mole's the opening of another front line after more than a decade of war this time planning an assault via the ballot rather than the battlefield. british military faces up to allegations of torture as an inquiry is shown graphic gruesome evidence that iraqis were abused at the hands of u.k. troops. must be dealt with a clear and credible military threat and israel's benjamin netanyahu pulls no punches on iran calling diplomacy a waste of time and calling once again for the taking up of arms against iran and its alleged nuclear ambitions. nine am in moscow i matras are good to have you with us here on r t our top story after more than a decade of war hundreds of billions of dollars spent vast numbers killed we may be

about to see a democratic election of a stable and representative government in afghanistan though maybe not the one many expected or would even the like to see. let me sit to the afghans is that we will do what we choose they stroll safe stable democratic afghanistan living in peace and stability. we want that country to be run by the us for the afghans with an afghan army and police force to provide security in that stability . but it may not take the form that either david cameron speaking there are many others wanted or even expected the taliban hinting it may form a political party and even contest the upcoming presidential elections and by a like ounce it does have a solid chance at the ballot this map shows you the regions that are either poised for a taliban comeback or have areas that are already heavily under their control according to data from the carnegie endowment let's get more on the taliban chances now at

the ballot box with former afghan m.p. and political analyst daoud sultanzoy thank you very much for joining us here on our t.v. so you know how fragmented the political landscape of afghanistan is what do you make of the taliban's chances in the voting booth. it's a very interesting situation it's not afghanistan is not the afghanistan of the one thousand nine hundred ninety one nine hundred ninety s. and a lot has changed but at the same time we lost some opportunities the world also. plundered their chances and we also did the same so the people are a confused people are not fully supporting the taliban's all of that agenda is that they were. proposing earlier but it is up to the taliban to show their real face not the face that is pushed by the british intelligence or the pakistani intelligence because this last move from

a stumble in this fellow announced. a fellow by the name of michael sample of the british fellows also. in that so this is a bit confusing for the people of afghanistan but i hope that they will do so there through phases to agenda and interesting that you say true face what is the taliban's true face at this point because it has just been kind of a shadowy presence in the country this insurgency and they've been used to running an insurgency but actually having people to put forward faces to show people and actually take part in the government what do you think would happen you know every paramilitary group looks larger than life when they're in battlefields and fighting guerrilla war but when they come to a political front then. proof is is there and these people have to for the present an agenda to the people of afghanistan and present to team. up on the old agendas will not be acceptable to the afghan people now the

u.s. and its allies have spent more than a decade now or about a decade trying to get the taliban out of afghan life out of military control out of any kind of political control of the country could they afford now the chance for it to actually take a role in the country do you think that they would allow them to become a legitimate party or would they say as far as we're concerned no taliban in any leadership role in afghanistan. i think the west is confused the west is looking for an exit a very speedy exit and there i'm afraid that they will probably do whatever is possible whatever is convenient to put up a very very tedious farmy law and a very temporary fix and they leave and then things will go back to where it started that's the problem in that region has to realize that we have to find

sustainable fixes for this problem not a temporary face saving thing for the nato to leave and then leave a big problem for afghanistan for the neighborhood so if the taliban were to come back into a kind of leadership role in the country do you think it would be the taliban and the imposing sure real law. kind of dictatorship that it was before the u.s. invasion or do you think it would actually have a legitimate role to play in something of a democracy there this is a this is the main question this is the biggest question and when i said true face that's what i meant they have to come in spell out their agenda and their their ideology so far has been the old system they want em out out of afghanistan not republic of afghanistan and so far they have not changed that tone and unless they change that the people of afghanistan will not be supporting it follow up on

that want to reverse things back to to the stone age and we cannot afford that afghanistan has to live in this world in this neighborhood in afghanistan this is an islamic country kind of one cannot make us better muslims than we are do you think and aleck did taliban could save face so to speak for the western groups there well they say they may say ok well the taliban is here but this time it's by boat so that's good enough. i think that's the fear when i mentioned mr mike sample who is a british fellow who was involved in this announcement in istanbul or at least he had something to do with it this is what the worry is the people of afghanistan that maybe they want to come with a quick fix and just bring the face saving situation where the taliban will win an election and then they will wash their hands and leave and then leave a mess for us in this region and for this country now it's no secret that many afghans are weary of the current government situation there in the political

