as small as great love was bashing assad he was part of the assad family clan his father had fees had seized power in syria in one thousand nine hundred seventy via a coup you didn't know anyone who travels to syria will realize that every border crossing where they are namely in assad syria this country is in the private hands of a clan that's organized like the mafia and everything in this country is designed to support assad's rule because the whole of society is transfused by a network that the assad created and expanded over the decades. have fees al assad the socialist one party state in syria with the help of the military and the intelligence services all critics were eliminated the dictator had thousands of people arrested to. and killed the country's economy was run into the ground it was corrupt when have fees died in the year two thousand syria was considered one of the darkest dictatorships in the world the stage to funeral marches were deceptive for many the death of the dictator gave hope for change have fees al assad had chosen his own successor. his son bashar was the

the assad regime was supporting the jihadist who were working in iraq. and who later i mean it was al qaeda in iraq and then what is today you know it's. so it's it's a very interesting. photo because it's a deal that bashar was offering to the west it's something like i can protect you from it's me or there was and what do you prefer the alternative to me is these people you want them. it's a very good insurance to keep in power is to say ok i can leave but you will have these people this deal of. that many european leaders. believed or accepted but it was neglecting twenty two million syrians. assman meanwhile established a whole network of seemingly independent organizations for women's rights education and young people this commitment and her international admiration but she was a part of the regime part of the line. i hope you don't think the people who are not critical and i'm not complaining about the government and complaining about service have been fine about economic crisis people here complain as much as they do anywhere else and whilst about

half east assad room. the socialist one party state in syria with the help of the military and the intelligence services all critics were eliminated the dictator had thousands of people arrested and killed the country's economy was run into the ground it was corrupt when have fees died in the year two thousand syria was considered one of the darkest detained to ships in the world the stage to funeral marches were deceptive for many the death of the dictator gave hope to change have fees al assad had chosen his own successor. his son bashar was the only candidate in the presidential election. what to fight when half died i felt like i had woken up from a nightmare if you had thought i was certain that his successor whether it was bush or someone else would be better i mean much about poverty as an official assad was like an octopus that had spread across the end of china syrian society. sour as a rock bash i was not born to rule it said he hadn't wanted power and would have preferred to become an eye doctor

aside had boarded the assassination evidence was never found but international outrage was great and assad fell out of favor. two months after. his mission of the pope if in a jump of the second the vatican has a special foreign policy and the federal you can't say no to anyone coming to from so they went. nobody wants to. over the wants to receive him nobody wants to talk with. this photo you realize exactly the tour of the trip in talks with the queen of spain. and then on another photo for cherie blair because she is a nice person it's difficult for. spain or other to reject something so here you realize her function may be in the region has to do this to present the face of. of the country in a nice way. and to be a tool of foreign policy because if bashar was alone on the floor i'm not sure people will really talk to him but with us as different. one year later the e.u. wanted to set up an independent center for human rights in damascus without the involvement of the regime. we had initiated a project with the aim of giving the interested audience in syria journalists and lawyers an i

the ear of fear seem to come to an end when bashar assad became president. in his first speech he announced economic reforms promised social reforms and even spoke of democracy it was an encouraging message for the many syrians who dreamed of freedom. in what are they out but in two thousand something finally happened in this country people started to meet and debate there were political events the first ones were called national dialogue and took place in my father's house it was always packed. hundreds came to debate about anything that was on their mind they wanted to talk about syria just like. you could feel how great the longing was to be involved and bring about change at long last. meeting let me tell fals. six months off to he entered office the young president appeared for the first time in public with his wife from england. it was a mystery to say in the first few months because we heard about this lady coming from london. very fashionable. not only beautiful she was clever sentence very good studies in london she was working in a major bank etc.

