we started our journey from aleppo. no matter how many rockets they fire, this is a city of broken promises. it is nearly a year since rebels stormed aleppo, making the first of many assurances to its people of a free syrian army victory. through the ruins of its streets, we head east, following the trail of another rebel province. the city is now wonderful opposition control. a high-speed drive close to a syrian air force base, then the vista of the river euphrates and in rebel hands. checkpoints do not give any clue as to which part of the divided opposition has the governing hand. whoever it is, at first sight, the city looks like a city in peacetime. , a constantlice power supply, traffic lights, well supplied markets. it may all look pretty normal, but what is happening right now makes it like no other city in syria. that many seevent as a warning for the future. a public execution right here. crowds gather for announcements from a group calling itself the islamic state of iraq. these three men are about to be shot

band weapon of mass destruction in fact since the one nine hundred ninety if it had been used in aleppo it isn't the first time it's been used it was also used you may recall very notorious case of its use in one thousand nine hundred eight in a northern kurdish city in northern iraq it was bombarded by cluster bombs five thousand died then back in one thousand nine hundred eighty eight and also a case back in the mid ninety's in japan a religious sect at the time released it into a couple of the tunnels of the city's metro thirteen died there if it gets into the wrong hands then it's a big worry and that's a worry of voice rula tard she believes chemical weapons in the hands of al-qaeda linked militia in syria could be a region wide headache if it happened. the consequences are going to be dramatic in the. magic for all parties engaged in the conflict it is also going to be. very decisive for the opposition's future. i think that with days the opposition. is no is no longer in the hands of those we see on t.v. or attending meetings for syria. the real reality on the ground in whether i

a wavets have reported of kidnappings between rival rubble groups in aleppo. the judicial council has anotherly accused faction of plundering factories in the industrial neighborhood. joining me to discuss this, alan george, the author of "., neither bread nor freedom. i do very much for joining us on the program. are the divisions called opposition getting worse? that seems to be how it is on the outside. is that the case on the ground? >> i don't think it could get very much worse. they were always there even before the syrian uprising became an armed uprising. ,here were fundamental splits between the islamists on the one hand and the more secular side only other. inevitably, with the escalation of the fighting, all sorts of local issues come into play. in this report, it is a squabble over who a sickly looted some industrial areas. has been of picture gathering pace in the arms uprising. >> yet in terms of reporting from the western perspective, there seems to be this drive for the opposition to be seen as credible, yet with everything going on, especially

firefights like this one, in aleppo, are part of everyday life. now, a senior un official says testimony gathered from vic ends by her human rights team suggests that some rebel groups may also have got hold of and used sarah and nerve gas. thatwas a bit stupefied the best indication we got about the use of nerve gas by the opposition. haser investigating team not been allowed inside syria. their evidence is gathered ,econdhand from victims doctors, and crowded refugee camps across the border, where so many have fled. this afternoon, the un stressed the latest findings are not conclusive. there is no proof yet that chemical weapons have been used by either side. but pictures of victims clearly in distress suggests there may have been instances were chemical agents have been used. one attack, it is alleged, took part in a section of aleppo inhabited by syrian kurds. the leader of the main opposition party was in london today. they are holding their own investigation into the attack. >> we are still investigating. we do not know who used it. we are

. >> in aleppo, opposition fighters say they have been confronted by hezbollah as well. they point to id cards and flags left by the group after they lost the battle. the syrian military has continued to exploit its aerial advantage. from this air raid to more bombardments. a defiant president bashar al- assad spoke to hezbollah tv. >> we will respond if any strikes take place. on a number of occasions, there were a number of violations of our skies, and we responded immediately. it is a world war being waged against syria. we are confident of our victory. >> there is no clear winner, but as the number of people getting killed each day rises, it is easy to see who is losing in this battle. gerald tan, al jazeera. >> we are covering events in syria from beirut. this battle for qusayr is getting more fierce by the day. yet despite the presence of these hezbollah fighters, the syrian army has not yet been able to completely retake the town. what are we to make of that? >> it is unimportant battle for both fights -- fighters, and they both want to win at any price. it is a s

calling for an investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons in a rebel attack near aleppo now according to officials and military experts around two dozen people were killed by that nerve agent then most likely to be sarin sarin gas has been classified as an outlawed weapon of mass destruction since the early one nine hundred ninety s. but one of the mostly tourist cases of its use of five thousand people were killed back in one thousand nine hundred eighty eight when an ethnic kurds city in northern iraq was bombarded by cluster bombs loaded with sarin highly toxic compound was also used in a terrorist attack in tokyo back in one thousand nine hundred five but he sect released the gas from several lines of the city subway that killed thirty. beirut based political analyst roula told she believes a mixture of chemical weapons and the increasing influence of al-qaeda linked terrorists in syria could spell region wide disaster and the consequences. are going to be dramatic in the. attic for all parties engaged in the conflict it is also going to be. very decisive for the opposit