situation there could the taliban win via a protest vote. i think that policy. as i said earlier the taliban are looking larger than life in the military front at the same time having said that this government has so much so many problems that western world have lost their authority billet in this government has no credibility so in that sort of a situation that taliban had they've been smart they would have scored big in the political front but they don't have a political agenda that's why they they're all sort of fumbling but i think the taliban can take advantage of this void and fill that vacuum but they have to come forward to it will wither when it's a strategy to convince the people of afghanistan that the they mean business and they're prepared for the new afghanistan not the old afghans all right daoud sultanzoy thank you very very much for your insight. violence across egypt still to come. government buildings towards seven hundred injured protesters

police and the army clash in port say following the funerals of those who have already died in the turmoil. but first shocking photos have been shown at a public inquiry into allegations british troops killed and even tortured iraqi soldiers after a firefight in two thousand and four u.k. military has denied charges that echoed the treatment suffered by detainees at the hands of u.s. troops in abu ghraib archies probably boyko as more from. victims and families the victims say that british troops took a number of iraqis from the battlefield and then murdered and tortured them but the ministry of defense strenuously denied that british troops on lawfully killed and the iraqis in fact the evidence given by the ministry of defense is so different to the evidence provided by the victims and their families that it's resulted in this very long three year delay this inquiry was ordered back in two thousand and nine

so three years later it's only just coming to fruition and i'm joined in the studio by christopher stanley of rights watch u.k. this isn't the first inquiry of its kind of already had this very embarrassing case of the killing of a back in two thousand and three is this potentially another big embarrassment for the british military it would be a big embarrassment if they allowed it to become one which i think is what they obviously do not want to know the embarrassment on the hounds because it was a damning inquiry against the ministry of defense against the process by which investigations were undertaken against the death of innocence of the iraqi civilians they are trying to manage it and put a cap on it these are people getting away with grave human rights violations including killing without punishment or due process of law crestor stanley from rights watch in case thank you very much and of course the issue of iraq is a very sensitive one at the moment we've just heard reports that william hague the foreign minister has urged in a private memo urged ministers not to talk about iraq in the run up to the ten year

anniversary of the invasion later this month. joe wattle political scientist at a london school of economics thinks british and u.s. forces should face up to the crimes they committed during the invasion of iraq. being the city is on the scoundrels will still will continue to come out of this invasion illegal invasion of the country and i think the united states and within should be held responsible they have asked the iraqi government and the plans for some four or five iraqi is whom they accused of killing two british attacking forces and they thought they they put them on trial here in britain and in iraq and they condemned them so they condemn inaki citizens for killing invading force they should also condemn british forces that invaded in. remember artie's not

only on air also on line there you can find the berlin wall still dividing the once again is a clash with police protesting against the demolition of what's left of the historic barrier dot com to find out what could replace the city's iconic landmark. and emails and phone calls may not be enough pentagon analysts look for ways to transcribe real world conversations in a giant computer database should you watch every word from now on old find out he answered r.t. dot com. the egyptian city of port side locked in a cycle of violence the funerals of those who died in fighting sunday served only as a catalyst for yet more clashes government buildings set on fire police and the army

locked in street battles turmoil started after suspects held over severe football violence last year were moved to prisons outside the city are true has more from cairo. we're seeing very bloody and chaotic scenes coming from the coastal city of port saeed this comes after a funeral for three people killed at the ministry of health announced five people into a killed three civilians. to leave the city should be very confusing reports of the army and the police fighting each other although we have no confirmation on that the military maintains that the armed forces are in the streets to protect the police and help the police in this situation that is gradually descending this comes ahead of a very important verdict on saturday on this massacre at this point saeed football must go to the kurds february last year with the cash that you broke out on sunday august thirty nine of the defendants related to this case that were moved from the prison that they were in from and he's found out about this from

a very angry when security directorates where they started fighting with police even in the funeral imports which is really related towards this verdict and saturday people were chanting against the muslim brotherhood the ruling party here behind the ring party here and also against the president has been a lot of anger in the streets of cairo and also the major cities across the country since the second anniversary of january to do find revolution here on tahrir square and sit in that continues even though security forces attempted to clear it so yesterday morning in fact there's been clashes actually in the capital small clashes on the cornish and what people are saying here is they've seen no change there's major economic worries of the country is below the poverty line people are against this i.m.f. loan that the four point eight billion dollars loan that said the president is trying to push through they also against the constitution who they say was. drafted by an islamist dominated assembly and in addition we've got parliamentary elections

on the horizon that people say you know shouldn't be happening so there's many many grievances here with these clashes erupting across the country and no sign of any of this violence abating anytime soon. and here in cairo further fueled by the visit of u.s. secretary of state who the opposition believed was there only to push washington's views john kerry then continued on to saudi arabia to send joint warnings to iran and syria's leader journals and clarke things allying with a country that has no democratic credentials though undermines the message well these autocratic go states the way which the u.s. has for decades maintained its control of the very important region having these kind of leaders that the undemocratic leaders in saudi arabia bahrain. the way the u.s. maintain its control of this very strategically important region and of course now there's a big problem because these governments the regimes in the gulf are coming under increasing pressure and we see now quite clearly that the u.s.

