the u.s. and its allies gear up for a possible strike in syria in the wake of an alleged chemical attack near damascus while russia warns against jumping the gun and repeating the iraq scenario. that's as u.n. inspectors had to the scene of the alleged attack but it's convoys targeted by sniper fire that syrian officials say came from the rebels. freshly exclaimed the americans and a state even spied on the united nations have waters while across the atlantic washington surveillance scandal threatens to influence the chambres german election . and try and from triumph to despair we'll look at how libya has resurrected the same control methods used by the toppled regime as the country's dragged back into chaos two years after the revolution.

this is our day coming to you live from the russian capital i'm marina joshie welcome to the program while a foreign intervention in syria looks more likely than ever with countries including the u.s. britain france and turkey considering military action following last week's alleged chemical attack they blame the assad regime for the assault despite a found that u.n. inspectors are still yet to yog line their findings from the site meanwhile the vehicle carrying the u.n. team has reportedly come under sniper fire while heading to the area where a cameco attack apparently took place russia earlier warned the west against giving in to what it calls the opposition's provocations and interfering in the conflict the foreign minister is due to give a news conference on the situation in syria this hour we are in stand by for this

and we'll be bringing you that as soon as it starts. now the u.s. and many of its allies seem impatient to wait for the u.n. findings with american warships already converging the other war torn state and the british are preparing to join them are just more if a national looks at where they are confidence comes from him blaming the syrian government for using chemical weapons and were might lead. united nations experts are in syria to investigate whether chemical weapons were used during the ongoing conflict finally but even before they start a senior u.s. administration official has said there is very little doubt that chemical weapons were used by the syrian regime against civilians these are the arguments we have told were given to president obama as proof the reported number of victims talkin the number explain how they say during world war two up to eighty million people

were killed what does that tell us about how they died the next argument to the american ministrations leaves them in little doubt assad attacked his own people with chemical weapons is the reported symptoms of those who were killed or injured symptoms of course speak for themselves but how does that answer exactly who was behind this u.s. intelligence cites witness accounts that is hardly a reliable argument for syria since the beginning of the conflict there almost two and a half years ago each side has accused the other often acquainted charter while covering events from different cities in syria those undercover manto or rebel control i often matt and talk to witnesses from both sides whose accounts contradicted one another the truth was never easy to find even on the ground well it would if chemical weapons were used in syria why doesn't automatically point to the syrian

regime isn't that still to be investigated it all appears to be based on assumptions we still believe that they don't have the capability to use chemical weapons that has not changed again we're looking into the facts on the ground but there's no reason if there's nothing to hide for the regime not to let the investigative team do you know with the u.n. team is approving into that the same assumptions that the opposition doesn't it. to use these kinds of weapons yes we're. meanwhile major world media are bombarded audiences with glow task pictures of dead people including children allegedly killed by chemical agents allegedly used by the syrian regime and all that during the military escalation in the region the pentagon is moving its naval forces closer to syria three destroyers already in the mediterranean ready and for a variety of attacks all of them carrying up to three hundred cruise missiles more

scope warns the west against repeating the tragic mistakes all of these is remain a center of events of ten years ago in which he was in false information that the iraqis processed weapons of mass destruction the united states launched a reckless enterprise with consequences that everyone is well aware off russia's foreign minister spokesperson said well this small tube colin powell the u.s. secretary of state at that time presented to the u.n. security council as proof led to disastrous consequences will history repeat itself . moscow. well earlier i talked to broadcaster neil clark who is a long focused on covering the middle east and he told me that whatever the u.n. inspectors find it won't alter america's and britain's stance to see these weapons inspection teams going to this site and whatever they do the syrian government will be blamed the u.s. would have made that quite clear william hague britain's made that quite clear they

believe the syrian government for this whatever the evidence or lack of evidence and there is no evidence that the syrian government ordered this massacre with chemical weapons yet they're still going to blame because they want war to go. before weapons traces or they may not and if they do that of course the us has said quite clearly the syrian government is the only party capable of using chemical weapons surveyed by the mind of if they don't then the syrian government will be accused of moving them so the syrian government be damned if they do and damned if they don't whatever the un inspection teams find the decision has already been taken i think. well syria's president refutes the claims that his army was behind a chemical massacre calling it an affront to common sense in an interview with a russian newspaper he slammed the u.s. for a finger pointing without gathering any proof sean thomas has the details the president bashar al assad in his interview directly refuted international claims of allegedly chemical weapons use and his forces using it against his people the bashar al assad in his interview said that it just doesn't make sense it refutes

