al jazeera's zana hoda is in baghdad and joins us live now.l us what is happening on the streets right now, zana. >> reporter: well, felicity, really, the momentum of this protest movement is only growing. we just came back from the square where the protesters have been gathering over the past few hours. there is -- there was a very, very large crowd, and the numbers, really much more than what we have seen in -- in the past few weeks on every friday. we have to remember that this started as a grassroots movement, almost a spontaneous movement by people who were really frustrated about the lack of services and electricity. but now we have an influential political party in iraq, the cleric throwing his weight behind this movement, calling on his supporters to join. we know he has millions of supporters just here in the iraqi capitol, and they were out in force. throwing his support behind the prime minister who has promised reforms. now this protest movement really is not an anti government protest in the sense that these people are giving the

zana hoda is on the phone line now from the baghdad.tell us a bit more about these protests, what is happening at the moment, and why they are demonstrating. >> reporter: well, it is a large crowd like you mentioned. they are gathering in the square in the heart of baghdad. and the momentum of this protest movement is only growing, and the number of protesters, especially now that a political party, an influential political party has joined what really began as a upon -- spontaneous movement. he has millions of supporters in the capitol alone. he is backing the prime minister's push for reforms. like i mentioned before, it's civil rights movement. and i asked some activists here, and they said we don't mind the political parties to join, but we understand that we do need their support. and abadi does need backing. he has the backing of some in the streets. he has the backing of the influential cleric, the highest shia religious authority in iraq, but he is facing powerful allies in the government. the people -- the protest movement star

zana hoda has their story, and a warning that some viewers may find some of the images up setting. >>eporter: the dead and the dying. there was no blood on their bodies, no visible injuries. the attack was different than what syrians had seen before. rockets carrying chemicals landed in the damascus suburb on this morning of august 21, 2013. >> translator: it look like seconds before i lost my ability to breathe. i wasn't able to breathe or even scream to alert my friends. so i had to pound my chest really hard just to try to take a single breath. i felt like something was standing on my chest with a knife. >> reporter: he survived, and two years later he has another life in the united states. but he remembers that day clearly. >> it was a seen from judgment day. dozens of men, women, and children running, falling on the ground suffocating. it was unbearable. >> reporter: at the time he was a photographer working in syria. he wanted to document the evidence of a crime, he believed the world should see. >> i asked the doctor about what i need to know, so he show me -- he show me the da

zana hoda has more from baghdad. >> reporter: the u.s.ilitary advisors in iraq have been training and equipping sunni tribesmen in anbar province as part of their strategy to defeat isil. hundreds are already on the front lines. the obama administration believes their role will be crucial to recapture the mainly sunni region. the program is backed by the iraqi government. but there are powerful voices who are raising questions. he is a top commander of the popular mobilization forces which groups paramilitary forces that have lrjly replaced the iraqi army on the ground. >> translator: if the americans are concerned about the sunnis then they should not violate iraq's sovereignty. they should give the government the capabilities to train them. this is a plan to divide iraq. >> reporter: he heads the military wing of the supreme islamic iraq council, which has a strong presence in parliament. he doesn't hide his good relations with iran, after all the party was founded there in the early '80s. sunni politicians fear that leaders like him ar

more from zana hoda. >> reporter: u.s.rs in iraq have been equipping and training sunni tribesmen as part of their tratgy to defeat isil. hundreds are already on the front lines. the obama administration believes their role will be crucial to recapture the mainly sunni region. the program is backed by the iraqi government, but there are powerful voices raising questions. this is a top commander of the popular mobilization forces which groups shia paramilitary forces. >> translator: if the americans are concerned about the sunnis then they should not violate iraq's sovereignty. america is creating a sunni force. this is not charity work, but a plan to divide iraq. >> reporter: he heads the military wing of the supreme military iraq council. he doesn't hide his good relations with iran. sunni politicians fear that commanders like him are growing in strength at the expense of the state. for them the u.s. training program is a step in the right direction to create the so-called national guard. >> translator: there has been a g

on the line now is zana hoda.ibe what is going on around you right now, and tell us more about what these protests are about. >> reporter: well, like you mentioned people have started to gather, but clearly the numbers are much larger than in previous weeks, previous fridays. we have to remember that for the first time an influential political party, the southern movement called on its supporters to participate in the rally. we have expecting, really, a much larger turnout than over the past few weeks. i met a civil activist here. you have to remember this started as a grassroots movement, a spontaneous movement, and i asked him what he felt now that a political party joined. he said well, we were afraid of this from the beginning, but at the end of the day, we do need support for the reforms to push through, and we are welcome the support just as long as there will be tangible results. people are losing patience as you can imagine. it's not just better services. they are now demanding an end to corruption. corrup

. >> reporter: some take the metro to the train station. 7-year-old zana is the only english speaker in the family of eight. >> people die and... >> reporter: in syria. >> what did you see there, bad things. >> yes. >> reporter: do you feel excited about the future. >> yes. yes. >> reporter: for the young, perhaps there is excitement. there's movement in the countries. the adults with them. nothing ahead is worse than what they left behind. >> jonah hull. thousands of refugee in the largest camp. nearly 400 people live in the refugee champ. in 2013 an agreement was made. as reported, many have returned to a life of hardship. >> built on a strip of the beach, this has been home to those displaced by conflict and drought. recently the population has grown with refugees returning from neighbouring kenya. this woman and her daughter returned a few months ago after living in the camp for 21 years. >> all we have here is peace, nothing else. we have no help to settle back and no aid from anyone. >> just before the first group of refugees returned, a number of charities came together to bui

now more from zana hoda. >> reporter: these measures are part of the prime minister's promised reforms has instructed military commanders in baghdad and other provinces to open roads which were closed by politicians and security factions to protect their homes, or to protect their headquarters. he is also calling on these commanders to give civilians access to the green zone a heavily fortified area in baghdad where the parliament and government are bases where foreign embassies are based. this is not going to be easily implemented on the ground. one official said that this is going to take time. this city is still not safe. we spoke to the prime minister's office. they are saying, of course, we understand this is not going to happen overnight, but they are pushing for this to be implemented very soon. later today, there are going to be protests in baghdad and in other provinces every friday people have been taking to the streets to support the prime minister to push ahead, but this time around an influential political party has called on their supporters to attend. some there has been