calling for investigation to alleged use of chemical weapons in a rebel attack near aleppo we brought extensive coverage on that now according to officials and the military experts around two dozen people were killed by nerve gas then they think that agent used at the time again was sarin sarin is being classified as a weapon of mass destruction of banned weapons of mass destruction now since the early one nine hundred ninety s. in fact and it's not the first time it's allegedly been use one of the most notorious cases of its use you may recall as well about five thousand people died was back in one nine hundred ninety eight then an ethnic kurds city in northern iraq was bombarded by cluster bombs again they think the ages. used was sarin and also thinking of other times it was used this highly toxic agent remember back in the mid ninety's in japan the tokyo underground cemeteries laid off then again thirteen people died in that occasion where beirut based political analyst. believes a mixture of chemical weapons and the increasing influence of al qaeda terrorists in syria is a bad mi

and to regain aleppo by the assad government and of course we also have the russian s. three hundred defense system with israel now coming in and three dead lebanese soldiers with veteran foreign correspondents like robert fisk warning that lebanon faces a disaster of nine hundred seventy civil war proportions it is spiraling out of control and paris and london are doing their best to make it spiral out of course reverse a lot of the saying this is a serious message now to say that this is a stick to him but perhaps this is not a carrot for the rebels because if assad doesn't turn up at that peace conference or his representatives don't if he doesn't adhere to any peace plan then britain and france are actually saying yes we will on the rebels so that maybe gives a cause for the rebels just to say well we're ignore any chance for peace because we're going to help after that if it collapses. if that's what the foreign office here are thinking in the. hague a series of things like that i mean that's not the way it works we have a quote here general salim idriss very disap

that the syrian government appealed to the united nations to investigate the alleged use of it in aleppo that time according to officials of military experts it was used around two dozen people were killed they go should see on the screen just to remind ourselves again has been classified throughout the world as a weapon of mass destruction that is banned since the one nine hundred ninety s. it has been used before the most notorious case i guess you might recall back in one thousand nine hundred eight in. northern iraq a kurdish city that was using cluster bomb five thousand died then it was also used as well in japan in the mid ninety's a religious sect used it on the tokyo underground a couple of the tunnels they were bombed thirteen people died again they think it was sarin that's used so obviously if it gets into the wrong hands well obviously it is extremely serious and that's a worry to that rule put forward she believes chemical weapons in the hands of the wrong people here the rebels in syria could be a big region wide problem. the consequences. are going to be dramatic in the r

calling for an investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons in a rebel attack near aleppo according to officials and military experts around two dozen people were killed by a nerve agent most likely serry and sarin gas has been classified as a weapon of mass destruction since the early one nine hundred ninety s. and one of the most notorious cases at least five thousand people were killed when an ethnic kurds city in northern iraq was bombarded by cluster bombs containing sarin the highly toxic compound was also used in a terrorist attack in tokyo in one nine hundred ninety five and members of a japanese sect released souring on several lines of the city subway killing thirteen people they were based political analysts through a tug believes a mixture of chemical weapons and the increasing influence of al qaida linked terrorists and syria could spell a region wide disaster. the consequences are going to be dramatic in the region. for all parties engage in the conflict it is also going to be. very decisive for the opposition's future. i think. the opposition. is no longer in the hand

aleppo and in the north of syria along with this is the fact that the americans are changing pace and are going to into negotiations with russia to come out with a negotiated solution so it doesn't make any sense to sort of the do this right now just now there are counter claims as well just a few hours ago syria's information minister said that. responsible for this the happening already by playing quote a dangerous game without. we know for a fact because because the main is the most fighting group in syria has admitted it's that. rock and. in syria one in the same and all the fighting groups in syria and they're all working tactically with so al qaeda is in syria we know that that's not confirmed the smallest been suspected. and so what we're saying. kind of charge and countercharge. as people try to put the blame for this onto someone else. my feeling about this obvious kind of guess would be that the party responsible for this is one of the groups because of anyone has a reason for trying to heat up the situation and drag an outside countries it would be them there are very serio

it was about a year later that marie was killed in syria in aleppo. i would like to acknowledge her family who are here tonight. if there are other relatives here, i am sorry. i did not know you. i apologize for not recognizing you personally. marie died after that iconic dinner about a year later. to give you an idea of how small this community is, i was on my way to the safe house that had just been attacked when i got the call saying it had just been bombed, marie has just been killed and remi ochlik also in safe house.ouse.-- we got the notice to not go. they are dead. syria has just been a horrible experience for the country, for our community, for the world. it is a war that took my friend anthony shadid. i think was probably the greatest arabist of our time. he was a national asset. what upsets me the most is that he was at the top of his game when he died. he had a new job. he had a wife. he had a new book. it still sits on my shelf. his work was finally being recognized. syria took him, too. these are greedy wars. they take and they get nothi