logic this is what he had to say statements made by the u.s. and other politicians violate common sense and ignored public opinion in their own countries it's nonsense they threw accusations first and collect evidence later and the one doing this is the u.s. a powerful country now the military option has always been on the table in fact the western powers have been trying to go through the u.n. channels to get some sort of a military intervention however this is been blocked at the u.n. security council by china and by russia also the western powers are kind of sitting on the fence recognizing the fact that there are al qaeda linked groups among the syrian rebels and so by backing the rebels they're actually backing al-qaeda so they wouldn't be fighting terrorists as well in his interview bashar al assad seem to recognize this fact another obstacle to

a military intervention is that everybody understands the syrian conflict has nothing to do with the nation's revolution and demand for reforms it's terrorism in this situation whiston leaders come till the citizens we're going to syria to support terrorism. well russia has been urging caution all along in fact they are saying that the western powers should not jump to conclusions they should wait until the u.n. investigation has been completed before making any decision because otherwise it would be a tragic mistake in fact and sergei lavrov the foreign minister of russia made a phone call to his counterpart the united states john kerry in which he wanted to draw attention to the implications of what it would mean for the middle east and even north africa as an entire region if they did decide to proceed with a military intervention and in fact russia is hoping that the u.s. and russia and other countries will meet in geneva to try and find a peaceful solution a solution on the diplomatic level as well well less than ten percent of americans

back in the idea of military intervention in syria and that's according to a recent survey and how we're activists time barry explains why people in the u.s. are far from enthusiastic with the prospect of involvement in yet another war for the last twelve years the united states has been fighting. a war of choice in iraq it war of choice in afghanistan that turned out to be longer battled it over longer for war than the at then the vietnam war which also was a war of choice the american people are war weary we know that what's going on inside syria americans even the average american know it's a proxy war we know we're not going to get the correct information from our government and we know that our government officials are only interested in continuing what would be a fear tactic of a continuation of war after war after work to keep the american public in check in

the american public is no longer going to buy into it. well just to remind our viewers maybe just joining us we are in stand by for the news conference where russian foreign minister sergei lavrov will be addressing the situation in syria to stay with us for that and also on our web site r.t. dot com tell us what you think the preparations for a military response could mean well let's now take a look at the picture that we have at this point in our web site those of you have already participated in the fact most of you at this point believe it's washington trying to distract public attention away from its own problems at home but just under a third of you think the u.s. will go ahead with the attack despite president obama's cautious words now the rest of the respondents are divided between believing it's being done to get leverage over the u.n. investigation or whether it's all just the pentagon's plan b. . now it seems even the united nations isn't immune to being snooped on by

america's scandal plagued national security agency the recently published information leaked by edward snowden indicates the world body is new york h.q. been caught in its controversial spy net marina port now has the details. america's national security agency allegedly cracked the encryption guarding the united nations' internal video conferencing system that's according to german der spiegel the publication says that the n.s.a. surveillance of the united nations took place last summer and three weeks after hacking into the video system america's spy agency had allegedly boosted its number its number of such decrypted communications from twelve to four hundred and fifty eight now for anyone who doesn't already know this spying on the united nations is illegal under international law der spiegel also reports that the u.s. maintains a monitoring program called the special collection service in over eighty embassies and consulates around the world often without the knowledge of the host country now

many may be wondering why is it that the united states would want to spy on the united nations with spy on its allies because as as we've been reporting and as u.s. president barack obama said himself recently the n.s.a. is in place to protect american security and target only potential terrorists what we do with it or some mechanisms where we can track a phone number or e-mail address that we know is connected to. now it's unclear how spying on the united nations and international partners coas coincides with america's war on terror if anything what many critics are saying is that what may come out of the n.s.a. is worldwide surveillance is a loss in confidence and reliability in the united states because you have to think about it if you have a friend that you think is your friend that you trust to find out is always spying

on you is listening to what you're saying is watching what you're doing is reading what you're typing those that relationship still stay srong and that is a question that is clearly coming to light not only following this report but those questions have been coming to light over the past months ever since edward snowden blew the whistle on n.s.a. spying programs. well foreign intervention in syria looks more likely than average with countries including the us britain france and turkey considering military action following last week's alleged chemical attack they blame the acid regime for the assault despite the fact that u.n. inspectors are still yet to line their findings from the site we now go live to the news conference given by russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov and let's listen in but it was just uses a serious concern. the. studio needs to raise a growing and confrontational days in sight he said basing on the claims that the