because these great promoters of democracy when it comes to bahrain and saudi arabia not siding with the protest is not siding with the opposition they are in syria on the contrary sending more military hardware to these countries and they also according crackdowns on the opposition a new generation are ready to take the reins of china lacking little ambition. precedented economic expansion a military cash injection see beijing intensify a march towards becoming a superpower our analysis of the national people's congress still to come. plus a lot of fear shows its devotion to the idea of joining the euro zone despite the block's economic woes critics say though it's bartering financial safety for political advantage. israel's prime minister made his feelings clearer than ever on iran benjamin netanyahu told a meeting of the u.s. most powerful israeli lobby is that negotiations with tehran were a waste of time and only military action may make the difference or he's policy or

reports on his hawkish message these were the prime minister is at it again interested in his plea for topic words alone will not stop iran. sanctions alone will not stop iran sanctions must be a couple with a clear and credible military threat if diplomacy and sanctions fail strong statements from a leader and bold and by new quick on power on yahoo bornstein making israel public affairs committee iran is using international negotiations to buy time so it can precede head with its nuclear program a message he's warmed to in the past. how do you stop well you have to put greater pressure on you have to upgrade the sanctions and they have to know that if the sanctions and diplomacy fails they'll face a credible military threat that's essential nothing else will do the job

and it's getting closer. so much for the sigh of relief many breathed following last month's parliamentary elections the surprising win by saying ten pro peace political parties prompted many to believe netanyahu would back down from his threats to strike iran ask those on the street who voted against netanyahu they feel they message was clear take your finger off of the trigger in your three to attack iran give economic sanctions and diplomacy a chance but analysts on so sure netanyahu has any intention of toning down the rhetoric and the ten year old is a man which is very much concerned about his position in history and he understands that now his third or by ministership i'm afraid that one off the reasons that he would like to foster taking against iran is to place himself at the history of the israeli people and it's making the israeli public nervous daniel be an obvious company sells a system that provides ventilation in bomb shelters in times of chemical or

biological attacks he says each time it on yahoo mentions he ran the number of queries goes up. some people prefer not to think of the threat but it's a bear and they know it so we have crimes just calling to find out about the system but who have difficulty deciding to buy one and then we have some people who are more alert these are the people who as soon as there is some tension in the media will call and order the system you know a lot of worry is good for business and that's really help problem either and we were so many money go. on that matter what he is is an israeli graphic designer who accidentally created an online movement after posting a facebook message declaring that israel would never bomb iran are the israelis quickly created the own posters with the same message and he remains responded in kind but they're up against netanyahu and he's more powerful message i think

a big part of it is people are voting out of fear out of you know being afraid of a walker coming in he's the one you know i think the war will end just speculation about a possible israeli strike on iran is also keeping foreign investors away many away we that while war might mean big business for some it spells disaster for others policy r.t. tell of. air power conference also saw hundreds of activists protesting against the u.s. close relationship with israel medea benjamin a human rights campaigner thinks people should be concerned about the nature of the meeting. apac is really a danger to our national security a pac is pushing the policies of a foreign government in israel which is not always in the interests of the united states and i should say is not always in the interests of the israelis the there i think this push towards war with iran is disastrous for everybody in the region as well as us here in the united states we're looking at

a conflagration of tremendous proportions so much so that there are those in the u.s. military that are trying to hard to stop this because they know how disastrous the u.s. getting into such a conflict would be in fact it would be very easy for iran to retaliate against u.s. embassies against u.s. troops that are stationed in many places around the world so i think that this push by apac is really something that all of us who are rational human beings and know that a war would be so disastrous have to pressure our president not to follow the lines of a pac and instead to pursue diplomacy not just rhetoric of war though but also cash that's dominating this year's apec conference pro israel lobby is want to ensure aid to the country is exempt from the looming u.s. funding cuts known as sequestration we're interested in your opinion on whether the cuts will affect israel let's see how the views are stacking up so far in our

online poll almost half the respondents so far think the israeli lobby won't allow the funding for to be slashed working through legislators about a third hold the opposite view saying all foreign handouts must be reduced regardless sixteen percent think the aid is too important to the country survival to be cut and a minority just six percent say the lobby would agree to the cuts but only if the u.s. in turn backs israel in a potential strike on iran log on to our g dot com and share your views on our website. austerity protests across europe and empty government coffers latvia may not seem

