well for the future. technology innovation is developments from around russia we. live here in. a spectacular display of joy to victory day russia's defeat of nazi germany in the great. to the. sixty seven years ago. russian passenger plane one hundred goes missing during a demonstration flight. with fifty people on board. says it may have crashed in the search operation is underway. and ukraine's former

prime minister yulia timoshenko has moved to hospital from a prison and a bit to address treatment is already being forced to postpone. states pulled out in protest over the situation. in fifteen minutes from syria. continues despite the u.s. backed peace plan is stored in political. recently been to the country says the same powers who backed the initiative also fueling the conflict. today we're sitting down with pierre pitching in he's a historian and political analyst specializing on the arab world he's traveled extensively to the countries that have gone through the 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 with we've been to syria the most laid as a country you've said a couple of times what was your goal in going to that country let's say the. 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 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 question 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 me if 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 saying hearing first feels up and there is no such thing as a single opposition in fact that 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 that 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 demonstrations are continuing the army and the police are present there to prevent the protesters from accessing major squares in the streets the protesters to throw stones at the police from time to time but it's a sort of intifada what if these rallies are 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 yeah it's not true at least i mean i have never seen any use of weapons then of the 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 that 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 it was a terrorist organization that does operate in homs too but the rebellious city residents do not want anything to do with the old so there are insurgents who call themselves the free syrian army it has been active on the border with turkey and lebanon me the free syrian army has been using refugee camps in northern lebanon and turkey's have type provinces as their bases and they get food and training their adult life. trained along with urban guerrillas and helped by the french army you can read about it in the french newspaper for example. about these rebels then cross the border and again raid neighboring towns and cities in syria you know 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 here with me asked for 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 so the same is happening in mali this problem has recently become a popular topic of discussion islamist groups spread throughout the sahara and got

into sub-saharan african countries. there is something unhealthy about these groups acting alongside the revolutionaries or didn't feel it's impossible to identify or contact them if they are truly secretive groups he says he's a little like all these twenty one you've been critical about the usage 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 a quote in a press. interview first of all recently 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 like publish the results of my investigation in the africa magazine last month the been there i say that there are two such observatories and that they are both connected with the opposition and that in reality these organizations are the opposition's propaganda agencies propaganda tools i don't understand why the media choose to use them as a source says 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 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 that 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 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 hand. 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 more than any 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 where 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 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 no i'm not advocating the regime i'm doing my research and i want to see what happens on the ground and i take the facts and i draw conclusions that are going to feature. 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 one. more than the 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 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 guitar and france were directly involved in helping them get new arms advanced and heavy weaponry and help them reorganize and review their strategy but you cannot demand this from the government it is

certainly a dictatorship but it's a legitimate government according to international law and the westphalian system and it's oppressing an armed revolt and 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. so how do you see the syrian conflict ending at all. unless of course there is an intervention from outside 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 it's 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 what allow bashar al assad to stay on for many more years. 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 because 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 the moderate opposition realizes you know that a transitional period of five to ten years will be necessary in order to accomplish this change peacefully without the country thing engulfed in civil war and the whole bit on i guess here pitching in thanks very much for your time. at home at

sea. world with. science technology innovation all the latest developments from around russia we've got the future covered. wealthy british style it's not on the front. of the. markets why not.

find out what's really happening to the global economy cause a report on our. top stories this hour a spectacular display of fireworks is enjoyed in moscow on victory day marking russia's defeat of nazi germany in the great patriotic war. including grand parade in red square to on of the red army's epic efforts sixty seven years ago. a brand new russian passenger plane the sukhoi superjet one hundred. goes missing during a demonstration flight in indonesia with fifty people on board it dropped off the radar. as it may have crashed a search operation is underway. ukraine's former prime minister yulia timoshenko was moved to a hospital from a prison to address concerns over her treatment he has already.

