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>> and now "bbc world news." >> the spiral of violence continues in syria. in spite of the un deadline for withdrawing armed forces from towns and cities. final diplomatic moves start the plot -- stop the plan from collapsing. the foreign minister met his counterpart in russia. >> and we demand from our syrian government to implement our obligations of the plan. >> britain can extradite five terrorism suspects to the united states. welcome to bbc world news. also on this program, chinese arrest of a disabled activist. and quick action by school children saved their bus after

the driver collapsed at the wheel. hello and welcome. russia has expressed its for the international peace plan for syria to bring an end to the country's conflict. speaking in moscow, the russian foreign minister reiterated calls for president assad's regime to end the violence that has been going on for more than one year. after meeting with the syrian prime minister, he encouraged them to cooperate with the peace plan. he says there government could be more result in implementing the peace plan but also criticized syrian opposition. >> the syrian national council, even before kofi and on -- annan

started to implement his plan. in the opinion of those who are making the statements -- therefore, today, once again, we want to appeal to all the forces and all of the states who have influenced the political and armed positions to use resistance for the immediate cease-fire by the anna plan. >> they had already met some of the measures in the plan but there has been an escalation of violence.

a lasting cease -- a lasting cease-fire was needed with russia playing a role. >> the situation with the ongoing violence should be timely with the arrival of the international observers. the other point i wanted to say is the national dialogue. since russia has announced its readiness to host a meeting for a national silo, we will count the steps. and today, i have stressed once again that we would like russia to play a role in this -- on this issue and that the syrian

government is ready for dialogue when the issue is ready for discussion and when the opposition from all walks of life excepts the basis of this dialogue and accepts the six- point plan. >> our correspondent is monitoring events from lebanon on. i am joined from beirut. today was the start of this very date deadline. a massive diplomatic effort by kofi annan./. what did we learn from that press conference? >> we have learned that the peace process has come off the rails. today was supposed to be the deadline for the completion of a withdrawal process by syrian forces, not the beginning of it. syrian forces were supposed to be out of in and around syrian population centers.

tanks were to be withdrawn. the use of heavy weapons were to have stopped. we are getting reports from activists talking about heavy shelling in quite a number of places and attacks involving helicopters, gunships, artillery and tanks. in terms of the plan a sticking to its original timeline, it is very much in jeopardy. coming out of the moscow press conference, i do not get anything that tangible. the syrian foreign minister suggests that a ceasefire should be coincidental and coincide in terms of time with the arrival of international peace monitors. it is getting things completely out of sequence. the plan was the government would take the first up in pulling back its forces and the opposition would follow suit, applying a cease-fire that would take hold by thursday morning. and then observers would come in

to observe an existing peace, not to be part of the civilizing process in terms of going into the combat situation. as i say, that indicates to me that there is no clear way for coming out of the meeting. unless there are things that have been decided or discussed behind the scenes. it looked rather grim. the body language looked a little bit strange today. they may have had conversations behind the scenes that involve things they did not touch on in the press conference. >> we should say, we have some pictures of kofi annan on the syrian border. he is supposed to be going to tehran tomorrow. today, visiting a refugee camp in turkey after people were shot outside syria, in a turkish

refugee camp. that stepped up the pressure on syria. >> it certainly does. it raises the tension with turkey. turkey is a very important and powerful neighbor. the turks are losing patience with their demands, as they have been for months now. they are discussing ways, if the peace plan does fail, and they have been quick to announce it is down the drain, looking at ways of moving its things forward by using their military to set up buffer zones inside syria. they already have 25,000 refugees who have gone into turkey so they could be given a safe haven, protected by the syrian forces. these are ideas that have been around for a long time. they are being taken more seriously now. alternatives seem to have faded away. everybody recognizes that the

peace plan went as far as anybody can go in providing a balanced, political, peaceful solution. if this does not work, it is hard to see how any other peace plan could work. people are looking more and more at the options the turks have been discussing. >> at the end of the day, the assad regime does not want to fall is self. is it looking like civil war is the only option? >> we discussed the concept of civil war four years in iraq. what constitutes a civil war in the first place and at what point you say it has broken out? it is a complicated and difficult debate. we are seeing something that looks like civil strife, if not outright civil war. some of the fighting that is going on is not just a question of the syrian government forces attacking innocent civilians. it is attacking using disproportionate force and heavy weapons, areas where there is a

presence of armed rebels. that is what it is about. to that extent, you could say that civil war is already. what people fear is a slide into a much more open conflict that would have big repercussions in the whole region, a fragmentation of syria. that is what it is teetering on the edge of. it could slide that way. the peace plan could be the last hope of playing the country back to some kind of unified future. >> thank you very much. we debt -- we just saw the breakup of that news conference in moscow between the foreign ministers. you can see those pictures on your screen. more on this throughout the day. let's catch up with the rest of our news. a court in beijing has sentenced a disabled activist and her husband to jail for destroying property.

