who would want to be part of that jennifer whilst i respect your viewpoint i don't share your presentation of the e.u. i for one would certainly like to remain a member of it. done by says brecht it is a hugely expensive farce it was always going to be a disaster and the sooner we abandon it the better well i wish we could abandon brix it but for those who are in favor of continuing with that i see this at least we should ensure that we don't take the u.k. economy off a cliff age. well you might even say as i just watched salman shaw interviewing katoey there might have times she said united kingdom in calling britain a country britain is a state to four countries not a country thank you we've got an e-mail from teen spirit who says how alex love the new sure love it keep up the good work by the we had about changing the name to x. three whole order based more in the scotland thank you very much we're going to

stick with this name for a night but keep the suggestions coming in finally look at this amazing picture this is a message from william necco he says twenty kilos of lead sorry can't afford gold you would also go for putting scotland first they see any advertising is good advertising but here she was quality thank you p.s. you'll need to collect it well thanks very much william i think we'll send alex up the road to collect it from you. for most of the last century this city was the financial as well as the commercial side of the entire middle east because of lebanon was the switzerland of the east then beirut was the part us of the south. from. route to the presidential palace but i'm here to interview president mr load a man whose political career and compass is marked of lebanon's history as an independent nation. and on the very day

a full interview president was able to reassemble the government to prime minister saeed how he would have been plunged into a month long crisis following the shock resignation the fall of the visit to saudi arabia. preston i wouldn't refuse point blank to accept the resignation of the prime minister and through the diplomatic efforts of both the white house nearly see the palace i really come to lebanon and on this day officially rescinded the resignation. the coalition government then we assess lebanese to tallahassee and all conflicts between arab states however i ask press and i would if lebanon could really stay secure from the regional political ambitions of its neighbors one of the stumbling blocks to peace in lebanon. is to avoid lebanese community is getting drawn into the rivalry of regional powers

such as saudi arabia and iran are you confident the lebanese people can stay apart from these regional rivalries. then you could be in and never mind certainly they can keep away from this but what's happening in syria is exceptional because syria is a neighboring country and there was an incursion by the terrorists around our builders. we were obliged to act militarily the lebanese army and even hezbollah were involved have a lot of blood continued to oust them away from the borders and they took a region called color moon which is on the lebanese border then hezbollah helps syria overcome the threats and dangers are there. and mr president the sectarian difficulties across the middle east are not confined to sunni and shia divisions in

the muslim community in many countries christian communities have been persecuted in serbia and also in iraq how confident are you of the position of lebanese christians. but their kid lament and or. most certainly lebanon has a different experience than most of the arab countries gain for us there is a proportional balance between the christian and muslim citizens many whereas in other countries christians are a minority compared to the muslim population i mean is there like. how many there for christian populations have faced terrorist attacks and they were harmed more than their fellow muslim citizens. in. mr president you have political career and compass is a great deal of the period since lebanese independence from france in recent days

we've seen a renewed friend raul in terms of helping to the solve the crisis concerning the resignation of prime minister who really do you welcome this new french involvement and how do you think this will play out. here. france is a country on the shore of the mediterranean sea. the countries that are within the basin of the mediterranean sea have been neighbors since ancient times. the mediterranean was the cradle of all civilizations which spread into the west and america. many. this is why we've been cooperating with each other for a long time and we also benefit each other economically and so we are affected by each other culturally. at the us how.

are you as president of lebanon about the possibility of further is really incursions into your country. good bad. i think that's after the july two thousand and six war israel will no longer attack lebanon because it will not be able to penetrate the lebanese fronts and then here. in terms of recent developments we've seen a much more assertive rule from the new leadership and saudi arabia is this a matter which concerns you no no. no i'm not concerned by these issues not at all because we already have the national unity and this national unity prevents any danger from happening to our society recently and the. hezbollah have the considerable arsenal of weaponry which they say is to defend lebanon but many communities in lebanon itself can sound before the strength of

hezbollah how do you provide reassurance to these communities has a c.s. here at them in. any. form and. this is a political concern rather than a security issue and because everybody knows that his people largely not use their weapons in the domestic arena and except only for one time when the lebanese government took measures against it. and a slight incidence occurred which ended in two days but ever since the establishment of hezbollah in one thousand nine hundred five until today there has only been one small incident but if nothing else. some your many in here they truly are. homeless one hundred twelve. in lebanon the snow there are

one and a half million refugees from so they are as well as perhaps five hundred thousand. palestinian refugees of much longer duration what are the prospects for these refugees returning to their home countries. that are here. we are seeking to have these refugees returned to their countries. but the international community does not cooperate with us until now except for russia turkey and iran iran we hope to be able to change the opinions of the europeans and americans in this respect. certainly this issue is not easy but it is indeed a tremendous burden on our shoulders and we consider this to be a part of the in justice that's was imposed on us by the western world. need for. alarm a lot of it. in terms of lebanon as

a relatively small country. that is a huge number of refugees to have in your communities what assistance do you receive from the international community to help sustain that position and what more assistance would lebanon like to see. men. who say you know new year. lebanon has not received any international assistance in there except minor assistance for schools going to cause the number of students exceeds our capacity to take in syrian students here as for the other assistance when it is given to the refugees themselves. last week in italy you said definitively the lead in your opinion as president of lebanon the immediate crisis was over how confident are you of that position.

