in fifteen minutes from now in the meantime we turn to syria where reports of violence continue despite the u.s. backed peace plan historian and political analyst. who's recently been to the country says the same powers who backed the un initiative are also fueling the conflict. today we're sitting down with pierre pitchin 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 first question we'd like to know with we've been to syria the most latest country you visited a couple of times what was your goal in going to that country. 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 but 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 reason i mean these stories that it's so difficult to get into syria are sort of miffed you. don't buy some all right so you've talked to the opposition and various groups in the opposition can you tell us about what you discussed with them and how you would assess that. with your singing 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 city 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 in these rallies are very moving and exciting event but they never turn violent so the army does not have to respond over the media often say that the police opened fire on protesters and yeah it's not true at least old and 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 weapon 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 homs 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 so they get food and training there and only. trained along with urban guerrillas and helped by the french army you could read about it in the french newspaper for example. 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 committed horrendous atrocities while they may kidnap their opponents execute them cut corpses into

pieces and leave them in the neighborhood or 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 got into sub-saharan african countries but there is something unhealthy about these groups acting alongside the revolutionaries ordered it's impossible to identify or contact them if they are truly secretive groups. now you've been critical about

the game as well as the reports of the syrian observatory for human rights but in a scenario like this it will be very difficult. to clarify very fight every single death in the country and what would the fifty deaths how would it be different to five hundred deaths. so how do we put that into context of what you said what is your criticism based on. anything 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 i am saying that several dozens were killed in the armed conflict and even if they were 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 blind which is these are armed groups or they're supported by outsiders by foreigners. are they blind to

what is happening in the country to the past or the possibility that this is a real real revolution are they right are they how would you assess the government's stand. and also could you know first of all as for the government's rhetoric i don't believe this. government is blind 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 what and 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 at the moment we see that the ruling regime has successfully established control over most of homs as well as over it leave in 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 blush 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. bashar al assad has agreed on the peace by presented 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 on this this peace plan. to move in

a more 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 cool. border raids from refugee camps in turkey and lebanon so what happens is that if 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 it will stop the violence because he wanted 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 he will vote on it so how do you see the syrian conflict ending 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 to 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 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 i think the situations are similar neither the government of bashar assad nor any other government is ready to allow bloodshed i also. the moderate opposition and there is moderate opposition in syria which is not ready to take up arms and the moderate opposition realizes that you know that 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. told me not i guess and here puts it in thanks very much for your time. at home if the. nation in free accreditation free transfer charges free. range month

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top stories this hour a brand new russian passenger plane on a sales demonstration flight. one hundred is missing in indonesia with fifty people on board it went off the radar wednesday carter says it may have crashed in the search operation is well underway. russia celebrates sixty seven years of vitriol in nazi germany as the traditional grand parade rolls across red square to. around twenty seven million soviet people died in what russia called the great patriotic. ukraine's former prime minister yulia tymoshenko was moved to a hospital from her prison in a bid to address concerns over her treatment give has already been forced to postpone an e.u. summit several states pulled out in protest over his situation. and i'll be back with more on those stories more developments for you in less than fifteen minutes from now in the meantime unions next with the sport.

if you with. plenty head over the next ten minutes including. on the. go head to head in the europa league or later tonight. remembering the football legend victory park to pay their respects to those who died during the second world war. defending champion. his opening round clash at the madrid masters despite a challenging day on court football first where we have a brand new name on the russian cup. left to celebrate their first ever triumph in the competition following victory over. after twelve months of action the two sides standing were left to slug it out in

a. in the premier league on the increasingly looking like extra time before. put paid to the buying home an absolute scorcher doesn't minutes from time one with the final score there are delights. while the wait for a cup conquest stretches eighteen years. old so a title up for grabs on the constant this evening bucharest the place to be the rumanian capital plays host to the old spanish europa league final between. madrid . with the most recent pedigree winning the competition two years ago. also on the verge of qualification for next year's champions league key defender will be a welcome addition to the first to lead. after recovering from a thigh problem but. is suspended while striker falcao is seeking his second