second question concerns assad. from your research, what do you think is his role in the rise of isis? after all, he had an intimate connection with the aqi during its heyday and after. when i was there in 2011, i remember getting military briefings that all the money, all the direction, all the leadership, in fact, for the games running mosul was coming from syria. and then, obviously, after -- after the uprising began, assad benefited greatly from the rise of isis. and if you look at the fall of cities like raqqa and other places you have to ask, did assad have a hidden hand? i'm just curious, you know, whether -- you make an assertion that ramping up the free syrian army would not have helped, but might it have actually stopped the rise of isis? >> i'll say a few words. i think that it would've perhaps placed some of the more modern elements in syria in a better position to respond to the rise of isis so that the power imbalance between those groups would not have been pronounced as it was particularly in 2013, 2

worried now that they with assad winning. that iran is going to be are more powerful in the region and they're hoping that. russia can can be. induced to. to work against that at even if russia a date wednesday that doesn't have the power and the influences winning against the opposition. there is something of a competition for inflfluence betweween te rurussians and the i iranias for influence in damascus which of course assad is. not playing them ofoff agait each othther andnd i think t the what what the saudis have decided is that. if but if in. assad one remain in power. will then they're they're much better off if he. is leaning toward russia

half east al assad room.the socialist one party state in syria with the help of the military and the intelligence services all critics were eliminated the dictator had thousands of people arrested tooted and killed the country's economy was run into the ground it was corrupt when have fees died in the year two thousand syria was considered one of the doc his dictatorships in the world the stage to funeral marches were deceptive for many the death of the dictator gave hope for change have fees al assad had chosen his own successor. his son bashar was the only candidate in the presidential election. what to fight when hafiz died i felt like i had woken up from a nightmare if you had. i was certain that his successor whether it was bashar or someone else would be better i mean much about official assad was like an octopus that had spread across the end of china syrian society. russia was not born to rule it said he hadn't wanted power and would have preferred to become an eye doctor. and i did some photos of the

side and they're going to get sandwiched between turkey and the assad troops assad is hoping to drive all these people into turkey itself and that's going to be the final negotiation will they stand and die as isis have been doing or will they work out some agreement with turkey in order to flee into turkey and get refuge there. to go to town want to role do you see turkey playing and what mr landis has said also in the stablished meant off at lead as a day escalations on. let me say this first time in the aleppo war russia has expanded after experiencing to other poor russian strategic decision makers i think come to conclude that siege warfare in syria is not working so right now they have an different plan right now and they are trusting on the ankara's mediating power on those. sunni armed groups in and around it there so i think this is the plan that they are planning to follow first they are coming with a. sort of proposal to daws armed groups right now in operating in and around to sleep if you want to live it lip than we have an proposal for you. for your families you know you

president assad.ie: they have to have credibility with the syrian people. guest: more than half of syria's prewar population is either displaced inside syria, dead, or a refugee abroad. that is syria today. many fear that it has been an existential crisis to syria, that syria as they knew it no longer exists. you sit with syrians and you can see they don't want to say it. they want to believe that something called syria still exists. but when we are looking at now is jordan have an influence in the south, turks have influence in the north, the russians and a rainy and -- russians and iranians having influence where president assad prevailed. there are definitely tensions pulling it apart. but there are people trying to pull it back together. i think there are many narratives about syrians not black and white. there's a kaleidoscope of interests. a kaleidoscope is correct because a kaleidoscope is constantly changing. you have people who shift their know turkey do deals with russia at the end of last y

now remember president obama said you know i saw a sign assad must go also russia is also selling on sell it to iran and working with iran and syria and it that also goes against the u.s. interests and finally the two of them working to keep up while prices not hurt the world economy and the u.s. economy. abraham how do you see this then is this is this an acknowledgement not just of russia's growing infinites in the middle east but with regard to events in syria. the reality that. saudi arabia is going to have to perhaps concede that. bashar al assad will remain in power for the forseeable future well it's rare to find the three guests and inside story are all on the same page but this time it happens i think we're all on the same page we're all agreeing that this is a recognition of the new russian role in the middle east and i think this happens for two major reasons one is that russia has emerged as the conflict resolver of the middle east conflicts especially given the kid that received managing successfully managing so far to its own interest the conflict in syria after geneva