government of syria has applied chemical weapons on the twenty first of august police went on this one pretext. but a build up is witnessed and the. whole is going to have threats and. military force will be used against asad regime who should be going along with you for washington london paris and additionally you can say to that they have put a little cogent evidence. to me because through fs or or when you say that because of the syrian regime is guilty but the calmed present prescribe the seventy one says they haven't been able to do the social circle but lay off much of malta you know they've always been known that the red line has been crossed and can be no delay to mean that thing these actions run counter to their cause they fix it with their duty to me by smearing drawn by the g eight leaders during the dog.

and the declaration black president black and white that the nanny. those no boots information on the use of chemical weapons in syria should be fairly and professionally investigated and the results of the suggestions as to cation should be submitted to the un security council. and those jades summit thirty six months who now and people who deal with them struck off the lease and called he tried to assume the role of the investigators and the security council needs me to say where in the us we have been adamant police is important even. investigating. claims that chemical agents are used to my type of thing used and. like investigating this situation one shouldn't analyze food or the information that secularists and. that and questions the use of the chemical weapons by the governmental forces that has

a lot of comments made by professional. experts from the u.k. u.s. and other western countries that state that the reason with no proof that these media images are substantiated in some blogs the reason for mation that these three d. images and religious group posted on the sites are was had been posted hours before the chemical at tech against the opposition forces was analysis by the t.v. channels with those who want to take costs to proceed with the military scenario are not satisfied with yesterday's accord reached by the syrian government with the experts are you going to ice the on the ground or in c. to visits to the regions where supposedly these chemical agents noxious agents are used so these accords of yesterday are shrugged off on the pretext that it's

a belated one and the opponents say that in five days one could have destroyed all the evidence but we have the question why our western partners that on now so concerned over the. whole of this disappearance of their evidence. but didn't care about the preservation of the proofs when their next bit. sol wanted to visit that place to investigate the supposed use of chemical weapons there on the eighteenth of march there are now no concern at that time there were no concerns that evidence would disappear but the russian experts carried out their own investigation back then on the night on the incident on the nineteenth of march in line with the cry to. of the o p c w and presented a professional comprehensive report to the and security council members this is

a substantiated pay part of your program as against those claims of cogent evidence that are made now that's the bashar al assad is guilty of the scenario of the twenty first of august this year so we have a question. because the chemical attack of the twenty first of all goes to was announced when the axelrod's had it slightly if the swedish specialist sellstrom arrived in damascus and had already coordinate their work and the modalities of their peroration there was no and that very many serious analysts. wonder. is there any sense for the syrian government to have used the chemical weapons under those conditions i have just cited and the information and knowledge about the good. chemical attack happened at the very moment when russian american experts were preparing for another meeting to prepare to convene as an eva and

usually have a conference and this. will definitely wark against this new group meeting this is dark less probably this might be one of the aims of the pursuit by the. a possible source of this news piece of news the opposition wants no talks this is obvious and they say that it would. only agree to unconditional capitalization of the regime of their last said regime and these approaches will be further backed by the information campaign that has now been unfolded in favor of the military with the resolution of the syrian crisis and. tracking the developments we can see that as soon as a chance just to. sort things out politically and peacefully attempts to derail them by immediately take note of this was the case so there are

beleaguered observers and the peace plan of kofi annan and the observer mission of the united nations to syria and now we're going says similar timed to subvert the russian american initiative as of the seventh of may this year to convene an international conference to fully implement the vision he would communicate of the thirtieth of june twenty eighth. but it's unlike school to get their representatives of the syrian government who agreed. to send their delegates without any preconditions the opposition so far off to this moment five months past the accord. with did not agree so i'd like to understand what signals oppositional it is received from their sponsors. as regards the preparation of the conference let me cite the daily beast website an american about side the

statements made by the national coalition. that the americans want americans to say to the opposition leaders you will sit down on the table and say that you require they of. deposing of us they will not agree and in this case. the deal will emerge for the seeing. which is the so if there is no resignation of acid what will emerge and i hope that this is not true yes yesterday i spoke with mr kerry yes secretary of state and he kind of the commitment to washington national conference they keep walking with the opposition has said to ensure their participation and i called on like call it . makes a coordinated signals and i message sent called next messages to all the related parties of the conflict told the government the groups of opposition that there is

