we don't want to ally with assad, but strategically, we're allied with assad. he is a bulwark against the spread of isis today. we're trying to destroy isis. but if america destroyed assad and helped that agenda to come forward, who's gonna take damascus? it's gonna be isis and nusra. (explosions and gunfire) >> smith: the war in syria is now in its fifth year. more than 220,000 are dead. half the country's people have been forced from their homes. and inspectors suspect that assad still possesses sarin gas. he is also weaponizing chlorine. (coughing) (crying) >> the assad regime is still using chlorine gas bombs against syrian civilians. now, chlorine gas is certainly of less lethality than sarin gas, but it is a chemical weapon nonetheless. so you have a regime that's using chlorine gas continuously against the civilian populace without international repercussions. >> i have family members who have been killed, and i have friends who have been killed. it is heartbreaking. i would say, mr. president, that "you are going to go down in history, if you continue l

they all want some form of transition to a post assad syria now of course assad's in a much stronger position than he was a year ago or so so so there's very little incentive for him to negotiate or not so it seems that there's just a real impasse where is that keeps time for assad and the russians and the iranians who are supporting him to just go and and exert control and influence and trying to regain all of all of syria militarily some if we look at the specific situation and eastern russia what are the biggest hurdles to getting humanitarian aid in. well it's clearly just under a blockade it's it's a place that's been under blockade for four years now which is made it increasingly difficult to get any type of humanitarian aid who medical supplies into eastern ghouta so so that's the big lid just tickle challenge getting permission to do so obviously that involves getting permission from the assad regime and that's been a big hurdle right now obviously the assad regime has been incredibly reticent to to give any access to the monetary and aid this part of this besiegement as part

russia is actually insistent on not assad staying ones thing that assad as a person is the sole important thing for russia. no a so there's no those all important as a person but he is important as far as his leaving would cause a right so indeed the americans are americans so much less to have him leave old all from time to time they keep saying at the again so in the end i think most countries are accepting that he will stay and. dearest told to leave at the beginning of the transitional period but there must first be a transitional period at all because for the regime transition is a kind of dirty word all they want don't want any transition the most they want and they reform us so but as long as they stay in power for the regime it's ok but gradually also from the gulf states and also from the us and for turkey those old those countries was first want to him to leave not only to leave but. they have now come to other opinions because they got articular support of the opposition because this gave the order back we'll continue talking about iraq now and talk about how in the near future

what looks like normal life does go on in president assad's damascus.mes for thinking there is no war. that's how syria's leader wants it. here on the east side of damascus, we're at a football field that's been hit in the past by mortar fire. very few of the national team play in syria, but five star players are here training with their local club side. for a variety of reasons, they've stayed in syria, their career choices complicated by the war. every so often you can hear the sound of an aerial artillery shell going off somewhere in the distance. we're very close here to one of the front lines, even as we are in the centre of damascus. but the players aren't fussed, they haven't raised an eyebrow. this is the sound of war, something they've grown up with. omar al midani is one of the younger players of the national team. does this team really believe it can go on and qualify for russia? the training looks familiar. but that's where similarities between the game here and in other countries ends. the difference is not just the conditions, but the hope

dead wounded or made refugees two thousand and seventeen was a good year for president bashar al assad's forces recaptured major cities and large areas of rebel held territory the russian resort of sochi is due to host a new round of talks in january but after so many failed negotiations the prospect of peace remains elusive we'll get to our guests in a moment but first zain the whole report from beirut. syrians in search of safety there may be less violence because of russian brokered local cease fires but there are still active frontlines in some areas of the country. over the past year the opposition lost sizable territory and the syrian government with the backing of russia and iran have also recaptured areas from. the government is stronger than it has been since the conflict began nearly seven years ago but the war is not it's and. the war is far from. that is for sure and what we're seeing is perhaps winding down the conflict in some parts. there is a likelihood an escalation. of the country almost a quarter of the country in the north east for example is outside the state's contr

