane at the sukhoi superjet one hundred has gone missing during a flight over indonesia with forty four people on board both already in jakarta searching for the craft but the operation is being complicated by nightfall and bad weather officials said the plane may have crashed but are not ruling out a possible hijacking let's go to the latest pictures we have here posted by a russian blogger sort of who was supposed to be on the plane who decided to stay behind some cabin shots here of cutting edge state of the art fly by wire system pictures here of one of the crews to operate on the sukhoi superjet and of course some internal shots here all of the passengers this is a cutting edge state of the crawford speed on a sales pitch all across asia carrying out its second demonstration flight all of the day when it disappeared from radar i do stay with us here in our seat for the latest on this developing breaking news story right time now for you know with the

. thanks for your warm welcome this is sports today plenty heading to doing at least two weeks and three. final concert on spanish side's athletic build. madrid prepare to go head to head in the europa league decider later tonight. remembering the fall and russian football legends gather at victory park to pay their respects to those who died during the second world war. and off the mark world number one on defending champion novak djokovic wins his opening round clash of the madrid masters despite a challenging day on court. where it's cup final day in russia after twelve months of a. in the last two sides stunning our school on the routine. there are currently

slugging it out in the katherine berg around three minutes left to play at the city's central stadium and it is rubin who called the opera had an absolutely scorching strike from alexy the only man came making the difference so far on seventy eight minutes rubin verse in the driving seat to conspire first ever cup triumph in russia and his success in the competition since one thousand nine hundred ninety five. also a title up for grabs on the continent this evening bucharest the place to be as the roumanian capital place host to the all spanish europa league final between athletic bilbao madrid at their eco with the most recent pedigree winning the competition two years ago diego simone a side will start a slight favorites this evening on beaten and seven much as they are and also on the verge of course the creation for next year's champions league they also have key defender lewis pereira available after recovering from a thigh problem but midfielder thiago is suspended while striker falcao is seeking

his second title in a row and won the competition with porto twelve months back. when i think to feel a little bit nervous when playing a finalist natural and with this would be historic to win two consecutive titles with different clubs all i'm trying to do is keep really focused on what our coach wants and what the team needs from me and what we need to do as a team on the pitch and let's hope that we can reach our target. this season is the first time in thirty five years that bilbo have reached the final of what was then you if a cup marcello be. a fully fit squad to choose from he also arrested a number of players in the league over the weekend basque side with a chance to the double this season take on barcelona in the final of the cup of the rain in a fortnight's time. but is it ok well it's true that we've dreamed of these type of victory for many years but it's to have a good moment. talk about victories before actually winning anything and i think

it's better to focus on the game on the pitch and then hopefully we'll be able to celebrate because that is a dream we've all had for many years now with. a host of russian footballing legends helping paying tribute to those who fell during the second world war members of the soviet union's olympic and european championship football winning teams gallery of moscow's victory park monuments to remember the dead michael chang reports. it's pretty much the dream for any boy growing up to become a football hero but few would have had as difficult a time achieving that dream than those growing up during war time. when i was four and living in rust off insult east russia when the war broke out but despite the fact that the far she's had taken control of the c.t. we continued to play football you know courtyards because it bad age we had no idea what was going on it's exactly kids like victor who then went on to create the us

golden era in football during a ten year period the national team won olympic gold in one hundred fifty six became european champions in one thousand nine hundred sixty and then came second in the same competition four years later legends like goalkeeper levy ashton and strikers picked up when he gillett and nikita seaman him all grew up having no idea what the outcome of the war would bring them over but that didn't stop them from daring to dream. even played on them to storm they fed us only once a day and still we continued to play football and once the war was over every single yard was full of children playing football and the most famous footballers came from these yards in stark contrast to those who were directly affected by the tribulation of war and there were some who were more fortunate because of the u.s. . territory it meant not all of it was directly in the line of fire. yes.