that i am confident because there is no disagreements among the lebanese about settling this crisis and i don't think that those who created this crisis will repeat it again and that if you do. and who do you believe was responsible for instigating the crisis which are hard to be addressed by you and other pows. some say that it was the lebanese that instigated saudi arabia how debates actually the question is who is it that executed this effort and how confident are you as president but the political balance which you have achieved over the last year can continue to secure peace and prosperity in your country. say or has this understanding will improve through time and we are working on it mr president

thank you for these answers and i want to move on to some more reflective questions about your career in politics fascinating stuff from president michel aoun in our exclusive interview much more coming up after the break. when gold make its manufacture consensus instead of public wealth. when the ruling classes protect themselves. when the financial merry go round lifts only the one percent. that's not doing the whole middle of the road signals. to the ground the real need for the world.

and what politicians to do something to. put themselves on the line to get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president or somehow want to be rich or somehow want to be rich that have to be right to be for us this is what the forecast for you in the morning can't be good for. i'm interested always in the waters of my colleagues. this should. you know. if you speak french.

it would seem the more they pushed the president. the more we learn about the media in such. how they really work. preciously little we're learning the world. welcome back to be. let's get back to our exclusive interview president. mr president some twenty seven years ago.

a year ago you were elected by a massive majority of the lebanese parliament as president ho satisfying was it for you personally to return to this place with such a democratic mandate. and it can. that's how i felt that the right has returned to its owner is. my access into power was not my objective the objective for me was to rebuild lebanon and to make it an exemplary states and this is the direction i'm working towards and this gives me perfect satisfaction i mean an f.c. you know your political career in compass is much of the history of lebanon as an independent country can you tell us how that history has evolved since

independence and what your hopes are for the future. and my current. where i got. it when i was a teenager in fact even younger than that was a mere child eight years of age i was in primary school in one nine hundred forty three. i mean you would have thought of being in and in school we put slogans on our chests and we protested in the streets against the french the no one we were calling for independence the bill that was the beginning and the plan. how to begin world war two i was even younger i mean i used to hear the names of miscellany to go stalin churchill. i memorized all of these names from the conversations between my family and my neighbors and they always used to talk about

the war. he were only really very pushy iran when they went this was the first period which had a great impact on me see the second great impact on me happened in one nine hundred forty eight men on the palestinian refugees arrived eleven on their condition was very bad. i was thirteen years back then and when they arrived i used to live in the heart of that i started to help those who were mounting the tennis for them. now we used to bring blankets and tents and give them food. but when our. afterwards great moments had a massive impact on me. in the second world war some soldiers who entered beirut assaulted some woman you know and secondly i also saw the misery on the faces of

the palestinians and the misery of being a refugee but. for a new board here so this stayed in my memory all my life. until i joined the military school in one nine hundred fifty five. that year i entered the military school and i graduated in one nine hundred fifty eight as a lieutenant colonel and part of the training included a year in the artillery college and shallow sea man in paris france. when had the. sydney. me mother of the matter a year then i returned and under all the missions that's a lieutenant's or a captain may undertake until one nine hundred sixty seven. it was in that year when i was at the borders when israel invaded the arab countries syria because

jordan and egypt. israel did not cross the borders of lebanon however as a repercussion of this war the palestinians crossed into our borders and the confrontation increased between the lebanese and the palestinians until the two year war of seventy five and seventy six broke out then. of course since nine hundred sixty seven till one nine hundred seventy six when all the military action was undertaken by us. until all the big events separated the lebanese army and divided the lebanese nation into two groups. in the arab region was backing the palestinians and the problem remained in suspense for fifteen years until nine hundred eighty nine. year old picturing that time israel invaded lebanon twice in one thousand nine hundred seventy eight and in one thousand nine hundred two. in one thousand nine hundred eighty eight the invasion was limited to the borders

around the belt area. but in one thousand nine hundred two israel invaded lebanon and reached the capital of beirut then i was the commander of the defense regiment which formed the belts around beirut. and israel were not able to penetrate the spell. but when israel arrived in beirut it took the road of zari by then i was separating west beirut from east beirut. after the withdrawal of israel i was in charge of the security of beirut and we deployed the army in all of the capital and all of the southern suburbs that has been in many ways a troubled history. but lebanon still has the highest wealth in the world if you exclude oil. home much more prosperous could lebanon be if you're successful in securing that peace between the communities and staying

free of the activities of regional powers. robbers hurly. live near nations that. are good as a mitt. and in this current situation lebanon is living under three crises of the global crisis which impacted us because we are part of the world economy the second crisis is the shutting down of the land borders of eleven on in from one side there is syria from the other side is this well we only have access to the outside world through this seat and this is difficult for us. and it has greatly affected our economy. in the suburb in this movie. theater of this of the the third crisis is the massive the syrian displacements which is costing us and continues to cost us our resources of it increased significantly of about twenty ten we had