pulled out in protest over his situation. more on those stories in full in fifteen minutes from now in the meantime his unit with the latest action from the world of sport. head over the next ten minutes including. a head to head in the europa league later tonight. remembering the russian football legend. to pay their respects to those who died during the second world war. and defending champion. opening. a challenging day on court. football first where we have

a brand new name on the russian cup being left to celebrate their first ever triumph in the competition following victory over moscow after twelve months of action the last two sides standing were left to slug it out in your catherine k.g.'s her through it in the all russian premier league clash on the increasingly looking like extra time before. put paid to that buying home an absolute scorcher a dozen minutes from time one nil plus the final score there are delights for the talisman i face while the wait for a cup conquest stretches to eighteen years. it's also a title up for grabs on the continent this evening bucharest the place to be the rumanian capital plays host to the all spanish europa league final between. madrid pledging ko with the most recent pedigree winning the competition two years ago.

start a slight favorite this evening there and beaten run goes back seven matches they're also on the verge of qualification for next year's champions league key defender lewis pereira will be a welcome addition to the first eleven after recovering from a thigh problem but midfielder 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 or with this would be historic to win two consecutive times 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 is the team on the pitch and let's hope 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 with a fully fit squad to choose from heel to rest of the number of players in the

league over the weekend the basket. side with a chance to do a double of the season they take on barcelona in the final of the competition ray 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 about it 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 around 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 after worse however it will be virtually impossible for me to take part in your old twenty twelve he'll yeah i'll need to take some time to recover from the operation meeting someone else

who was in better shape at my spot because 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 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 wartime. when i was four and living in selfies to russia when the war broke out but despite the fact that the phone shoes had taken control of the c.t.e. we boys continued to play football you know courtyards because advantage we had no idea what was going on it's exactly kids like victor when you're dealing with then went on to create the us has some of those golden era in football. during a ten year period the national team won olympic gold in one thousand fifty six

became european champions in one nine hundred sixty and then came second in the same competition four years later legends like goalkeeper. and strikers victor and nikki to simone young 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 a 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 tribulations of war and there were some who were more fortunate because of the us. territory it meant not all of it was directly in the line of fire and. i was very young. he told was back. in what is

now the republic of georgia and people even. though there were many refugees there was no actual war there so luckily it was also quite peaceful. really have the luxury of relative freedom and open space those closer to the front line had far fewer comforts. there weren't any sports schools other fantastic gene homes we have today we didn't have any protective gear or even boots at times we played their food we played with the empty cans as food. with that kind of spirit it's little wonder these boys managed to achieve what they did. some lucky ones were even torn between the creationists and. i spent my childhood juggling the desire to become a food below that of being a singer. from food books a cd. but in the end. and soon it became

a guilty before do not believe. whether or not these great football games were affected directly by the collectively they managed to channel any fear. into the beautiful game and if these legends prove that despite great adversity even can rip children of their dreams like a cryptic. to ice hockey russia have maintained their one hundred percent record after world championships after winning their third game in a row is in the two below dean else man seeing off germany two zero in stockholm goals from nikolai. victory next are denmark as the top seed seek to stay a perfect meanwhile in the other group game in lafayette thrashed italy five nothing elsewhere in helsinki hosts and defending champions finland had no problems against switzerland running out five two winners. a three two win over. to

tennis for world number one novak djokovic has described the clear court at the madrid masters quote impossible without the spoiler three set win over done the trevor in the first round the serb beating the native sixty two six six three but was unhappy with the surface claiming afterwards a. full boots joke which the reaming champion also joking he had to seek advice from a martial arts icon chuck norris on how to play on the newly installed blue clay the comments come following similar concerns from other players authorities who ever see the play makes it easier for t.v. viewers to follow the flight the. boss can fall into the n.b.a. playoffs where the indiana pacers are safely through to the second round up the expense of orlando it's the first time the patients help address to the second stage in seven years darren collison and george hill combining for thirty four points in the one hundred five eighty 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 refers both coach tom full of praise for british big non-normal dang who finished with twenty four points against philadelphia. great energy all around game. got some easy buckets early. good de france rebounding but carlos was terrific in the post. gave us great the french 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 deafer heading out of the park to make it forward zero rangers how much and julie notching up his third and fourth two run homer later fall into the night texas are currently a top team and you and i will be stuck. on that is all your sport for now whether it's coming up very shortly. the economy. is this the so few

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