people were forced from their home to make way from real- estate development. >> ni yulan accused of causing a disturbance and a fraud. the disturbance comes from a period where she was held by authorities in a hotel. the hope -- the authorities claimed she owed money for that state. her husband is also being charged with a similar charge from a similar occasion. this is a long-running battle. this married couple have fought since 2002, 10 years, about redevelopment. the redevelopment of homes here in china. they enrolled in this campaign 10 years ago when the authority wanted to tear down their old- style courtyard home in beijing and use the area to redevelop,

build office blocks and that thing. they resisted and she has been in prison twice before. they have been campaigning on behalf of people who wanted to assist this fast-paced development, which has taken hold in china. >> the european union issued a statement saying it is concerned about the sentence. >> yes. she and her husband are particularly well known outside china. perhaps known not that well inside china. the case is known by diplomats, journalists, other activists in china. i have been watching how they have been treated for some time. one consideration is that this couple were picked up in april of last year, just when the chinese government was getting increasingly aware of what --

worried about what was happening in the arab world, worried it would spread to china. a lot of activists, lawyers, those kind of people were picked up and detained. she and her husband were arrested and detained at that particular time. that fear -- they have been in detention ever since. today, we got the sentencing. >> you are watching bbc world news. still to come, north korea makes final preparations for its long- range rocket test. the launch is widely condemned. >> britain's prime minister has arrived in japan at the start of a tour of asia. it is to encourage british trade in the region. it will create over 1000 jobs in -- by building its hatchback car there.

>> david cameron arrive in tokyo this morning at the start of this trade tour of southeast asia. one of his first stops was at the nissan headquarters, where the japanese car giant announced a new hatchback car model to be produced at a plant in southerland. japan is the third largest economy in the world, a huge customer for britain goods -- for british goods. nissan will be making a new hatchback and it will create thousands of jobs in the country. i am here to encourage investment and sell things to japan. >> the new car will create over 1000 new jobs. over 200 in the factory itself and another 900 in companies that supply components. it comes just weeks after nissan unveiled its new compact car, also to be built at the plant

next year. however, while the southerland plan goes from strength to strength, the future of workers remains uncertain. the american parent company, general motors, decides where to make big savings in the european plants. >> one of the great paris fashion houses has named a new artistic director after sacking its previous head over a racism scandal. he was dismissed after a drunken anti-emetic rent. this is a bbc world news. the syrian authorities are continuing to use heavy weapons against civilians in spite of agreeing to withdraw forces in the international peace plan. and terrorism suspects are

blocked from extradition from britain to the united states. >> coming up in sports, clint dempsey lands a potential knockout blow to the chelsea legal qualifications. capt. clark to the rescue out australians found the going -- as australians found the going tough. darvish struggles on his debut but the rangers still win. that is sports in 30 minutes. joining me then. >> we brought you news of a press conference between russian and foreign -- russian and syrian foreign ministers. let's hear more from the syrian foreign minister and what he was saying during his visit to moscow. he said his government has withdrawn from some areas and release a number of detainees. >> despite all of these positive

messages, we have noticed in our databases, the escalation of operations by the armed terrorists operating in other provinces. it is in the interest of the syrian government to achieve final hostilities from either side, whatever they are. >> the european court of human rights has dismissed an attempt by five terrorism suspects to block their extradition from britain to the united states. the court sanction the extradition and ruled there would be no violation of human rights to those facing life and

solitary confinement in prison. judges would consider the case of another suspect because of mental health issues. let's go to our correspondent. we have been speaking to the family of a man involved in that case. he is in south london. >> we are outside the family house. they are disappointed and wants to know -- want to know where to turn. he understands this is a blow to his chances of staying in the uk to face trial. he faces the possibility of being sent to the u.s. and taking many more years. one of those offering advice is farhad. he wants to stand here and explain where you go now, legally. >> legally, there will be no extradition now. there is a three-month window. they need to appear at the