to care the country still formally appealed for membership in the euro zone in two thousand and fourteen. was a member of the european parliament though things latvia is putting its financial recovery in jeopardy by joining a desperate club led via wants to be a member of nato of the e.u. the eurozone so want to be member of a big a bloc nato i can't imagine the e.u. a can imagine the eurozone at the moment is not the joy because led out of the crisis in two thousand and ten why did that its currency and the economic recovery . actually be doing quite well so. that you want to lend. it haven't even the ones in the back. and then introduce those cannot. and will have. gone through these and these look a lot of things and that is the economic downside to perhaps the political

advantage to the number of a bigger club. when having a home is just too expensive skyrocketing real estate prices see berliners forced out as the highest bidders for more prosperous areas grab the prime spots that still to come. china's prime minister is open the grandiose national people's congress in beijing this year is more significant than most because there will be a handing over of power to a new generation of party leaders delegates will also rubber stamp the country's economic social and military plans among these aims is continued still unparalleled economic growth plus a double digit boost to military spending but environment and anti-corruption measures also on the table reflecting concern over pollution and abuse of power by senior politicians james corbett editor of japan based news site says there were a number of topics mentioned for the first time. where we saw

a couple of the main issues on the table are increasing calls even among the party officials by an increase. in calls for easing of regulations on private capital in china's economy and we're also seeing another big issue right now is the idea of environmental concerns obviously there's been a lot of problems with air quality in china as they still continue to develop so that's a huge concern in terms of the foreign relations i think that's something we're going to have to see play out in the coming months but we already have indications that there are more people within the party itself that are calling for china to go its own way in the east china sea so we'll see how that develops with japan china and the us realize that their economies are intimately linked at this point and i think that in more ways than they'd like to admit they are actually on the same side of this conflict as it were and i don't think china can allow the u.s. economy to sink any more than the u.s. economy can cut its ties with i know so no matter what the political rhetoric might

be i think there's actually more collaboration than there is conflict and and that's underscores what's going on in the political arena. turning now to some other stories making headlines across the globe and as well as president hugo chavez suffering from a new serious respiratory infection he returned recently from cuba after surgery for cancer is now being cared for at the military hospital in the capital caracas rallies in support of chavez and protests by the opposition calling for more info about his health have been frequent over the last few weeks. thirty six people killed when a plane came down in goma a city in the eastern part of the democratic republic of congo the locally run aircraft crashed in heavy rain as it was trying to land the country as a poor air safety record plane accident at another airport back in two thousand and eleven left more than seventy dead. syrian rebels claim to be a near total control of the key northern city of rock this comes after heavy

fighting with the syrian army that's holding out of the intelligence headquarters government troops remain at the airport outside the city footage has emerged showing fighters destroying a statue of the former leader and the father of the current president bashar al assad. berliner residents fear they may soon be forced out of the german capital because their income can't keep pace with housing cause real estate becoming unaffordable for locals and people from richer regions are swooping in p.r. all over checks it out. who are both sexy that so. lovingly described his city. now some berliners feel this way of life is coming under threat it isn't here if you keep securing kreuzberg we've seen big changes over the past ten years more and more apartment buildings have been built in areas where people traditionally used to rent what we're seeing is people being forced from their homes real estate prices in berlin have shot up by thirty two percent since two

thousand and seven well ahead of the german average this is resulted in some tenants being a victim as their rented flat says sold from underneath them prompting anger and demonstrations from those who see the city's identity being sold to the highest bidder isn't. our problem here is that berlin is turning into a city split between the haves and have nots rising prices of forced people who have lived here for years to move out and those who have come makes. this year has seen an increase in the amount of protests against the gentrification of lynn as well as growing resentment towards other germans and foreigners moving into the city for the most part the public image of this still poor but sexy however times are changing the new emerging face of perlin is certainly stylish however it's also becoming increasingly an affordable due to the demand from people wanting to live

in a desirable location economically viable and politically secure the lynas becoming the place of choice for southern europeans to invest in during turbulent times in their own countries. can't turn sales and rents property to italians. one of the main reasons our customers are buying here is that there is no trust in the italian economy. for the banks people see an apartment in berlin as a good way to preserve the value of their staving us. claims that the real estate boom is stealing in seoul. this is a progress berlin is developing sure it presents some challenges but this is just the same as the when the wall came down and people moved into new areas if anything this creates the multiculturalism that makes berlin what it is this new housing developments all.