julian waits for ecuador to decide on his request for political asylum within hours the chances of him leaving the u.k. without being arrested remain uncertain. moscow is not sending offensive weapons to syria and hasn't changed his position to solve the conflict there according to russia's foreign minister in an exclusive interview with. the us may give immunity. to syria's president if he attends a conference on the transition of power as part of their effort to oust the syrian leader. and fighting continues in libya with over one hundred killed in a week of tribal clashes as the interim government.

it is good to have you with us today here on our. live in moscow the fate of. could be sealed within hours as the president of ecuador is expected to make a decision on the whistle blower's request for political asylum so we can spend a second night in the london embassy of the latin american state where he came hoping to avoid extradition to sweden it's all british police say they are ready to arrest him as soon as he steps out of the front door of the embassy where this story now is who are. held under house arrest and oppressed by the government in an effort to silence a pro-democracy message to the public but we're not talking about famous political

dissident song suchi she's now free and being warmly welcomed by the british government we're talking about a western explain and a freedom of speech the charges of ever being forty against julian assange yet he still spent more than five hundred days under house arrest fighting extradition to sweden and possibly the u.s. now he's desperately hoping ecuador want him the safe haven see the latest for matic twist in the case of julian assange has once again caught the eyes of the world's media behind the ecuadorian embassy in a cell and takes a breath eat it away from the height and his supporters say that this is a dark a tale of a man who has been abandoned by his own country persecuted by the us and failed by the u.k.'s legal system but he's not looking for consular assistance he's looking for political and diplomatic assistance and he's looking for the government to stand up for and son just fight has been a long one eighteen months of legal wrangling in the resulted in the rejection of

his supreme court appeal against extradition to sweden what this was about was once julian assange gets extradited to sweden he's in prison in sweden the next thing that happens is the u.s. assuming there's an indictment largest extradition warrant in sweden eventually the u.s. gets his hands on him they stick him in a prison in the united states fears of what might await him across the atlantic may well have prompted his latest i think you'll end up actually going through some very serious charge probably life in prison if not the death penalty and it will be a stacked against those who are sitting with the bradley manning case united states now has kangaroo records rather than we'll of course these on time founded concerns as a long list of u.s. biggest he. openly calls not only for songes incarceration even though his death this guy is a traitor treasonous and he has broken every law the united states the guy ought to

be and i'm not for the death penalty so i'm not for the death penalty i want to do it illegally shoot the son of a and here's why because of his work with wiki leaks this guy has made some powerful enemies you know the collateral murder video shows american helicopter gunships shooting reporters the iraq war logs the afghan war diaries all of this cable guy leaks has embarrassed american british government freedom fighting in the twenty first century is a whole new ball game with new rules new players and unexpected me even first stange is legal team this was a complete surprise so we found out about it on twitter and say the man he revolutionized whistleblowing and three wiki leaks released groundbreaking stories has in another twist become the story himself and there are many now heaping that the next big release will be julian assange himself. r.t. london. legal experts are now in dispute over what's going to happen if ecuador

does the grand assigned asylum since there are no guarantees the u.k. will provide in my safe passage professor donald rothwell from the australian national university college of law explains the complications likely to arise. i think if it would all ease intending to remove mr sanchez with these permission to take a quick all there will be a delicate diplomatic negotiation that will need to take place between ecuador and the u.k. authorities on that matter the key issue is whether or not the immunity that the ecuadorian is will be seen to grant to science will be respected by the u.k. government and the complexity associated with that is of course that science is currently being held in the united kingdom as a result of the swedish arrest warrant he's on bio at the moment pinning the finalization of those extradition proceedings to sleep and of course he's breached by all conditions by actually spending

a night or two now the ecuadorian embassy so he is now wanted by the british police and they have indicated that it will suit your esteem. well while the world is are watching where the latest twists to assad as a legal saga will leave him he met with a leading figure from the wiki leaks website that made its founder our household name so you can watch our interview with kristen hutchinson a close friend of julian assange sure that's coming your way in about twenty five minutes. for the full story we've got it for us the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers on our t.v. . and it's a pleasure to have you with us on r.t. today russia says it has not changed its stance on syria after british prime minister david cameron claimed vladimir putin had shifted his view of president assad during international talks and the discussions when are focused on a transition of power in syria i russia's foreign minister spoke about what office