al-assad: it is very difficult. it is very difficult, because as i said, most people who are left inside are the poor regime people, who are holding the arms on this side. and the islamists on the others. most people left and they paid to leave. they are, you know, 5 million registered refugees and another 2-3 million that left. many that did not register. there's 7 million internally displaced people in syria and they all live under the regime controlled area. if you ask them where do they live better, they prefer damascus than other areas, or under sharia law, it's difficult. but it is still a possibility. but it is not by doing what they are doing today. today, the russians think they won. so they will, they are the ones that are going to lead the outcome of the negotiations in syria. the russians, what they do, now they have defeated isis that's a, win for the russians and president donald trump. they have done in a short time what the previous administration is not able to do. now there's a vacuum. the regime c

assad leaving is as a precondition to anything anymore because they do understand. in order to have some sort of peace settlement in syria they need assad right now and i don't think that that's i think real russia is actually insistent on not assad staying once the peaceful transition is done i don't think that assad as a person is the sole important thing for russia no a so there's no those all important as a person but he is important as far as his leaving cause a risk in the regime falling apart so indeed the americans are americans much less of them and to have him leave old oil from time to time they keep saying at the again so in the end i think most countries are accepting that he will stay and. there is told that he would have to leave at the beginning of the transitional period but there must first be a transitional period at all because for the regime transition is a kind of dirty word almost that they want don't want any transition the most they want and the reformers so but as long as they stay in power for the regime it's ok but gradually also from the

assad part of the peace process. he says he has achieved his major goals. that is the crucial aspect of this. speech,he said in his he said the speech have acted professionally, they acted heroically. now he is taking the peace process by the horns after this meeting at the airbase. he is going on to cairo. he will meet the turkish president. he will push t the version of te lease. -- peace. he wants to control the influence and main influence in syria after the conflict. genie: to get a bit more analysis and all of this, i am joined by nadya. you've been saying the russian president was in syria today to announce he is pulling out of syria. what role they played so far? changeshere have been because of the role russia played since it entered the war. he talked about the important role that they have played in defeating the islamic state. they played a role in the groups demise and the ancient city, the fight against isis wasn't led by russia. it was a complicated international campaign. you had russian and u.s. plan

differences in opinion between russia and turkey particularly on the issue of whether assad continues to stay in power in post conflict syria and also the issue of the. cubs which the syrian kurds that he doesn't want to see being included in the political process i meant this lightning check across the range into these three areas with this latest almost feels like he's making capital out of the fact that there is until trial going on in the region a moment. well not seems to be the case officials here tell us that the issue of jerusalem and present thrums recognition of that city as the couple told of israel is high up on the agenda of the talks between the president of turkey and putin of course putin husband really reason in stature within the middle east ever since he come in fool support of his ally bashar al assad and also millet suddenly ensured that bashar al assad got the victory so this is something that's going to be discussed and just coming a day before the organization of islamic countries summit here in turkey thank you mohammed ali the latest on that visit by the russ

assad's troops are in the building just a few meters away. everyone has to do a spell on the front line which is manned day and night tonight it's time . he's twenty six and was a jewelry seller and jawbone when the war broke out as his squad takes over from the outgoing unit there's just time for a snack. and on and on there's camaraderie among these young men some have known each of us families for years even if it works out but are they. good none of. the face not untypical. on if they will let it all out in just a bit of. muscle but. that's ok you have a good show that's. you know. it's early in the morning on the squad to your boss fight on something called the front line. another offensive discriminants. along the way there's an ever present threat of enemy snipers and no one lingers on open ground. no. one. assad's forces have launched many offenses against the job or rebels over the last five years but there are attacks on the ground it's an. interest rate the regime has often resorted to heavy artillery and air strikes and its effort