has been living under since the mass seized power let's bring in a guest now a political analyst dr assad. joins me live on the line dr assad do you think that this reconciliation agreement can hold where so many before it had failed. no different this is going to hold and to stick because simply because the order of the day in palestine today is happiness optimism and relief and i think both parties mass and even across senior people and all other factions and organizations are happy about willing aren't willing to achieve reconciliation because you know that very strength is in their consideration and their national unity and then now we are fed up of this is split simply because the so-called because presupposes. has proved to be a fiasco and as i didn't give anything. anything to the policy in and their people and even is that i wouldn't recognize the two three state solution which is

secretary of state says the syrian president al-assad must be the next to go. we have heard that before. the syrian dictator seems to have only been strengthened even as his regime is used of using -- accused of using chemical weapons on his own people. it killed 90 people in april. at a meeting tillerson says quote the rein of the assad family is coming to an end. the only issue is how that will be brought about. will it? joining us is a member of the nonprofit syrian american council who has been fighting for his people. good to see you >> thanks for having me. eric: we have heard this before, the call for bashir al-assad to go. is that realistic? >> we have heard this before, but it absolutely is realistic. there is no future where syrians can live freely in syria with bashar al-assad. syrian refugees that are outside of the country want to return their homes and can't while assad is in power. eric: it seems assad only been strengthened by the military victories, only been strengthened by moscow and putin support and by tehran. >> yes, of course, iran has be

bashar al assad will remain in power for the forseeable future well it's rare to find the three guests and inside story are all on the same page but this time it happens i think we're all on the same page we are all agreeing that this is a recognition of the new russian role in the middle east and i think this happens for two major reasons one is that russia has emerged as the conflict resolver of the middle east conflicts especially given the kid that received managing successfully managing so far to its own interest the conflict in syria after geneva failed a stand led by russia is making progress and the other major reason actually russia built with the billeted in the region that it's able and willing and supports its allies even autocratic allies in these countries all the way to the end no matter how much the price is going to be like as again the lessons learned from from syria russia goes all the way in supporting autocratic regimes and this is especially important to link it to the current visit of king solomon is that we have to keep in mind that preparations for succession i

russia's defense ministry says this is the first such admission after years claiming only the assad government carries out chemical attacks that. students at cambridge university of being issued warnings over a potentially distressing material in classic literature a move but some are calling. if you're reading literature you should expect some surprises i think the problem with the world these days is that there's just so much focus on being offended by everything that people are just so scared of what they can actually say or do you. feel good evening to you money was neil harvey your watching. first this has become the target of how do i call this let's say it's a good old fashion full scale which by european think tank funded by the us embassy and other leading members of the western establishment now the group calling itself european values issued a report on this channel's programs it listed thousands of people who've appeared as guests to correspond with joins me now from london with this story now i don't know exactly what's in this report i'm going to think positive maybe t

only figure within the us political establishment who has voiced opposition and hatred for julian assad and many figures within the u.s. government many senators congressmen leaders of the military have spoken of julian a songe accused him of being a russian agent called for prosecution of julian assad called for wiki leaks to be shut down this is a widespread sentiment in washington d.c. i mean he's a tool of russian intelligence and if he's such a you know martyr of free speech why doesn't wiki leaks ever publish anything coming out of russia you should be treated as an enemy combatant we should be closed down permanently and decides we wiki leaks walks like a hostile intelligence service and talks like a hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like russia ignorance or misplaced idealism is no longer an acceptable excuse for lionizing these demons assad is a narcissist who has created nothing of value he relies on the dirty work of others to make himself famous he's a fraud a coward hiding behind a screen disguise a traitor a treasonous and i'm not for the death pen

it now looks increasingly likely that syrian president bashar assad will stay in power following six and a half years of a brutal civil war focus is already shifting to reconstruction of towns and cities reduced to rubble in the conflict and the country's already prepared to cash in especially neighboring lebanon reports from the port city of tripoli. tripoli port has been running below capacity for years but operators aren't to supposing that will soon change the huge terminal is just twenty eight kilometers from the syrian border and the lebanese government is positioning itself as a major player in the reconstruction of syria when the giant task of rebuilding the country destroyed by war will begin is anyone's guess fighting continues in northern and eastern syria as well as in small areas around the capital damascus. but after a series of major victories president bashar al assad in the syrian government is looking increasingly likely to retain power over large areas of the country introducing an element of stability into economic forecasts not protected by economists since the w