i was very young when the war began so i have a very fuzzy memory of how it told was back then i lived in but to be a coastal city in what is now the republic of georgia and people will even peacefully although there were many refugees there was no actual war there so luckily breena was also quite peaceful. while calm as a steely have the luxury of relative freedom and open space those closer to the front line had far fewer comforts nearby when you do if there weren't any sports schools all that fantastic gene holes we have today we didn't have any protective gear or even boots at times we played their food we played with empty cans as food bowls or to come in or to sort that mom would give us a few words with stuart and he used that with that kind of spirit it's little wonder these boys managed to achieve what they did. some lucky ones where even torn between vocation and i mean your i spent my childhood juggling the desire to become

a food bill and with that of being a singer. went from food bill to seed and back to food bill again but in the end my call it was food bill and soon it became a guilty before denominate belief. whether or not these great footballers were affected directly by the war collectively they managed to channel any fear or despair into the beautiful game and it's these legends that prove that despite great adversity not even war can rob children of their dreams michael christian code. that brings us to ice hockey where russia have maintained their one hundred percent record at the world championships after winning their third game in a row is in a bill and enough man sing off germany two zero in stockholm. or dead final exit or a shank a hunting russia victory next up our denmark aim to keep a perfect record on meanwhile in the other crypt the game lafayette thrust at least five nothing. elsewhere in helsinki hosts and defending champions finland

no problems against switzerland running out five two winners well a three two win over kazakhstan. basketball on to the n.b.a. playoffs where the indiana pacers are syfy through to the second round at the expense of orlando is the first time the patients have made it through to the second stage and seven years darren collison and george hill combining for thirty four points in the one hundred five to eighty seven game five when you know all the atlanta hawks are back in contention in their series with boston celtics only three two in fronts overall after atlanta proceedings on home court chicago and denver also fighting back and their respective series bowls coach tom thibodeau full of praise for a british big man little day twenty four points. great energy all round game. easy book it's a really. good. thing carlos was terrific in the post.

gave us great difference great difference. brewer was terrific it's been a historic night on the baseball diamond meanwhile with josh hamilton joining an exclusive club the thirty year olds at leading his texas rangers to victory over baltimore by hitting an incredible four two run homer in a single game home to becoming the sixteenth player ever to achieve such a feat starting things off in the first inning by homer off jake arietta the orioles pitcher falling victim to the texas slugger again in the third without second deferent heading out all of the park to make it four zero rangers and julie notching up his third and fourth leader on the night texas are currently the top team in the end i'll be standing. meanwhile in tennis world or on novak djokovic chance described a clear court at the madrid masters impossible this despite a three set win over danny jeno thriver in the first serb beating the need of six

two six six three but was unhappy with the surface claiming afterwards he should have come out in football boots joke which the reigning champion also joking we have to seek advice from chuck norris on how to play on the newly installed blue clay the comments come following similar concerns from other players authorities though say the claim makes it easier for t.v. viewers to follow the flight of the ball. in golf tiger woods will take to the greens this week for the big money players championship in florida it's further to say the former world number one has been inconsistent so far this season but the mom selfish shrugging off the form which saw him record his worst ever major performance at the masters last month guys i've done this before and that's. been through this and you've actually a lot of the guys who lived with me went through those periods where i wasn't quite . where i wanted to be and i had some pretty good runs after that and this is this is no different takes all the time that's your sport for this or

whether it's next year in twenty four hour. well. science technology innovation all the latest developments from around russia we've got the future covered. height fifty two meters. weight more than eight thousand tons. skin thickness thirty centimeters the guinness record. commemorating the battle of stalingrad. the motherland called. on our teeth.

michoud free cretaceous three pounds for charges free. range month free risk free. to tide free. download free broadcast clothing videos for your media projects a free video done to our teeth on time. which brightened. soon from plans to. screen stunts on t.v. don't come. our breaking news story on

a brand new russian passenger plane the sukhoi superjet one hundred has gone missing during a flight over indonesia with forty four people on board. it's good to have you with us here on our t.v. today the breaking news story is that all thorpey is in jakarta searching for a russian passenger plane after all communications with the craft were lost made flight now let's cross over to aussie's prius rita standing by for us now in new delhi priya it has been several hours now since contact with the plane was lost to any news from your end on what's actually happened. that's very very well indonesian authorities are still searching for that plane it's a russian sukhoi superjet one hundred the plane had forty four.