assad's troops are in the building just a few meters away. everyone has to do a spell on the front line which is manned day and night tonight it's time he's twenty six and was a jewelry seller enjoy a bar when the war broke out as his squad takes over from the outgoing unit there's just time for a snack. and on down there's camaraderie among these young men some have known each of us families for years even though they want stuff but are they. and that none of us know but then the face nothing to pull. off they will get all over them just a bit of. muscle bust up my wife that's a good show best. you know. it's early in the morning on a squad of joy most five times something called to the frontline. another offensive is imminent it's not a. problem all. along the way there's an ever present threat of enemy snipers and no one lingers on open ground. no. one. assad's forces have launched many offenses against the job or rebels over the last five years but there are attacks on the ground and it's in the. interest rate the regime has often resorte

people in power investigates how the suburb of damascus has refused to crumble under the might of assad's army. one of two at this time on al-jazeera. a shocking new estimate for the number of muslim are hanjour killed by security forces. nearly seven thousand in just one month. i don't see this is al jazeera live from london also coming up the u.n. is syria and boy calls on russia to have the courage to push the syrian government to accept new elections talking tough on north korea china's president xi jinping i was in meetings with a south korean counterpart in beijing saying they will not tolerate war. and how mass calls for a palestinian uprising against israel over the u.s. jerusalem decision as the party marks its their teeth on eva three. we begin in may where at least nine thousand revenge of muslims have died or been killed in just one month of those more than six thousand seven hundred were killed in violent attacks following the military crackdown. but mammals government insists the real figure is much lower just four hundred mohammed explains doctors without borders estimate t

bashar al assad's crimes were being pushed into the background. this happened in spite of the thousands of civilians who were killed by his forces in july twenty fourth two months after the russian veto the syrian opposition attempted to resurrect caesar's dossier. this time they went to the u.s. congress which opposed the military intervention in syria even after the chemical attacks and. a group of republican support us intervention. evan mcmullan a member of the commission of foreign affairs arranged for caesar the photographer to be interviewed in front of members of congress. we knew that most people in the united states didn't know of us its mass atrocities and the idea was that if americans understood more what exactly ossett was doing if they really understood they would have much more sympathy and they would expect i believe our leaders to do more and especially the president who is our commander in chief and who leads our foreign policy to do more to act to stop assad's. trustees. caesar was in hiding afraid of being captured by the syri

chief negotiator expressing irritation at comments by the opposition side who are still stressing assad must go the language was cocky it is possible politically speaking his position is perhaps surprising his russian allies since their intervention in the war in twenty fifteen have turned things around for assad on the battlefield and in recent months president putin has also been in the driving seat diplomatically reaching understanding's with two countries that had led the campaign against assad turkey and saudi arabia it held an important meeting last month in riyadh in a major reorganization prominent opposition figures quit their posts as members of another group with close links to moscow and derided by some as a sad stooges were admitted to the geneva delegation there's also been an important change of emphasis by the un at previous rounds of talks special envoy stefan de mistura as main aim was a transitional government it is clear the political transition is the mother of all ages he was working to the exact wording of his predecessor special envoy the former secretary general

assad's troops are in the building just a few meters away. everyone has to do a spell on the front line which is manned day and night tonight it's time . he's twenty six and was a jewelry seller enjoy a bar when the war broke out as his squad takes over from the outgoing unit there's just time for a snack. and on and on there's camaraderie among these young men some have known each other's families for years. but are they. and their. basement. a lot of a lot of them just want it. all. but. that's a good show. the . it's early in the morning on the squad the job most fighters have been called to the front line. another offensive is imminent it's not a. problem all. along the way there's an ever present threat of enemy snipers and no one lingers on the open ground. the. one. thing. assad's forces have launched many offenses against the jobar rebels over the last five years but their attacks on the ground it's an all. in frustration the regime has. often resorted to heavy artillery and air strikes in its efforts to crush the friends. largely ind