report to the western media un chemical watchdog chemical weapons watchdog says it's confident the assad government playing bridge deadly attack in april despite russia voicing serious concerns over its credibility. but i welcome it's just turned four o'clock here in moscow you're watching international start in spain today where the prime minister has appealed to the senate to take direct control of catalonia and the regions. we're asking you. to dismiss the president vice president and members of the cancer government likewise the regional parliament must be electing new members thank . you meanwhile the cattle and regional parliament is expected. vote any minute on whether to declare independence or not these are live pictures from there to show that dubinsky has been gauging the mood in the catalan capital barcelona. but inside a crash just outside the catalan parliament many people here all pro independence this but there is a group of people who would like to remain you guys in spain and both camps are hoping that there will be some i'll come over this situation today as we know se

they've been backing the rebels and with russia they've been with iran and president assad so right now from the saudis i you know it looks like they've got the message russia is a massive player in the middle east their influence has definitely grown and the saudis recognized and they also it seems recognize the fact that president assad will not be going anywhere so from the saudi perspective what they want to see and the questions they'll be asking is what happens after isis is beat and what happens to the rebels will there be a negotiating table for them to sit down with the assad government and have some type of influence in the future the biggest question though for the saudis is the randi you know we rate indian influence really and influence is growing in the middle east as well they've made their push because of supporting the assad regime in syria so what the saudis would like to see is you ran out of that playground basically and pushed back to within its borders now this is going to be a very contentious issue seeing that you ran and russia have been together the russians ob

assad turkey's main priority is to prevent the expansion of isis and pew i.d.p. k.-k. all its border so in that sense turkey and iran as well as the syrian regime can have a common ground to prevent the kurdish expansion along the turkish border of course turkey has never walk. said that its priority in syria has shifted and i don't expect the turkish government to recognize the assad government any time soon however the defacto situation is turkey has already already shifted its priority on its security security and they are sending in syria and more focused on the kurdish expansion in all its border rather than iridium change mr al-deen. is turkey losing as turkey fighting a losing battle in regards to what mr canady saying because the kurds already have a lot of territory now in northern syria what is what is the kurdish and goal in that region and have they all but achieved it. well first of all back to the earlier point the reason why i personally am not so worried about the iran turkish meeting is because it's not that the kurdish question is unifying them they i

i think there was fear on the assad. a sod -- if he wins it would open the floodgates to revenge killings and cleansing against the allied community. that may have been a reasonable fear. would imagine he served closely to what happened to gaddafi. basically he observed that it was very hard to think of what for afe is it plan was dictator like him. after it became clear there were a few places he could go externally. it became an existential life or death struggle. it is hard for dictators to sit on the french riviera anymore. >> are there ways that the awakenings were handled -- [indiscernible] times -- he said this would not have produced, ultimately it would not -- tothe back of my mind as whether 10 years we will be asking ourselves whether the rise of post isis terror groups from that part of the world was -- itable and whether it wanted to you to unpack a little more about the relationship of >> we do look at the decision to not pay the beforeecurity forces they decided we are going to keep paying them. that is un

held areas some say they just can't get behind a team that's aligned with the government of bashar al assad to mollify all reports . the syrian national teams will draw in iran last month sparked celebrations in the capital. football has the power to bring people together but not in a government controlled damascus were only supporters of bashar assad are now together in public. not far away you won't find any scenes of celebration just more death and destruction in opposition controlled a sign that syria remains a war torn country the young men here whose dreams were to play football find themselves instead dodging bullets and bombs now that is the president of the opposition syrian football association he was a member of the general sports union before defecting in two thousand and twelve in protest at the regime of bashar assad he says the current national football team doesn't represent syrians from that in the world is now interested in the national team in a spot gotten about the massacres in my country the national team players and the management say football shouldn't be mixed with