a growth rate of eight percent now we are around one percent. we hope to climb over the one percent next year mainly between me and then i would mean. me the balance of communities in lebanon is sustained by a confessional system a government where various seats in the parliament and various offices of state i was for particular a religious communities how stable can such a system be and the are you satisfied that provides the balance for lebanon to go forward as a peaceful society. who are themes fears and this confessional system is a political system in lebanon has three parties bound by a coalition and this coalition is ruling lebanon political coalitions occur in all countries of the world. the american secretary of state rex tillerson said recently

that we must be aware of lebanon being used for proxy wars how much of a danger is that and are you satisfied that your actions and those of others. powers have removed imminent danger. thank you in layer three on your card rule where is a new year's here. most certainly it's not enough for those outside of lebanon to say that lebanese sovereignty instability must be preserved. for the lebanese people must be the first to preserve their own national unity and stability. we may want he said outside helps lebanon after all the hardships they have been through and are willing to go forward in this direction. or. i would like to enjoy the tension to the fact that the events in syria started in twenty eleven and ever since then despite all the political divisions between the lebanese room there has

been no internal clashes and when we made disagreements there were no obstacles because there were no clashes in no bloodshed between us you know making a few how it is. there. and what would your message be as president of lebanon to the major regional powers firstly to saudi arabia and then to iran. who are busy but. i think that peace provides prosperity and security for all and the war is a loss for everyone because all the resources of any country are wasted during any war and instead these resources could be used to contribute to the country's prosperity and developments we. were so proud of finally mr president the list country of lebanon is one of the cradles of civilization

and as a person has to as a trading and commercial center. how confident are you as president that you can secure the peace. really an ally think we are capable of restoring lebanon to its previous status as the switzerland of the east or three stories i believe it will go back to that status or a member now say oh but your weather and climate will still be better than what's on. there if it. would defer. that our weather and climate is warmer and warmer helps relieve people i see that lebanon is a hearts for the west and a mind for the east because our culture has a jew ality. we have a western dimension as well as an eastern dimension in our culture and they complete each other europe has a joy heart all it takes from our hearts you're

a few small cortis than more reasonable more logical and we take from them. a month earlier in the now there. was the president we wish you success peace and prosperity for the future thank you so much for appearing on the alec salmon show can i present you with the quick. thank you much. thank you so. well lebanon may have a warmer climate the press that michelin is a very cool customer given the experiences of his career it takes a great deal to ruffle his father's set of cells high ambitions but he just might be successful restoring this beautiful country to its previous position as the switzerland of the east but from the lebanon back to tasmania in the studio. what a fascinating interview with lebanon's president michel on the present exudes confidence

that he can keep lebanese society secure from each no conflicts and on the straight and narrow road to peace and prosperity however this last weekend's unrest on the streets of beirut following the trump decision to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel shows just how fragile lebanese community relations can be one wonders whether u.s. state department which had worked behind the scenes to secure the stability of the heavy government advised the president on the possible consequences to lebanon of this latest white house initiative which has also been met with near total universal international condemnation however this is still being a good week for those who believe in a prosperous future for lebanon the government is back in office and the peace secure for the time being as president i'm pretty himself the political crisis is over let us all hope that it stays that way next week will be an edge and after

a special christmas episode of alex salmond show so from alex and all of the team here we're feeding. we felt like when you all know us coming through and spoke the proper if somebody would have been told me to come down to spend my life for two punk committees or a little disturbed person with salt it was clear. every night all we were attacked by the arabs oh are we will attack and then and we will extremely shocked and saying but that's not possible i'll make those no such

scenes and then the soldiers and myself. there is both wampus in the house with all the prisoner of our bulldog revolver they all are. really much second class citizens in the. most like and i think in my head that there is no way to be able to live together without tearing down the strip club. i played for many clubs over the years so i know the game inside guides. football isn't only about what happens on the pitch for the final school it's about the passion from the fans it's the age of the shape of money just killed in a longer spend spend each year to twenty million album flying. it's an experience like nothing else on here because i want to share what i think of what i know about the beautiful game breaks it will all chance for. and thinks

it's going to. it's a. wonder when the. color of the city. blue a new look in the mood took a. little. of this i rode reserves in the right channel four in the afternoon and more room into my friend murtha where on the first instrument up on the u.s.s. a local little kid on the one that was on the beam into the sea i'm. told will. also help us out and just

a thought that the awful. u.s. regulators voted to scrap net neutrality despite protests in washington critics say the move could create a so-called internet for the elite. president vladimir putin concludes his annual mara think you're in a session with journalists answering more than seventy questions in almost four hours and we've got the main points from that also this hour. palestinian protesters clash with israeli police in a nonstop wave of anger over jerusalem as muslim nations reject the u.s. role in the middle east peace process.