and europeans faster to put pressure on the regime of bashar al-assad.here are more things to do and we haven't been willing to do them start economic sanctions and visa bands and say he should go. >> will that get him out. these bands and the statement he should go? >> we'll get him out. look, he runs a minoritiy regime. most of the chief officers are allowights . they are suppressing a population that is overwhelming sunni . how do you get those in the syrian army to realize their interest is not in the continuation of the assaud family rule. you have to say either you turn against the regime or a war criminal six months a year down the road. you are saying that kind of thing. we are not saying that and we are not sending an important symbolic message to the syrian people themselves, too. it would matter if president obama says the time has come for president assad to leave. they will transession to a future. >> it occurs to me that the arab world is not looking real good. they are in real disarray there. the syrian situation makes the whole thing wors

there are calls for bashar also sought to step down. -- bashar all aside -- al-assad to step down. >> we want to speak out. it is our right. >> i just wanted a better future for our country. >> he left germany in early march to return to syria. he hopes with his friends to demonstrate peacefully for freedom. he soon landed in jail, sharing a prison cell with many others. >> there was 38 of us in a room measuring square meters. there were people who were just 17 years old and up to 55. among us for many lawyers, doctors, imams, and and students. >> he says all the prisoners were beaten and tortured. he shows us images that is designed to scare people. it is on clear where these pictures were t t t t tut he sad that he was tortured like this. >> in my case, they ordered me to kiss or lick their shoes. the one who interrogated me kept kicking in the head. he put out cigarettes on my body. they beat me not only with their hands but their legs and my face. they beat us with sticks and electrical cables. they would laugh at us. you want freedom? we're giving you freedom. or, derr, westminst

do you think president bashar assad will resign, step down? vote in the online poll on the home page, foxnews.com/specialreport. results after this break. ♪ [ slap! slap! slap! slap! slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums >>> every week, viewers vote for your choice online. in our friday lightning round poll. this week, president obama's vacation, won with 43% of the votes. we talked about it before and back with the panel. what about it? the first full day and the images and in this environment, steve? >> they are going to try to control the images but i don't think it will matter. the problem is he is tone deaf on the issue of sarah palin said yesterday. the real problem is if you talk to people and spend time outside of washington, d.c., you talk to people, people are really struggling. people, you know, at virtually all economic levels. people who are middle class miles per hours, who might have jobs, tig

has come out and said bashar al-assad must go. done it unequivocally and formally which really increases pressure on the regime. what's important here, too, is that the u.s. hasn't just come out alone and done it. you've got the u.n. that's going to be talking about syria today. you've got france, germany, and the uk just moments ago coming out and saying bashar al-assad has lost legitimacy and he needs to face the reality. so it's important that the u.s. is acting in lock step with the rest of the world and really isolating bashar al-assad. analysts i've spoken to though says syria doesn't really care what the u.s. has to say here. these sanctions will bite but it's not going to be enough for him to shift his policy. what's important here they say and what we're hearing out of the white house today on syria is this is also a message to the syrian people, the u.s. is with you. and also a big encouragement to the opposition, as well. will bashar al-assad stand down because of the u.s.' statement in unlikely. >> zain, another questi

>> bashar al-assad did it to himself. he did for those who wanted him out what they could not do themselves, by acting so brutally, making virtual war on his own people. it was incredibly heavy handed. >> brown: one of the key players here, turkey, reportedly had been counseling some patience in the last few days. do you have any insight on that? they wanted to deal with assad themselves and try to get him to come up with some reforms before all this happened? >> well, turkey had a-- has a policy of zero problems with the neighbors. and syria was one of the keystones of this policy and the prime minister had forged a very close relationship with bashar al-assad and tried to give him every chance, tried to throw him a life line and said, "please, take it." but bashar made promises he never kept and humiliated and embarrassed the turkish leadership. >> brown: when you referred earlier to this allowing other drizz get involved, you meant europe, i suppose. does it also mean countries in the region? >> countries in the region

in syria we just heard president obama secretary of state clinton say you know president president bashar. should step down they want him to step down however they're not going to meddle in that country's affairs on the other hand you have this country meddling in the affairs of at least three other countries iraq afghanistan and libya talk about obama's middle east policy well i think that we should get out of iraq afghanistan and libya tomorrow i would never have gone into iraq from the start believing that we have the military surveillance capability to see iraq rule out any weapons of mass destruction that we could have gone in and dealt with that if it were to have happened it didn't happen i thought if we went into iraq we'd find ourselves in an endless civil war in afghanistan i thought initially that was totally warranted we were attacked we attacked back but after being in afghanistan for six months i think we effectively wiped out that was ten years ago syria sunni libya i'm completely opposed to libya where was the military threat where was the congressional authorization were

number two bashar al-assad is closely aligned with iran. qaddafi dew point have any friend out there, bashar al-assad has a big friend in the ruling marty in iran and that also means he has a lot of protection. the word has gone out if somebody wants to try to military intervene inside syria to stop this violence that's killed more than 2,000 people, you're not just picking a fight with bashar al-assad, you're picking a fight with iran too and that is something that could very easily start a regional war in the middle east. jenna: that examination the story, leland thank you very much. a story we'll continue to watch. jon: that dramatic shift where rebels say they control tripoli sets the stage for new leadership in the country. straight ahead national reaction from world leaders, and who takes over? tritional needs can go up when you're on the road to recovery. proper nutrition can help you get back on your feet. three out of four doctors recommend the ensure brand for extra nutrition. ensure clinical strength has revigor and thirteen gram