allies started souring during the syrian civil war turkey upset the us didn't do enough against the assad government even angrier when the u.s. backed kurdish fighters and later armed them. then last year's coup attempt and it got worse blame to clerics between the golan who lives in the u.s. they wanted him extradited for his alleged role the obama administration refused and the trump administration hasn't moved on it either that was a big issue when he first met president donald trump but that was overshadowed by what happened when he left the oval office. turkish security officers violently attacked what appeared to be peaceful protesters outside the turkish ambassador's residence fifteen of them were indicted in u.s. courts and as a result the u.s. stopped a planned sale of small arms to turkey turkey further angered the u.s. when it agreed to buy a russian missile defense system equipment that wouldn't work with a nato has indicated he would be willing to trade americans imprisoned in turkey for good lawn but given that would be hard to do within the legal system something he really

president assad is still in power.ainstream opposition has lost any territorial foothold that could challenge president assad. charlie: they have to have credibility with the syrian people. guest: more than half of syria's prewar population is either displaced inside syria, dad, or -- dead, or eight refugee abroad. that is serious today. and existential crisis to syria today. syria as it existed no longer exist. you sit with syrians and you can say they don't want to believe that something called syria still exist. but we are looking at how jordan met has an influence in the south, turks have influence in the north, the russians and iranians have influence where president assad prevailed. there definitely tensions pulling it apart. there are people trying to put back together. i think there are many narratives about syria, it is not black and white. there is a kaleidoscope of interests and it is constantly changing. , itallegiance with turkey deals with the russia towards the end of last year which ended in a negotiate

hack assad has always insisted it was non-state actors who leaked the d.n.c. files to wiki leaks now according to congressman rohrabacher assad is ready to tell the truth but it looks like washington doesn't want to hear it well plenty of stories still coming your way here on our international on this tuesday for example britain's top diplomat boris johnson well he's accused of being remarkably diplomatic the full story after the break. here's what people have been saying about rejected and. the only show i go out of my way. really. is the john oliver of our. parents better than. the c. people you've never heard of redacted tonight president of the world bank. seriously send us an e-mail. seems wrong. and in. the trailer. park. to look for common ground. joining us today for your news on r.t. the syrian army backed by russian is making a final effort to push the remaining terrorists out of the largely liberated city. according to the russian defense ministry over three hundred terrorists were eliminated in the last forty eight hours. or has been on the militan

increasingly likely that syrian president bashar assad will say in power after six and a half years of civil war focus is already shifting to the reconstruction of towns and cities reduce rubble in the conflict many countries are already preparing to cash in especially in neighboring lebanon in test times reports from the port city of tripoli tripoli port has been running below capacity for years but operators aren't dissipating that will soon change the huge terminal is just twenty eight kilometers from the syrian border and the lebanese government is positioning itself as a major player in the reconstruction of syria when the joint task of rebuilding the country destroyed by war will begin is anyone's guess fighting continues in northern and eastern syria as well as in small areas around the capital damascus. but after a series of major victories president bashar al assad in the syrian government is looking increasingly likely to retain power over large areas of the country introducing an element of stability into economic forecasts not protected by economists since the war started s

the statement saying it's the first admission of its sort of to years of allegations that only the assad government carries out chemical attacks in syria tactics of isis. and other violent extremist groups include the use of suicide bombers kidnapping small and heavy. vised explosive devices and chemical weapons they have targeted major city senses in damascus aleppo how mama dollar homes it lip and dare is old provinces. and it's just more details on this here on the program. joining us live on the significance of this admission by the u.s. of a al nasra formerly known as al nusra this group using chemical weapons in syria . laurie good morning well where the russian ministry of defense is reacting to an update on a u.s. state department travel warning there must be a good reason for that and according to the russian army spokesperson what is in that update appears to be the first ever and vacation by washington that the harir are shot the rebranded version of jab a new straw also known as al qaida in syria an internationally recognized terrorist organization doesn't only possess chemic

assad out. you've got russia holding their hand. basically allow thg to happen. you've got iran supporting the situation. >> haley says now that the u.s. has destroyed isis and syria, the u.s. has its eye on assad. >> we're not done. this is still playing out. this is all still happening. >> so you see u.s. actions that could effectively push assad out. >> i think you can, it's not that we are going to push assad out. but we're not going to let chemical weapons happen. we're not loing to get iran take over. we're not going to allow that to happen. these are all planned on how we can go forward, but the overall message is we are not going to stand by a cruel dictator that uses chemical weapons on his own people. if we'll sanction north korea for that, why are you allowing iran to get a pass? we've seen that. we know what happens. we've played this game before. not going to do it again. >> president trump considered haley to be his secretary of state before send iing her to t u.n. now with rumors