in multiple ways from the very beginning when protests broke out against assad in march two thousand and eleven so this didn't just you know sort of happen out of the blue in september two thousand and fifteen but certainly the intervention was a game changer and two years now he's he's firmly entrenched russia in the region he has his aim was to expose the west as weak into sort of to present himself as someone who succeeds where the west had failed. and. to reduce western influence in the region juice u.s. led influence in the region ok so to that point what would be the ramifications of that if in fact that's how some people see it that he has lessened somehow the presence of the west what might the that mean going forward. well going forward first of all what we see is assad is firmly in power he's in the best negotiating position that he's been perhaps since protests broke out against him and that's you know frankly it's another major accomplishment and what that means is as everyone else in the region is looking at the u.s. they're there now thinking that they have to deal with

day trip will visit today come my men russian in syria where he met president bashar al assad in them flew on to cairo for talks with president. if doubling back and heading north to ankara for meeting with take this time. and just type as will. at a military base in western syria a visit by vladimir putin it's the first time the russian president goes to syria since the start of the war nearly seven years ago he was greeted by senior officers and warmly embraced by president bashar al assad's. forces have been helping his troops since two thousand and fifteen when the syrian government was on the brink of collapse in a speech putin declared victory over what he described as terrorists and announced a partial pullout of his soldiers from syria my general you don't know much about but he goes there to the general command i give the sort of russia's military presence in syria has come to an end the motherland awaits you friends safe journey i thank you this. putin also pledged to continue to support syria's military by keeping some of his forces on the ground before departing for the eg

people in power investigates how the suburb of damascus has refused to crumble under the might of assad's army until bar harbor one of two at this time on al-jazeera. with bureaus spanning six continents across the globe. to. al-jazeera has correspondents live in green the stories they tell. me are fluent in world news. zero. zero zero am fully back to go welcome to the news hour live from our headquarters in doha coming up in the next sixty minutes the evidence is undeniable the weapons might as well have had made in iran stickers all over it iran denies it but the u.s. says it has proof tehran is supplying arms to who the rebels in yemen. a big. missed opportunity the latest round of syria talks and with no progress negotiate is a blaming each other for the failure also this hour the us pulls the plug on net neutrality we'll explain what this could mean for millions of internet users in america and doing why colombia's most powerful criminal gang is now looking to strike a deal with the government. the united states has presented what it calls undeniable evidence that iran is supplying

moved out of syria those six hundred thousand pages of material so that one day they can bring the assad regime to justice it puts a human face on the charges it's a dead human face but it's a human face syria witnesses for the prosecution at this time on al-jazeera. yemen's former president calls for dialogue with the saudi led coalition in the conflict. and i make lot this is a live from doha also coming up the program. they told me if i went with them they would look to me and help me find a husband alone and afraid the ranger girls being sold as sex slaves after escaping violence and. determined not to take a back seat disabled people who were part of a push for better treatment. and john hendren on the detroit river in the only floating code in the united states. so then the fighting between former allies in yemen is entering a fifth day dozens have been killed since the violence began in the capital sana on wednesday it's between the seas and supporters of former president ali abdullah saleh says he is open to talks with the side led coalition to end the war but he's the leader abd

as well and certainly of course mr putin has staked his support for mr assad has stood by them and of course in return asad. bashar assad would not be in the situation that he is in now without the help of russia and the backing of mr putin but while. putin also said that he did praise the russian troops for having been victorious as he put it in have for brilliantly as he said in syria there is still the admission that there was an awful lot of work to do and he said that russia could not bear the brunt of that and that it had to go into some kind of partnership with other global players as well to ensure that there isn't a lost generation in the future as well of course what is on the horizon as well in march twenty eighth of the presidential elections in russia and of course mr putin has thrown his his his name into the hat for that as well he is running as an independent contender but said would welcome. political support from other players as well because he is facing a challenge although he is there is being much touting of the foreign policy successes that russia has had recent