. >> what i saw in aleppo was despite all of that there is a real gap between the people of the city and the salafis who've come in from the country side. >> rose: a little bit like al qaeda in iraq? >> to a certain extent, yes. maybe not quite as stark but there's resentment. there's fear. there's a feeling among many people in aleppo, for instance, that one form of dtatorship has been replaced with another whicmay even more dystasteful. so i wouldn't rule out the possibility as time goes on that the differences between city people and al nusra become more and more stark. >> but they're not going to disappear. >> no, no. >> they will have a presence in post-assad syria and they might continue fighting with the alawites. they might stage suicide bombs the way we see in iraq. >> rose: is this too far gone crte any kd of unity among forces fighting and is it too far gone to have some -- >> it's very, very difficult. even among the non-islamists. even if you take the opposition that's non-islamist that's secular minded that their vision is to create some sort of a democracy after assad,

we started our journey from aleppo. no matter how many rockets they fire, this is a city of broken promises. it is nearly eight years now since rebels stormed it making assurances of a free syrian army victory. through the ruins of the streets we have eased, following the trail of another broken promise. aqca.estination -- al r a drive close to a syrian air force base. then the vista of the river euphrates. all in rebel hands. give anyts do not clue as to which part of the divided opposition has the government in hand. there are two movements that want to form an islamic state. at first sight, the city looks like a city in peacetime. volunteer police of, a constant power supply, traffic lights, well supplied markets. it may look pretty normal, but what is happening in al raqca now makes it like no other city in syria. there is one event that many see as a warning -- a public execution right here. [sirens] >> crowds gathered after announcement from a group calling themselves the islamic state of iraq. these three men are

if you live in aleppo, syria, today, your main concern is staying alive. you have choices.this opportunity. >> when bombs went off in boston and when a malevolent spree of gunfire visited a movie theater, a first grade classroom in connecticut, we saw citizenship. in the aftermath of darkest tragedy we have seen the american spirit at its brightest. ♪ >> i think it's really made everybody open their eyes to how short life really can be. >> we have to do our best to make the world a better place so things like that will never happen again. >> three, two, one. i'll get all your e-mail addresses. [ laughter ] we call our online world a community, but that's just to make us feel better. it's not. this is. people to your right and left with hopes and dreams and fears. >> keep learning as you go. acknowledge that there will be fear and adversity. then go out and kick butt. [ cheers and applause ] >> today, i am optimistic. >> today, i just feel so grown up. >> today, i am inspired. >> today, i am feeling like a ground-breaker. >> today, i feel absolutely fantastically happy. >> t

in aleppo, the government forces took control of its southern part. our correspondent joins me now. she has been covering the syrian war for us. what do you make, from what you've seen and what you know i'm a of the government tactics now? they seem to have changed somewhat. >> absolutely. i think the government changed its tactics three weeks ago, a month now from a defensive position to an offensive. they are going all out in several fronts, mainly central syria. from our we understand sources, the government is mainly in control of that town. it had artie been in control of the villages around it. -- had already been in control of the villages around it. the government is waging this war by proxy. hezbollah later admitted that it was hezbollah fighters who were carrying out that war in the villages. it is more of a gorilla -- guerrilla tactic. they are leaving it to these hezbollah fighters who know more of the ground tactics. the government being at the back and pounding those areas. we have the same thing in homs. there is only one enclave left. it is where the fighters are sti

as the mr front and the salafist who have already done so we have been receiving reports that in aleppo for example there are reportedly some twenty rebel brigades operating and they've set up the machinery of government and justice in the courts is that they have taken over they've set up courts for example that are manned by lawyers and judges they've set up schools they say so that there's no vacuum in the administration and public institutions so you certainly do have this very worrying phenomena that there is a large number of extremist elements that are operating particularly along the turkish syrian border. and radical islamist groups have a vested interest in provoking foreign auction in syria and could have walked straight at the turkey bombings and that's the view of middle east expert jeremy resold. al qaeda is in syria we know that that's not confirmed the smallest been suspect of them stops and so what we're seeing now is kind of charge and countercharge as people try to put the blame for this on to someone else the most obvious kind of guess would be that the party respons