title in a row having 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 time. this season is the first time in thirty five years that i've reached the final of what was then the cup monitor marcello b.-l. sat with a fully fit squad to choose from heel to rest of the number of players in the league over the weekend the basques side with the chance to do a double of the season they take on barcelona in the final of the competition in a fortnight's time. measured ok well it's true that we've dreamed of these type of victory for many years but it's to have a good omen to 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. spain meanwhile will be without their talismanic defender carles puyol when they defend their european title in june the thirty four year old will undergo surgery on his right knee which takes six weeks to recover from the barcelona captain has ninety nine caps featuring in every major tournaments since the two thousand and two world cup finals. but we have to wait and see how the surgery goes and what the doctors say afterwards however it will be virtually impossible for me to take part in a year old twenty twelve i'll need to take some time to recover from meeting someone else who was in better shape at my spot as the host of russian footballing legends have been paying tribute to those who fell during the second world war members of the soviet union to limp and european championship winning teams gathering at moscow's victory park to remember the dead michael chang reports.

it's pretty much the dream for any. to become. but few would have had as difficult a time achieving that dream than those going up during wartime. but despite the fact that the far she's had taken control of. because advantage we had no idea what was going on is exactly kids like victor who then went on to create the 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. legends like. and strikers victor and nikki all grew up having no idea what the outcome of the war would bring them. but that

didn't stop them from daring to dream. even played a storm they fed only once a day and continue to play football and once the war was 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 tribulations of war and there were some who were more fortunate because of the. territory it meant not all of it was directly in the line of fire. is now the republic of georgia and people will even. though there are many refugees there was no actual war there so luckily it was also quite peaceful. have the luxury of freedom and open space those closer to the front line that far

fewer comforts. there weren't any sports schools. we have today we didn't have any protective gear or even boots at times we played. we played with the empty cans. with that kind of spirit it's little wonder these boys managed to achieve what they did. some lucky ones where even between locations. i spent my childhood to become a food. from food to seed and back. but in the end. and soon it became a guilty before do not believe. these great footballers were affected directly by collectively they managed to channel any fear. into the beautiful game and it's these legends that prove that despite great adversity even. children of their

dreams like a cryptic you. are one hundred percent record the world championships after winning their third game in a row is in a two. man seeing off germany two zero in stockholm. victory next are denmark. perfect meanwhile in the group game. five nothing elsewhere in helsinki hosts defending champions finland had no problems against. tennis or world number one novak djokovic has described the madrid masters quote impossible without the spice. trevor in the first round the serb beating the native sixty three but wasn't happy with the surface claiming afterwards. for.

also joking he had to seek advice from a martial arts icon chuck norris some hundreds of play on the newly installed blue clay the comments come following similar concerns from other players authorities however say they play makes it easier for t.v. viewers to follow the flights all the. boston ball into the n.b.a. playoffs where the indiana pacers are safely through to the second round at the expense of orlando it's the first time the patients help address to the second stage in seven years darren collison untoward still combining for thirty four points in the one hundred five seven game five win meanwhile the atlanta hawks are back in contention in their series with boston after edging proceedings on home court chicago and denver also making their respective series closer if both coached and full of praise for british big dang who finished with twenty four points against philadelphia. great energy all round game.

got some easy buckets are really. good de france rebounding carlos was terrific in the post. gave us great difference great defense and ronnie 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 leading his texas rangers to victory over baltimore by hitting an incredible four to run homers in a single game in the league's one hundred forty three year history only fifteen players have manage such a feat starting things off in the first any by holding off g r yet the orioles pitcher falling victim to the texas slugger again in the third without second deford heading out of the park to make it forward zero rangers' julie notching up his third and fourth to run homer later in the night texas are currently

a top team and he and i will be. on that is all your sport for now whether it's coming up very shortly. well for the. science technology innovation all the developments from around russia we've dumped the future covered. wealthy british style. markets why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy

with max kaiser for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kinds a report on our. mission free accreditation free in-store charge is free to make amends three. three stooges free. old free broadcast quality video for your media projects and free media and on to our teeth dot com you.

a brand new russian passenger plane the one hundred went missing cheering as a sales demonstration flight in indonesia with fifty people on board off to go home early wednesday. russia celebrates sixty seven years of victory of a nazi germany as the traditional graham parade rolls across red square to the. former prime minister yulia tymoshenko was moved to hospital from a prison in a bid to alleviate concern over the treatment. of the opposition leader had been on a hunger strike for the week claims that she was abused by prison guards more details to follow in just a few minutes.