state department has officially acknowledged another anti assad force using chemical weapons in syria that's aside from islamic state this revelation comes in the latest travel alert for the country and it refers to the al nasra group now known as tyrrell's sham most as defense ministry says it's the first admission of its kind owing years of allegations that only the assad government carried out chemical attacks in syria. tactics of isis hyatt's to here and other violent extremist groups include the use of suicide bombers kidnapping small and heavy arms improvised explosive devices and chemical weapons they have targeted major city senses in damascus aleppo how mama daraa holmes it lip and dare is all provinces will it live province which was mentioned in that state department document has only one widely known deadly chemical attack on its soil that took place in the town of concha cool in april killing dozens of washington apparently didn't consider terrorists being responsible quickly blaming government troops. yesterday morning. we awoke to pictures to children of beautiful littl

well it now looks increasingly likely syrian president bashar assad will stay in power after six and a half years of a brutal civil war focus is already shifting to the reconstruction of towns and cities reduce or rubble in the conflict many countries are already preparing to cash in especially neighboring lebanon and just time this report from the port city of tripoli. tripoli port has been running below capacity for years but operators aren't issa paving bout will soon change the huge terminal is just twenty eight kilometers from the syrian border and the lebanese government is positioning itself as a major player in the reconstruction of syria when the giant task of rebuilding the country destroyed by war will begin is anyone's guess fighting continues in northern and eastern syria as well as in small areas around the capital damascus. but after a series of major victories president bashar al assad and the syrian government is looking increasingly likely to retain power over large areas of the country introducing an element of stability into economic forecasts not projected by eco

and iran and russia supporting president assad. so we have a proxy war that will continue to go on into the real question will be whether or not at some point there is a willingness to sit down and try to see if they cannot find a peaceful solution. we have tried. it has not gone very far. as long as somebody thinks they are winning it is tough to do this. and president assad right now .eels he is winner with russian and iranian help. but i think the united states has to be a force there. i do not think united states can write off syria. the united states has to be a force in working with the opposition, working with the forces that are there and making clear the united states is not going anywhere. we're not going to surrender syria to russia and iran. we need to be there and play a role in working with these other forces to try to ultimately be a check point if nothing else, to force some kind of negotiation. can recollect, i many years ago when russia came into the egypt, dr. kissinger basically sat in the white house, did not t

for example russia and iran aid, abet and sustain the murderous assad regime in syria. that access perpetuates a sick terry and civil war that strengthens islamist terrorists who portray themselves as patrons and protectors of parties in that conflict. iran intern uses that same conflict and conflicts in iraq and yemen to pursue hegemonic gains and threaten israel and saudi arabia and others with their terrorists and militia process. yet as urgent threats like these to u.s. and international security of increased our strategic competency has actually diminished. i think we have been prone in recent years to what we might describe as an almost narcissistic approach to national security. strategies are fritter away based on what we would refer rather than what the situation demands. in recent years we have allowed incomplete plans disconnected from the problems they were meant to address to masquerade the strategies. so what complex challenges like the three i just highlighted reflate the national security and complex challenges like those that are manifest in syria deman

i see secretary tillerson and ambassador haley back to you think john kerry and samantha power say assad must go it's that or etc and so it sounds like you are interested in obviously knowing the methods before you can recall one way or the other what with syria in syria claimed though that they got rid of their chemical weapons stockpile a few years ago in a deal that was brokered by by russia and the united states. what recourse is there if any. if it turns out they. if they don't i don't know what the recourse is and to tell the truth of the bill i don't think they do have them i really have a lot of doubt about all of this it seems to me that it's all jim up for some political purpose to reach some men which ultimately results in going back to rolling back the clock to demands of regime change if they still do have chemical weapons yes the the russians on top of vera most more than anybody else should feel hoodwinked because they're the ones who made the proposal to get rid of the chemical weapons they don't seem to be convinced that that's the case yeah i am glad you brought up rex