rebels and assad forces blaming each other for the alleged chemical attack in the middle of march in aleppo the syrian government requested the u.n. to send a mission to investigate the incident but u.n. fact finding team has been on standby and ready to deploy but then the u.n. chief appears to have changed his plans for the investigation there's russia's foreign minister with more on that. syrian government on the circuits of the germans to deploy achieved in this to this particular situation the secretary general state the use ready to do this but couple of days later she sent a letter to the syrian government demanding the nexus for the international experts to alter it to redo the entire it's the roots of the of syria as well as. the steam would like to to talk. and this is something which really defeats the purpose of immediate. investigation into the specific reported case of the use of chemical substances to have. in your sights to any person in syria. resembles very much the security council resolutions regarding iraq and we'll remember the end of that story so now instead of inves

much in aleppo the syrian government requested the un to send a mission to investigate the incident the un finding team has been on standby and ready to deploy but then the un chief appears to have changed his plans for the investigation there's russia's foreign minister with more on the syrian government asked the secretary general to deploy a team to investigate this particular situation the secretary general stated that he is ready to do this but a couple of days later he sent a letter to the syrian government demanding a nexus for the international experts to all teary to read through the entire theory to the of syria as well as in a site and any person this team would like to talk to or to visit and this is something which really defeats the purpose of immediate. investigation into a specific reported case of the use of chemical substances to have. in your sights to any person in syria. resembles very much the security council resolutions regarding iraq and we all remember the end of that story so now instead of him getting a concrete incident be you one want access to all sites an

such as the mr front and the salafist who've already done so we have been receiving reports that in aleppo for example there are reportedly some twenty rebel brigades operating and they've set up the machinery of government and justice in the quarters that they have taken over they have set up courts for example that are manned by lawyers and judges they've set up schools they say it's about their. no vacuum in the administration and public institutions so you certainly do have this very worrying phenomena that there is a large number of extremist elements that are operating particularly along the syrian border. middle east correspondent. the radical islamist groups have a vested interest in provoking foreign action in syria and could have orchestrated the turkey bombings that's the view of middle east expert jeremy salt. we know for a fact because because the main is the us fighting group in syria has admitted it's that al qaeda in iraq and. in syria one in the same and all the fighting groups in syria and they're all working tactically with. so al-qaeda is in syria we know that that's no

place there are no major defections you know they still control the business classes in damascus and aleppo it's still there it could fight for a long time and they want a quick resolution so they use israel as a proxy it's the perfect foil you know and they can blame israel in fact the arabs the arab league which nowadays is the manics of all the other blaming israel saudi arabia is into it as well because the u.s. the saudis that israel is they are actually arming the rebels as well they see that it's going nowhere ok let's activate plan b. let's start bombing syria and see if they respond. live in london times correspondent thank you very much indeed for your thoughts on this great to get your perspective thanks for joining us live on r.t. well earlier my colleague researcher spoke to me at all and he's a correspondent for israel's had its newspaper he even easier strike is justified as a preemptive attack to ensure the nation's security. this is part of the israeli policy which you can describe as pownce but do not announce don't let the syrian regime transfer surface to surface missile

love with their government but they're in love with their country and i've seen that from homes to aleppo to damascus it's remarkable i don't know barack and i love my country but i don't think i have that kind of deep love that the syrian people have they're going to survive with or without this regime and i think we should have faith in them and let them decide these regime issues in the next election ok dan in washington jump in here i'd like i'd like to say that first of all to set the record straight israel has no interest in this conflict continuing why it's important that is why is it wasn't serious you know it was the you know why is it on syria and israel why they should ban syria that israel wishes to see israel which is a syrian people peace and tranquility and a democratic election and a democratically elected government without our side in the picture. i don't know if israel did not. count i do know i do know i do know that there are red lines for the israeli government and if somebody crosses those red lines israel is bound to respond in a certain way so if weapons are tryin

investigations into any case related to their possible use including the incident reportedly took place near aleppo we're very disappointed that because of political games the u.n. has failed to act on this we expect our turkish colleagues to quickly provide a full report on this latest case this issue ation is too serious for those who constantly talk about the chemical weapons problem to keep playing games around it each and every incident needs to be investigated. the use of chemical weapons is bad and under international no one there are concerns that any kind of suggestions or any kind of proof that they use will trigger an international intervention and historian and her national relations expert carol horan believes that the opposition is foreign backers have already launched a massive build up towards intervention if the syrian government had been caught with certain gas we would have her work who is from washington london and paris but of course this should not come as a surprise to anyone been paying attention we know that the internationally respected simple sort of atomic ponce had basi