no alternative i believe to call settlement to buy a direct dialogue of the geneva two conference this is what we're doing our contacts with damascus and all groups of syrian opposition and we're committed to this and that was new to keep the provision of the declaration which is of utmost important made a glock jade summit to bundle it is stated that the government. and oppositional efforts should be a joint and just to calm but terrorist together to. make them leave to squeeze them out of the consider and add a bit of public and i believe this should be the focus of all the efforts of it j.t. played as an old national community. as against the military build up of assault groups and inciting confrontation we had this movie before in iraq and leave am not a single case of the military into favoring us intervention resulted in things

improving and lives standards improving most of the belies ation means the lights on the contrary the region is destabilized bits of. in an unprecedented way so everybody should be responsible should act with utmost importance responsibility pardon me work together in concert as was agreed by our leaders in lock summit in june this year for now i'm ready to take your questions so call exactly the first question if you would on russia twenty four to be channel . russia twenty four to be channeled in a banal law concerning geneva two i'd like to ask you a question there's been a lot of talk about this conference and you said it's very important to hold it in near future any specific dates. so wanted struggled for political as you can understand. it to hold

a conference one should fix the number on the makeup of the participants. and establish it after the russian yes initiative was announced on the seventh of may the government said that it would be ready to send that delegates without any delegates without any preconditions. aim of russia and you asked spain borne in mind that the talks. should be in place should be conducted so that really geneva communique as of june last year should be fully implemented the position did not voice and you can santos they said they wanted some additional guarantees additional strings that at the start of the year then leader of the oppositional coalition mr howard to improve the data that he was ready for talks well then in prague conditions off towards he was quickly and immediately deposed

and the current opposition leaders state that when you move a little you're critical of that. with the limits williams. the military balance alignment of forces should be restored so that they can visit and attend the conference and guarantee should be provided at that delegation of assad would soon have the declaration of capitalization are ready for this concert and would submit told the powers to the opposition which rounds counter to the geneva communique of last year and which is the basis of the russian american initiative that has lead to this communique said says that the government and the opposition groups should be in a called on the parameters of the transition period and on the establishment of the cat take. that would be bad the future elections and kind of situation so now it's not about fixing the date or shadowing the conference and try

to dissuade those who are still has it and so the regime who still has it and. that they did that position is too negative to proceed with organizational. and procedural matters has to do with and in line with their codes we have reached with their medical partners with united states tried to work with them and as yesterday mr kerry assured me that reassured me he commits to have the opposition in place at the geneva conference in a constructive mood without any conditions in their minds as soon as we have this consensus that we could proceed with the discussion of less dramatic questions like that was based on some other groups that are being trusted

with it being represented at this conference they want to be part of the united syria it's a single state they want to negotiate at the limits. the borders of the frontiers of they all told the main and the call of external but disciplined souls who must be. subject to negotiation iran candidates she is. the most problematic a she will believe that this country plays the paramount role of paramount importance as regards water happens to days in syria and those who it's not indeed stakeholders to the conflict should be present at the negotiating tables and there are some other states that we are willing to but space in geneva two conference but they have adopted the. subject of a partial stance saying that iran does not deserve it it's a confidence but it's not about prizes to be handed out it's not

a sort of gift giving it's going to be a meeting of a group of states but it's the worst we've seen to have the highest level of very present haitian so that all there but it's the stakeholders to the conflict should be represented at the conference you know. timelines women who are named september was named but i believe that it's not realistic now it's not viable so we should. get a good deal with the substance of the conference as soon as possible and that will we will be able to negotiate the exact date further on thank you which reuters. reuters agency has its initial could you tell me again if the u.n. inspectors will find the evidence of using vehicle weapons by also the regime will russia reconsider its position and maybe vote for military intervention into syria

in the security council or maybe abstain in the security council as it happened in libya case and secondly does russia have a plan b. if u.s. begins to military intervention into syria is the russia ready to use other forces besides diplomatic statements to protect its stance as well the questions of if are not used. at press conferences i'll just like to make it clear one thing the experts which are now in syria. have the mandate to determine where the future three use of chemical talk scenes for begun by international conventions took place and what were the agents they are not mandated to carry out the verdict about who uses these huge agents government forces or one of the multiple opposition groups be that the free will.