said how moscow's position and exclusive interview with r.t. is in eastern hour as he joins us live right now on the program and he said good to see you what exactly did the foreign minister have to tell you. basically foreign minister sergei lavrov very clearly rebutted those comments by david cameron that russia or more specifically president putin app the g twenty made it quote explicitly clear that russia was ready for president asa to go this is clearly not the case and the foreign minister outlined russia's stance once again. as the truth of the knitting so that if there were the president the former i did discuss syria. oh so we're. on the list that you're with us and the british were saying this or president possibly must go and then the stone those players must develop or the transition. for the syrians to agree. we

express those positions that we can let's accept for the suv which would be the changing regimes remote site this has been though a position that will and if we can. judge for the serious what the outcome of the political dialogue with. the foreign minister lavrov told me that if the transition does take place it should be accompanied by talks that would ensure safety for all sides in this conflict including those supporters of president assad we also touched on this issue of the media frenzy not just surrounding syria but specifically surrounding leaders and claims by the west specifically the us that russia is sending weapons to the country or the foreign minister said that yes russia does have contracts with syria their previous contracts and it's only four sets of weapons several days ago we have sending those but the ships the syrians we

have been saying publicly that we are implementing the calling for. which this is to supply arms to syria those armaments inside the. if it is. mostly because he is the most because he is the for air defense systems which going to be used for the gays will kill issue which can only be used to respond to an outside the us. now the foreign minister also pointed out that a lot of these claims that we're hearing a lot of the media frenzy house to do with the so-called campaign to push for regime change it's no secret that the west very much wants to see president also go with the foreign minister also you know referred slightly to of course what we heard from the department of state a couple of weeks ago specifically from hillary clinton about helicopters being delivered to syria on the foreign minister did confirm again that those were from previous contracts and that russia continues and will continue to push for

a solution to this crisis only through diplomacy. and he said now a thank you. well as a nice it was covering a part of the push to see you syria's president assad step down a briton on the u.s. and now thought to be considering giving him clemency that's if he agrees to attend an upcoming international conference on a transition of power in syria following this story for us. well the offer is being seen as a potential sweetener from britain and america to get back to the negotiating table for talks in geneva at the end of the month however the offer of clemency which could be contained in the proposal suggests that london and washington are remaining true to their mantra that despite no charges having been brought against him assad is a criminal and must be removed from power clemency offer could be crucial though if assad is to travel to switzerland as it's unlikely that he would attend talks

during which he could be packed off to the international criminal court however should assad accept an offer the question has to be asked who and what would fill the power vacuum if he steps down now there are thousands of tons of weapons on the ground in syria and enough factions within the opposition vying for power that we could see a repeat of the violence which is marred the transition of power in other countries who toppled their leaders during the arab spring. who will have to take into account the fate of those arab leaders who were not offered this kind of deal in egypt mubarak was sentenced to life in prison tunis is ben ali is in exile in saudi arabia and t.v. news audiences around the world witnessed the brutal slaying of colonel gadhafi by his own people well his personal safety aside the syrian leader must also consider what would happen to the sizable portion of the people who still support him they won't receive the same clemency and may be subject to the type of brutal reprisal

attacked which we see continuing in libya following the killing of gadhafi. peter overreporting right well meanwhile a number of cia officers are operating secretly in southern turkey distributing weapons between the syrian rebels to fight against the regime that's all according to american officials and arab intelligence officers and in syria itself people are often forced to join the armed rebellion by threats and or intimidation as maria phenomena found out. every evening in cars a man has a spends time with his grandchildren but the story is grandpa tells the kids about bad and good people aren't fairy tales they're real wonder. who is this mohamed where is he he's dead what they kill him because he didn't want to bring down president bashar assad garzon is the leader of a five thousand strong tribe his son and youngest granddaughter were shot dead by

terrorists after he refused to join the movement against the syrian regime. when i certainly am they came to me masked men carrying the al-qaeda flag with kalashnikovs and many other weapons they wanted me to demonstrate and bring my tribesmen with me then they came in the night and started shooting in my house is covered in bullet holes from floor to ceiling. flater cars and saw them on t.v. once arrested the militants confessed to many crimes and mentioned carson to. store and here's this house we were shooting and set fire next day where arranged to meet another victim and when we called him back for final details a stranger picked up when they had what is more dean what you want. yes i will give you the whole. sorry. i

was struggling to meet him and dean will bring you all the heads dogs whereas my danish bring me bashar al assad the mo tell you where. the hell is this you have families of kidnapping my healing people. sure. you will be kidnapped too we found a man who did hours later in hospital fortunately alive he told us he'd been attacked gunman stopped his car took his money and mobile and shot him in the leg. they came asking to join them three months ago they searched and me and they took my family and loved the city i was told they were following me but what should i do here's a came i don't even know why me was a little while my head dean is wondering why him mahmoud the last of the two matt knows exactly why people with guns visited his home and threatened him in his