as the mr front and the salafist if you've already done so we have been receiving reports that in aleppo for example there are reportedly some twenty rebel brigades operating and they've set up the machinery of government and justice in the courts is that they have taken over they've set up courts for example that are manned by lawyers and judges they've set up schools they say so that there's no vacuum in the administration and public institutions so you certainly do have this very warring phenomena that there is a large number of extremist elements that are operating particularly along the turkish syrian border. while the conflict continues to rage in syria turns of thousands of refugees have fled across the border to turkey that's maybe border zone between the country's extremely volatile she's more if an ocean examines the situation there for. turkey shares its longest border with syria it's hard to imagine now but in two thousand and nine the two countries even held joint military drills across that frontier in what was a brief thaw in relations between the two while commonly syrian

the al nusra front and the salafist who've already done so we have been receiving reports that in aleppo for example there are reportedly some twenty rebel brigades operating and they've set up the machinery of government and justice in three quarters that they have taken over they've set up courts for example that are manned by lawyers and judges they've set up schools they say so that there's no vacuum in the administration and public institutions so you certainly do have this very worrying phenomena that there is a large number of extremist elements that are operating particularly along the turkish syrian border policy or a middle east correspondent in turkey insists that it has the evidence to prove that assad's government is linked to those with professor of middle east oil is a bill current university jeremy soldiers spoke to me thinks it could be the work of extremist groups or even turkey itself as it tries to convince the u.s. to get more involved with its neighbors. we know for a fact because because the main islam is fighting group in syria has admitted it's that al qaeda in i

be of mr front and the salafist if you've already done so we have been receiving reports that in aleppo for example there are reports of these some twenty rebel brigades operating and they've set up the machinery of government and justice in the quarters that they have taken over they've set up courts for example that are manned by lawyers and judges that set up schools they say so that there's no vacuum in the administration and public institutions so you certainly do have this very worrying phenomena that there is a large number of extremist elements that are operating particularly along the turkish syrian border. and of course we want to know your take on the deadly bombings in turkey just head over to our website r.t. dot com to take part in the ongoing live call that under right now almost half of you think this figure in opposition orchestrated the a tank to pin the blame on damascus around a third of you believe turkey itself was responsible and it wants to provoke foreign military intervention in syria and not many of you reckon the bombings were the work of damascus just about

mistrust front and the salafist if you've already done so we have been receiving reports that in aleppo for example there are reportedly some twenty rebel brigades operating and they've set up the machinery of government and justice in three quarters that they have taken over they've set up courts for example that are manned by lawyers and judges they've set up schools they say so that there's no vacuum in the administration and public institutions so you certainly do have this very warring phenomena that there is a large number of extremist elements that are operating particularly along the turkish syrian border. now as we just heard turkey's deputy prime minister stressed that the detain suspects have no connection to the syrian opposition but foreign policy analyst dr khan hon'ble yes the attack appears to be to bear all the hallmarks of al qaida linked to extremists you have to enhance with the onset of government. be stupid enough to pick an open fight with a country on its border that has the second largest army in in the north atlantic treaty organization i don't see the sense in

has footage that could confirm syrian rebels used chemical weapons in aleppo in march the material provided by russian journalists includes video from the surge of the and its incidents and interviews with eyewitnesses and doctors who examined the victims it's still unclear whether it was the rebels or the syrian army who used the alleged weapons u.n. experts have been stopped from investigation by syria who chooses them of being under western pressure. at least eight people were wounded in two killed in the taliban attack in the center of kabul several powerful explosions rocked the area near a u.n. compound in a gunfight erupted several minutes and took shelter in a house using guns and grenade launchers to shoot back at police. more news for you in about thirty minutes with me in the news team in the meantime peter lavelle is here with the crosstalk that's after the break. paranoia and zero tolerance policies strikes yet again the latest in a string of children being punished for making gun noises or playing with toy guns involves the son of a u.s. marine who had the audacity as a child

investigations into any case related to their possible use including the incident reportedly took place near aleppo we're very disappointed that because of political games the u.n. has failed to act on this we expect our turkish colleagues to quickly provide a full report on this latest case this situation is too serious for those who constantly talk about the chemical weapons problem to keep playing games around it each and every incident needs to be investigated. the use of chemical weapons is bad and under international law when there are concerns that any kind of suggestions or any kind of proof they use will trigger international intervention reports have emerged that a u.s. and british citizen have been killed while fighting among rebels in syria damascus estimates that around one hundred thousand mercenaries have joined the battle against it are going off takes a closer look at who is being armed by the opposition to fight against government. since britain and france blocked attempts to extend the e.u. embargo on supplying on's to the syrian rebels there have been growing fears that the weap