assad al-ashar--assad al-shar-- ashad--ashad al-asar-- bashar al-assad, uh... - bashar al-assad.ve mispronounced his name a few times. - hitler, who didn't even sink to using chemical weapons. as monie of you know. okay, jonathan, somebody's asking a question. it's not your press briefing. major, i-- - [inaudible]. - you want to come on up? - i'm just asking. - i mean, i'll be glad-- we can just-- and with that, i'm glad to take some questions. steve holland. - steve holland's not here. - with that, david jackson. - david is not here. - eamon javers. i will let the tweet speak for itself. yeah, i'm gonna let the tweet speak for itself. his tweets speak for themselves. his tweets do speak for themselves. i don't--i mean, that's the silliest thing i've ever heard. okay. this is silly. okay. next. stop shaking your head again. - sean! sean! sean! come on, sean. sean. sean... - sean, come here. - what about the putin call? - sean spicer. - sean. - where did sean go? - he walked away. he just... [indistinct chatter] - good-bye, spice. now, with any new administration, it is normal for

it is one of the last remaining rebel strongholds fighting the government of bashar al-assad. it has been bombed and besieged for 4 years, with fighting intensifying in recent weeks. combinationt is a of everybody's efforts. at this very low time in his syria, there is a ray of light, and it is the children who are missing growing up in syria. to giveget them out syria a chance of a prosperous and peaceful future. martin: but food is hard to come by and malnutrition is widespread. human rights groups accuse the syrian government of trying to starve the rebels into submission. this evacuation may have the appearance of a humanitarian gesture, but that is simply not the case. we have been told by 2 sources that the syrian government only agreed to it as part of a prisoner exchange. the main rebel faction agreed to free 29 syrian government hostages, and in return, the same number of critically ill patients are being allowed to receive urgent medical care. but the united nations says hundreds of others need to be evacuated. among them, a three-month-old who was injured by governm

this was denied by the assad regime. the precise death toll from the two thousand and thirteen attack has never been fully established the united nations put the figure around six hundred the syrian opposition said fatalities were nearer thirteen on that. a large number of the dead were children. and then get it up to full out think it. is about at the moon the. student i mean it that they're not seeing the new what was then you will know you had chemo you might get. thirty. six months i don't just think the money and i'll let you know. how it goes yeah at the. oh if i were left up it will never know and i live. in the city. at the end of it. has lost more than twenty members of his family. the city just the event i defended no doubt about. it different to not just the. what had been attending an event in the safety. stuff he. had been at the city on eleven and the money to fund it minute me. or. defended to that does he. defend tonight i mean. most of the job of the residents have long since fled the war here the few th

. —— by cher al—assad. they effectively bargaining chips. -- by cher al-assad.uated and they feel there is hope for the future. we are talking about 29 total taking place out of hundreds of patients who are in dire need and at risk of death from treatable conditions. that does not make sense that this is a humanitarian deal, sought to speak. u nfortu nately we have humanitarian deal, sought to speak. unfortunately we have seen many deals, operations to help the patients to treat the ones we can help at this time. we know that four months ago, when we started reaching out to the us and un leadership, we provided information that they were patients in urgent need. now we're seeing those 29 being approved but not just that, not just the starvation is going up in eastern mark —— ghouta, but there are many violations of international law is and that makes us suspicious. using them as a cheaper bargaining position to negotiate a better political position. in exchange for free and sick children, the government is getting something in return. we were also hearing that s

last week, international aid agencies made an appeal to president assad to allow the evacuation of sevenren with cancer. the first of the patients were taken out of eastern ghouta overnight by the red cross and the syrian arab red crescent. more patients should be evacuated in the coming days as part of a deal between the government and rebels. but hundreds more are in need of treatment. the medical situation for people living in eastern ghouta is desperate after four years under siege. martin patience reports from beirut. seven—year—old imjy is preparing for a shortjourney, and it will almost certainly end up saving her life. she is suffering from haemophilia, but last night she was among four critically—ill patients to be evacuated to damascus for life—saving treatment. this is what she's leaving behind. eastern ghouta is one of the last remaining rebel strongholds, fighting the government of bashar al—assad. it's been bombed and besieged for four years, with fighting intensifing in recent weeks. i think it's a combination of everybody‘s efforts, that at this really low time in syria t

