protests over the situation. continues despite. his store and political. recently been to the country says the same power 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 deal with we've been to syria a country you've visited a couple of times what was your goal in going to that country.

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 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 and 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. by some all right saying you've talked to the opposition 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 that 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 beds 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 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 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 their homes and other historical center of discontent has become the fighting ground for many armed rebel groups 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 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 brigade which originally even before the revolution was

a terrorist and the shiite organization does operate in homes too but the rebellious city residents do not want anything to do with this also there are insurgents who call themselves the free syrian army 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 has had type provinces as their bases they get food and training there and only the. trained along with urban guerrillas and helped by the french army you can 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 commit her

renders atrocities they make enough 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 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 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 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. in the press. and if it's 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 the been 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 with 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 of 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 armed groups

are there they are supported by outsiders by foreigners. are they blind to what is happening in the country to the past in the possibility that this is a real revolution are they right are they wrong how would you assess the government's stand. and also could you agree on the 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 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 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. now bashar al assad has agreed on the piece 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 and this this place one. to move in a more kofi annan plan wasn't very well timed but the most 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 see 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 with all 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 you'll hear but in reality they continue their offensive against the free syrian army and frankly speaking i find it quite consistent and logical that so how do you see the syrian conflict ended at all more scenario so 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 progressive 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 would allow bashar al assad to stay on for many

more years since it. 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 the moderate opposition realizes 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. thanks very much for your time.

well into the. technology innovation hall the list of elements from around russia. wealthy british. markets. find out what's really happening to the global economy cause a report on our. top stories this hour

spectacular display of fireworks is enjoyed in victory day russia's defeat of nazi germany in the great. grand parade in red square to all of the 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. says it may have crashed a search operation is underway. ukraine's former prime minister yulia timoshenko was moved to hospital from a prison in a bid to address concerns over her treatment he has already been forced to postpone an. states pulled out in protest over his situation. more on those stories in full in fifteen minutes and then top his unit with the latest action from the world of sport.

if you with this sports there's plenty ahead over the next ten minutes including. on the. to go head to head in the europa league decider later tonight. remembering the fallen russian football legends gathered victory park to pay their respects to those who died during the second world war. off the mark world number one 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 last two

sides standing were left to slug it out in you catherine. through watching 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 the final score there are delights for the town while the wait for a cup conquest stretches eighteen years. old so 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 and pledging ko with the most recent pedigree winning the competition two years ago . start a slight fever this evening there are. also on the verge of qualification for next year's champions league key defender pereira will be

a welcome addition to the first. 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 unaware that 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 is the 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 i've reached the final of what was then the u.f.o. cup monitor marcello b.l. sat with a fully fit squad to choose from he also arrested a number of players in the league over the weekend the basque side with the chance to do a double of the season they take on barcelona in the final of the competition ray in a fortnight's time. measure that 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 vendors hopefully will 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 carlos pua 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 afterwards however it will be virtually impossible for me to take part and your old twenty twelve i'll need to take some time to recover from meeting someone else who was in better shape in 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 victory park to remember the dead michael reports. it's pretty much the dream for any. to become. but few would have had the time. the. time. because. we had no idea what was going on is exactly kids like victor with then went on to create the golden era in football during a ten year period the national team won olympic gold in nine hundred fifty six became european champions in one nine hundred sixty and then came second in the same competition. 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. they fed only once a day. to play football and once the war was every single yard was full of children playing football and the most famous food came from these yards in stark contrast to those who are directly affected by the tribulations of war and there were some who were fortunate because of the u.s. . territory it meant not all of it was directly in the line of fire. is now the republic of georgia and people believe in peace. there was no actual war there. will. have the

luxury of freedom and open space those closer to the front line at 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 that kind of spirit it's little wonder these boys managed to achieve what they did. some lucky ones where even between vocational. i spent my childhood to become a. cd. 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. like a cryptic. 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. victory next are denmark. perfect meanwhile in the game. five nothing elsewhere in helsinki defending champions finland had no problems against. tennis or world number one novak djokovic has described the clear the madrid masters quote impossible. trevor in the first round the

serb beating the native sixty three helping with the surface claiming afterwards should i. how to seek advice from martial arts icon chuck norris and how to 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 the. 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 the rest of the second stage in seven years darren collison and george hill 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 bulls coached to full of praise for british big dang who finished with twenty four points

against philadelphia. great energy all around game got some 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 arietta the orioles pitcher falling victim to the texas slugger a game in the third without second death for 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 i will be. on that is all your sport for now whether it's coming up very shortly. the e. limits to the sexes least

six. x. six or. six. m.m. . six of. the a. six mission and three weeks cretaceous three six in store charges frequent commenced priests frequent stuart chaifetz freaks the old fremont chancellor video for your media projects and free media and on to our t.v. dot com.

top stories this are naughty a brand new russian passenger plane the jet one hundred goes missing during a sales demonstration flight in indonesia with fifty people on board after going on wednesday. a spectacular display of fireworks enjoyed a victory day blocking russia's defeat of nazi germany in the great patriotic war that is celebrations into the grand parade in red square to all of the red army's epic efforts sixty seven years ago. the greens former prime minister yulia tymoshenko has moved to hospital from the prison and a bit to address concerns of her treatment. so that brings you up to date for the moment. we'll be back with more on this story in half an hour from now in the meantime let's head to washington d.c. for the early on the show.