ground chamber of the european court. >> three months in which he cannot be taken to the states. >> that is correct. should we appeal the decision, a final decision will be made by the grand chamber. >> to you accept that if you lose at that stage, he does face extradition and possibly life in jail in america? >> naturally, he would face extradition and life in jail without the possibility of a fair trial in the united states. all we want is that he is tried in this country so that british justice is not outsourced. >> he could stand trial in the united states under charges of facilitating terrorism, running a web site that glorified terrorism in afghanistan, chechnya, what is the family sang about that? >> the allegations are very serious. that is the case of why he has been in prison for eight years without a trial in this country.

the alleged activity took place in this country. he is a national of this country. he is a taxpayer in this country. yet they are trying to send him to be tried in a different place. it does not make sense. he needs to be tried in a british court. it is an unbelievable situation. they want him to be given immediately to the americans without any possibility of whether he will be tried here. >> thank you for your time. thank you for speaking to us here. the family considering where they go. they know that this could run for years. they note that the others extradited could face life at a facility in the united states. >> thank you very much. russia has criticized north korean plans to launch a rocket, accusing the country of disregarding the role of the united nations.

china and south korea will joined the condemned nation. it marks the 100th birthday of the reclusive state's founder. preparations for the launch will be completed today. invited to'yongyang, the usually closed country to witness the events. >> is the world's last stalinist state. 3 million live in the capital. brightened only by the murals glorifying the first two leaders. events of mass emotion -- devotion mark 100 years since the founder. it is promised to be one of its biggest celebrations ever. it will signal the emergence of this strong and prosperous

nation. what we have seen in north korea is a powerful personality cult around the kim family. an unparalleled system of totalitarian control. the launch of a rocket to put a satellite into space. the united states and britain says the launch is a disguise to test ballistic missile technology and north korea could face sanctions. the north koreans are already isolated from the world. the house where kim il sun was said to have been born is like a pilgrimage. >> he is the greatest man in history. he came from such humble roots. >> now, his grandson, not yet 30 years old, is ruling north korea.

>> the great commander is in just liked his father and grandfather. >> the youngest should be confirmed as supreme leader this week. north koreans should be kept enthralled with the dynasty for many decades yet. >> there have been two suicide attacks in afghanistan. nine people killed in the explosion when a car packed with explosives blew up. and eight policemen were killed when three suicide bombers stormed a police compound. it is now more than five years since the notoriously brutal rebel group left you gonna. the rebels, many of whom were conducted as children, continue to commit atrocities and cause displacement across the central african republic and south

sudan. to the north of you got that, for the first time in decades, they are enjoying peace. >> there is laughter these days. unlike five years ago, when the war was on, the children of no. you don are now safe. -- of no. you gonna are now safe. >> may we stand still for the national anthem. >> the number is strong but not interrupted by the terror of marauding rebels. >> they had this trauma of running here and there, especially if there are gunshots. that was a time when many young children were adopted. >> when i was here at the height of the conflict, at about this time of day, just as the sun was setting, there was an

extraordinary spectacle. thousands of children would abandon their homes and what to shelters like these because the risk of the abduction was so high. at least here, they had some protection against the distant army rebels, who stalked the villages, forcefully recruiting child soldiers. the last time i met jeffrey was nine years ago. he had just been rushed to the hospital after the rebels hacked off his fingers, ears, and lips. unable to write and forced to give up school, he says, with the income from the shop, he has determined that three children get an education. he struggles to move on with his life. he says he has since met and forgiven the young man who mutilated him. on the other side of the same market, the man who terrorized these communities for years. despite countless testimonies

from people who escaped captivity, this former commander denies being responsible for leading the raids to adopt children. >> people are still very angry with me. i have not been accepted back in the community. i fear someone will poison me so i do not touch the locally- brewed drinks anymore. >> northern uganda is still haunted by the war. an effort is needed to help this region recover and reconcile communities. at least with peace, the children are free to dream of more than just survival. >> much more at the website. bbc.com/news. russia has expressed its hopes that peace for syria it can bring an end to the country's conflict. labrov speaking in the last few

moments. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by -- the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank. and shell. >> this is kim. about to feel one of his favorite sensations. at shell, we are developing more efficient fuels in countries like malaysia that can help us get the most from our energy resources.

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