. >>> let's speak now to zana hoda, if i can, who is live from beirut in neighboring lebanon. iranian foreign minister is now in syria meeting with the president. what is this trip all about? >> reporter: well, really, iran is on a diplomatic offensive. it has a plan, that's what they say. they have a plan to resolve the syrian crisis. s like you mentioned, he was in beirut, he held meetings here, and now he's holding talks with the syrian president in damascus. and he reiterated another call, calling for dialogue, saying that iran is extending its hand to gulf arab countries in order for them to engage in dialogue, in order for them to -- you know, mend their differences. this is his message in beirut. but really, there's a few details on what this peace plan is about. what we understand from state media, iranian state media, is that it calls for a ceasefire, it calls for the creation of a national unity government, it calls for amending the constitution and holding elections under international supervision. the state media did not mention anything about the fate and future o

zana hoda, al jazeera, beirut. >>> to yemen now and pro-government forces there are gaining more groundrom houthi rebels and just 125 kilometers away from the capitol, sana'a. troops loyal to president hadi have taken six districts in the city of ibb, most of the south is now held by pro-government forces being backed by saudi lead air strikes. meanwhile president hadi is on a trip to the united arab emirates. >>> the al-qaeda leader has pledged allegiance to the new head of the afghan taliban. in an audio statement in support of the leader, he suggested his support as it was posted online. this is the first message from him since september last year. he is thought to be seeking refuge in the afghan pakistan border area that is the taliban's base. >>> the president of guinea has dismissed the government lead by the prime minister. he made the announcement on a national radio program. this follows months of political infighting between the two leaders of this west african nation. >>> the u.n. secretary general has forced the head of the u.n. mission to the central afghan republic to resi

. >>> from neighboring lebanon, zana hoda has more. >> reporter: the foreign minister held talks hereut before traveling to damascus to -- to -- to meet with the syrian president, bashar al-assad. iran has said that it has a peace plan. it has a plan to solve the war in syria. the foreign minister did not divulge any details, but what we understand from iranian state media, is that it involves a ceasefire, the creasation of a national unity government, maineding the constitution, as well as holding elections under international supervision. no menning of the fate and future of bashar al-assad. the opposition is unlikely to accept any deal that would see the syrian president stay in power. in fact saudi arabia, which supports the opposition, made its position very clear after talks in russia, saying that we consider assad as part of the problem and not a solution. >>> an isil-linking group in egypt says it has killed a croatian man it has held by houthi hostage. the announcement of his death was made by a social media account belonging to isil supporters. the group had tlented to kill

zana hoda has the story, and a warning viewers may find some of the images up setting. >> reporter: thed and the dying. there was no blood on their bodies, no visible injuries. the attack was different than what syrians had seen before. rockets landed in the suburb on the morning of august 21, 2013. >> it took like seconds before i lost my ability to breathe. i wasn't able to breathe or even to scream to alert my friends, so i had to like bang my chest really hard just to try to take a single breath. i felt like somebody was tearing up my chest with a knife. >> reporter: the 29 year old survived, hundreds of others didn't. two years later he has a new life in the united states, but remembers the day clearly. >>> it was a scene from judgment day. dozens of people, men, women, children running and falling on the ground suffocating, the terror, the confusion, it was something unbearable. i just didn't know what to do. >> reporter: this man did. at the time he was a photographer working in syria. he wanted to document the evidence of a crime he believed the world should see. >> and i asked

zana hoda is in southern turkey with the latest. >> reporter: the syrian government is take credit forushing out isil from the northeastern city but they didn't win this fight force, the ypg joined the battle. for years the ypg and the government controlled separate zones in the area. it was part of understanding to prevent the city from becoming yet another battleground. the ypg said cooperation was logical under the circumstances, but that only fuelled accusations from turkey and syrian opposition groups that the kurds are allied to the government. now an official from the pyd told us that the threat of terrorism, means it would partner with any group, including the syrian government if it's committed to a democratic syria. >> anyone who are ready for work for democracy, who accepts the diversity within the syrian people, of course we are ready to connect with them. and as i mentioned i -- i maybe told you some -- examples with the opposition and also the syrian -- with the regime. >> reporter: the kurds have become powerful players there the conflict. territorial gains over recent y

seven-year-old zana is the only english speaker in her family of eight. >> there were people die. >>syria? what did you see there, bad things? >> yes. >> do you feel excited about the future? >> yes. yes. >> for the young perhaps there is excitement in this movement between countries. the adults with them will hope that nothing ahead is worse than what they've left behind. jonah hull, al jazeera, athens. >> the senior external relations officer for the middle east and north africa at the united nations office of the my commissioner of refugees. unhcr. give me your reaction to what you just saw. >> first, thank you for having me, john. what we've seen is the syria crisis reaching basically the doors of the world. these are very have you neryible people--these are very vulnerable people. and they're trying to reach safety. we have more than 4 million people since four years basically right now living under poverty line in many of these countries, and they're desperate to reach safety. after four years they're realizing this is going no why. >> worst refugee crisis since world war ii. t