restaurants he used to feed syrian army officers and was also delivering send which is to their checkpoints with. stallman i cannot feed the army and i now have to feed them for free free syrian army he also wanted me to lead an armed group just like many others mahmud has fled his native the city known as one of the syrian opposition strongholds which has seen several deadly terror attacks and now hiding in neighboring aleppo change in location every ten days and just like others he says he's already lost a lot but his ready to sacrifice the rest if it helps turn this dark page in this country's history while the west continues to pile more pressure on the syrian regime in the hope of the posen president assad it's remains unclear what kind of people would take his place with open support for the syrian rebels and

a rise in the use of terror tactics the question many are asking is that what kind of direction would these force take the country. ready for national our team from syria. and there we are coming to you live from the heart of moscow still ahead for you in this program just a rap on the knuckles for actions which enraged a nation u.s. troops involved in burning the koran in afghanistan in february may get off with just a reprimand. plus an ending uncertainty results of the presidential election in egypt are delayed experts saying egyptians are stuck between a rock and a hard place anyway. more than one hundred people have been killed and five hundred injured in a week long tribal clashes in libya tensions have been running high since last year's uprising which toppled moammar gadhafi with the interim government failing to stop the violence artie's middle east correspondent paula slayer reports. there

are many who say that a nother civil war in libya is on the cards this coming as you say off to the interim government announces that a week of classes southwest of the capital city of tripoli have left one hundred and five people killed and more than five hundred people injured this to happen just days after authorities called for an immediate cease fire and declared civil mountain of cities in the west of the country a military zone now we do know that a national audience brigade has been deployed between the warring factions there heavy and light with is being used that since monday the situation has been calm but this doesn't attract farm live very real volatility that we're seeing there in the region we hope in this case also reporting that at the same forty two ambulances and dozens of doctors to evacuate people and at the same time to bring in emergency supplies the situation is such because what you have at the moment is a longstanding rivalries between various tribes and also divided communities coming

to the fore and the government the really the forty's at the moment are just simply unable to impose a law in order it's also raising questions over whether or not the election for the national assembly that has been slated for july the seventh is going to go ahead it has already been postponed once due to the just tickle and technical reasons that was our middle east correspondent paula right now a u.s. military investigation into the february karrar voting by american troops in afghanistan has reportedly ruled out any criminal charges that instead recommended administrative discipline for up to seven soldiers which could mean fines or letters of. several copies of the koran worst sort of blow prompting deadly u.s. riots has apologized for the incident but would fear the light penalties could lead to a new wave of anger among afghans phyllis bennis a director of the new internationalism project believes this decision shows

a lack of a counter. it's. the relationship between the us and government in kabul has been very difficult for a long time it certainly isn't only about this question of the burning of the qur'an there's been the killing of civilians and most especially the use of drones that have been responsible for the deaths of so many civilians across afghanistan these troops that are responsible for these outrages should be held accountable and there should be severe punishment there should be severe punishment right up the chain of command to those who have put them in these situations and set up the scenarios that have led to these actions the killing of sixteen. afghan civilians just a couple of months ago allegedly one u.s. soldier this kind of activity highlights what is the reality of a long standing war that from the beginning has been characterized by the deaths of civilians and other violations of international law military occupation breeds

outrage by the people who are occupied whether that is palestinians occupied by israel whether it's afghans occupied by the united states iraqis that were occupied by the united states for so long you know that in these situations the incidents the specific incidents that get a certain amount of attention are really only the tip of the iceberg of the atrocity that is military occupation that's what has to be brought to an end. will get to the altar you will drop it shortly for now though don't forget there's always a plenty more for you on our website here for example including a case of consumer discrimination in the u.s. market which refused the right to buy goods from an apple store for having iranian . nuclear sniffer dogs discover explosives near a swedish tomic powerplant all those details will start at r.t. dot com.