this is the first cousin and opponent of syrian president bashar al-assad. he talks about russian influence in the region. the fight against isis and what he sees as the most likely outcome to serious civil war. this is the founder of the organization for democracy and freedom in syria. >> thank you very much. they can for inviting me and i would like to thank them for of theazing opportunity , i have with a warning some positive things to say about president donald trump. i appreciate that he is not passionate in many parts of the word right now but you're president of the force in terms of his first term. for election that is entirely democratic, this is for my country and for the children who have yet to see their father's homeland. -- as not so long ago people of different faiths lived together in an atmosphere of tolerant and harmony. we gird for those times to return to the democracy question dictatorship. and how we should celebrate a democratic elections. however, to understand this is no longer simple, it has become the heart of extremism and the pr

eye on most issues regarding syria but still have differences on the future role of president bashar assad and the issue of syrian kurdish fighters the wife e.g. put in began his wall when chip in syria the fust time the russian president was that the country since the start of the war the ill is seven years ago he was greeted by senior officers and warmly embraced by president. potence forces have been helping his troops is two thousand and fifteen when the syrian government was on the brink of collapse in a speech put in declared victory over what he described as terrorists and amounts to a partial pullout of his soldiers from city. to the general command i give this order russia's military presence in syria has come to an end the motherland awaits you friends safe journey i thank you for your service put in also pledged to continue to support syria militarily by keeping some of his forces on the ground he then departed for the egyptian capital there he met president of the fatah. the leaders have been strengthening ties in vicinities put in and says he also signed a deal on nuclear powe

russian forces have played an important role in supporting assad tommy. confrontations have resumed between palestinian protesters and israeli forces in the occupied west bank over the u.s. recognition of jerusalem as israel's capital israel's prime minister is facing pressure to restart peace efforts at a meeting with e.u. foreign ministers in brussels and thousands of people marched in ukraine's capital kiev to protest against the detention of former georgian president mikheil saakashvili he was arrested on friday following a dramatic standoff wait climate on to a roof to avoid police and was later freed from a police van by his supporters. venezuela's president nicolas maduro has barred opposition parties from taking part in next year's presidential vote his ruling socialist party wanted least ninety percent of the mayoral seats in a municipal poll. as more from caracas. voting in venezuela is not obligatory but many still put their faith in the electoral process however several opposition leaders boycotted the vote accusing the government of manipulat

russia from vladimir putin to try and get some concessions from the syrian government and from bashar assad to to get a new review of the fire the peace process because at the moment the whole process is going nowhere the delegation the syrian government delegation will leave geneva tomorrow morning and the opposition group will give a press conference tonight at eight thirty but it does seem that once again these talks have ended in failure will get more details as the day goes on hopefully from bashar al jaafari who is the the leader of the syrian government delegation but i've also been talking to insiders involved in this process and they say that sami an alternative set of talks is actually going on and has been going on for the last year and is picking up pace now this has the approval or at least the knowledge of the russians and of the regime in damascus and these talks are taking place with people who are senior loyalists to the bashar assad government and also people outside the scope of the syrian opposition delegation they're trying to come up with new ideas and the whole proces

in multiple ways from the very beginning when protests broke out against assad in march two thousand and eleven so this didn't just you know sort of happened out of the blue in september two thousand fifteen but certainly the intervention was a game changer and two years now. he's firmly entrenched russia in the region. has his aim was to expose the west as we can to sort of to to present himself as someone who succeeds where the west had failed. and you know and to reduce western influence in the region to reduce u.s. led influence in the region. now anger over the u.s. decision to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel is still going strong thousands of hezbollah supporters took to the streets of lebanon chanting death to america has a son nasr all of the groups need to accuse some arab nations of supporting the united states and all arabs to unite against america and that maybe they are today memphis ahead we are all in this war we have all experienced this our brothers in gaza any demonstrations no matter how big or small only give more resistance and will make us feel that