it's twenty minutes past here in moscow in egypt the election committee has postponed the results of the presidential runoff in till the weekend and says it must review complaints presented by both candidates there is uncertainty too over the condition of the convicted former president hosni mubarak who is said to be in a coma saeeda the professor of political sociology at the american university in cairo thinks the run off has forced the majority of egyptians to choose between options they don't truly want. those three options now is so you will have a confrontation with. fear and that with the muslim brotherhood and move on is mobilizing against him and that would leave the country in chaos and the second scenario is the military council and the muslim brotherhood would reach an

agreement in the pakistani model in which there is the vision of the political party between the military and the muslim brotherhood so the option is clear that the muslim brotherhood is in this case there will be this violent reaction in this to be the one who. said this in the country this is the first time in seven thousand years. the president but this was not the most favorable choice he wanted. to give was that we don't want. and we do not want. this is the will start the world update now with news of an intern easy an air force plane that's crashed into a residential area in the country's capital jakarta killing at least nine the jet hit a housing complex setting a number of buildings on fire it was reportedly on a routine training flight at the time that. norwegian prosecutors in the trial of

anders breivik believe him to be insane and have recommended that the mass murderer be sent to a psychiatric hospital rather than prison judges will take their statement into account before they issue a final verdict in july or possibly organist to previous evaluations of mental health produce different results he admitted killing seventy seven people in norway last year saying attacks were necessary to stop the islamisation of the country. and arrest warrant has been issued for the man who's just been nominated as prime minister of pakistan. boudin is facing allegations over imports of an illegal drug while he. health minister he's currently the country's textiles minister but had just been nominated by the incumbent president to take over from sacked. but he was fired after being convicted of contempt of court two months ago for fusing to reopen an old corruption case against the president. but without from me for this

hour the time now to delve into the world of business are russia's main economic event of the year the same petersburg forum now underway in russia's northern capital. and business r.t. is there for us with a script of coverage on this high profile meeting about fidel this hour we'll get the latest from marina at the business desk good to see you again what was put under the spotlight at the forum today however was you know there are thousands of state policymakers bankers an adolescent one of the main concerns is how russia's every form agenda can be used to boost growth and such an energy dependent economy we know that there are about five thousand participants from almost ninety countries all pain additional attention to the euro zone problems of course in fact lottery up which has already made his speech where he not only address the debt crisis there but also that russia should position itself as an export of innovative

goods and services and one of the main goals us of course capitalize on the natural competitive advantages available ever us and he also said it's really important for the country to boost investment. we must increase investment into the economy to the level of twenty seven percent of g.d.p. by twenty team this is a realistic goal given the fact now this level stands at twenty percent of course it's private investment we're talking about here we do understand that we need to offer investors exclusive terms that's why it's the government's turn to improve the investment sentiment towards russia. and actually many analysts were discussing the effects that the eurozone debt crisis could have on the russian economy many analysts have said that this could actually weigh quite heavily on russia's reform agenda but we spoke to p.w. c. managing partner david gray and he said that's definitely not the case troubles in europe and the uncertainty that that generates does give you pause for thought in

terms of exactly when you toil the process of reducing the role of the state privatizing some of the businesses reducing the role of the state more generally in terms of its share of the g.d.p. but i don't think that should distract us i think it's very important that we see a government that's committed to that as a process because i will send a very positive signal to the markets of arab reform in general in russia and about their for the long term economic prospects of the country. and staying with the euro zone issues were of course know that spain recently asked for one hundred billion euro bailout to secure and help support its banking system well would be talking to k p m g international represents their michael andrew and he said while some say it's way too much he said it's not enough actually. what's not well understood some time which is the european banking system is probably three or four times the size of the u.s. banking system chicken markets have to be convinced that the reason actually soloed funny the way she supported guarantee these people being so you need to be always

on the upside no one knows frankly with one hundred billion euros would be enough. to bring completed when that happens the market make a judgment is the word sufficient or not or the more funds will be required but this is the right for the moment large go big it can reach the markets that you're there to support the european banking system and will bring you updates when they can on a farm in st petersburg throughout the day but if you want to know more we have more coverage on our website r.t. dot com a slash business for now let's take a look at the markets and see how you are is doing and as we can see there were about to see it it's now still makes the footsies those in over half a percent slightly m. positive territory but that sentiment of my you know last fall on because investors are really disappointed we had weak manufacturing data coming out from china also disappointment coming from the u.s. when the federal reserve said that it will not be making any quantity of easing anytime soon in fact they're expanding the operation twist occurring the bond

buying program they're excited by a two hundred sixty seven billion dollars over to rush hour we've been seeing a similar picture but now both of the boys are pointing lower the r.t.s. is losing over one percent my six a quarter of a percent and that's also because of the wind in the oil prices which are hovering around fifteen month lows but for now that's all we have time for it back to you and i thank so much see you next hour. we will be back with the headlines in just a moment to be followed by our exclusive interview with the press spokesperson for wiki leaks.

business meeting on a global scale. hundreds of deals billions in investment. the international economic forum in st petersburg on r.t. . the. line russia would be so much brighter if you knew.