. >> president bashar al-assad has lost legitimacy to lead and it is clear that syria would be better off without him. >> 7 artists explore their identity and the clash of culture. >> welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. thank goodness it's friday is the refrain of traders across the world after a rambunctious week. shares ended the day higher, but they remain well below the peaks they reached last month. they're fresh concerns about one of your's largest economy. -- europe's largest economies. >> it was full steam ahead today for european markets, but the problems have not gone away. not the least for france, which has been in the eye of the storm next -- this week. there has been no growth in the second quarter. >> i do not spend a lot of money. i save a little bit. >> it is really difficult. it is not good. >> a stalling economy creates headaches for president sarkozy. he had to break his holiday to hold an emergency cabinet meeting. slow growth will hit tax revenues. some investors are concerned about french government debt and questioning the triple-a ra

so, whether it's effective in deterring bashar, i think is less certain.ashar will go down as a consequence of this and his regime will not survive. >> the united states is also taking action, freezing the assets of syria's largest mobile phone operator and also syrian bank. the sanctions will prohibit americans from doing any business with syria and the commercial bank of syria, and its subsidiary in lebanon. >>> elsewhere in the region, an international blockade and sea ports of moammar gadhafi has led to widespread fuel shortages and blackouts. the gadhafi government accuses nato of bombing electric power stations and pipelines, charges that the military denies. >> reporter: this is what downtown tripoli looks like, pitch-black, except for the lights of passing cars. widespread power outages have plunged entire neighborhoods into darkness. on a daytime visit to a market district, some people told us they haven't had electricity in days. over the last two weeks, it got really bad, says this shopkeeper named ridha. we can't keep our food from spoiling. an

lately hama has evolved into the new epicenter of opposition to president bashar al assad. weekly protests here have drawn crowds in the hundreds of thousands but were no match for syrian tanks, what appeared to be a preemptive strike ahead of the islamic holy month of ramadan. >> this was either an attempt of the regime of bashar assad to out and out crush this movement or an attempt to intimidate. >> reporter: borzun daragahi with the "los angeles times" reports from lebanon because foreign journalists are banned from syria. >> this was an area in 1982 struck extremely hard by bashar assad's father who was attempting to crush what he described back then was an islamic uprising against him. >> reporter: in a statement president obama vowed to increase pressure on the syrian regime and stand with the syrian people, people who even as night fell in the besieged city continued to protest in silence. after a day of violence and bloodshed. whit johnson, cbs news, washington. >>> elsewhere in the middle east, egypt's chief prosecutor summoned ousted president hosni mubarak to ap

obama to make the same demand of bashar al-assad a sponsor of terrorism.five months an estimated 1800 syrian civilians have been killed. asked about the contrasting approaches u.s. officials say they have enacted punitive measures on bashar al-assad and each country will change its own way. john mccain, the ranking republican on the armed services committee called steps by the u.s. good news, but added, better late than never. rick: for more on this let's bring in jonathan shanzer from the foundation for dense of democracies. i can't imagine johnathon, bashar al-assad hearing what president obama had to say today, and saying, all right i'll go. what is the purpose of a statement like this. >> it's an important shift by this administration. we have been standing by while 2,000 people were killed and 3,000 people have gone missing and are presumed dead. it's important we get on the right side of history. i think senator mccain is right. better late than never. i wonder what prompted this. it was a bloody weekend but not more bloody than the last five months.

before that, bashar al assad's father was in charge. a very restrictive government.s incomprehensible that all of a sudden you have thousands of salafists who are calling for the overthrow of the government. it just doesn't make logical sense. i mean, are you denying that there were peaceful protests, that there are peaceful protestors who have legitimate gripes, who have legitimate demands for basic dignity and freedom? >> the government allowed peaceful demonstrations to take to the streets, and they are protected by the police. >> sir, you know that's not true. you're a very educated man. you simply know that is not true. in dara when people were asking for children to be released, you're telling me they weren't fired upon, they weren't killed? >> you don't know all the faces of the story, anderson. >> you're not allowing us in. you're not allowing reporters to actually go to the frontlines and see. you're restricting reporters. it's disingenuous to say you don't know the truth when you're not allowing the international community to see the truth. >> this is wrong

i don't think bashar is going to listen to anybody.e's holding on to power for life and limb and he knows what will happen if he falls. he'll end up like mubarak and saddam hussein, on trial. >> would being indicted for war crimes be an option? >> it's another lever of pressure but that puts him even more into a corner. i think what you have to do is work on severering his pace ba of support back home through sanctions, energy sanctions, separating the sunni business elite that has been supporting him and telling the christian community, for example, that they will be protected in the fall of the alwhite regime working on trying to split the military, shoring the military via a policy that is directed to tell them that they would best not kill innocent civilians and they would not be held responsible for war crimes should they not do that and they have a chance and an opportunity to not to. >> the community doesn't have an appetite for military intervention but is that something that may be necessary? >> there is no stomach for militar

before that, bashar al assad's father was in charge. a very restrictive government.seems incomprehensible that all of a sudden you have thousands of salafists who are calling for the overthrow of the government. it just doesn't make logical sense. i mean, are you denying that there were peaceful protests, that there are peaceful protestors who have legitimate gripes, who have legitimate demands for basic dignity and freedom? >> the government allowed peaceful demonstrations to take to the streets, and they are protected by the police. >> sir, you know that's not true. you're a very educated man. you simply know that is not true. in dara when people were asking for children to be released, you're telling me they weren't fired upon, they weren't killed? >> you don't know all the faces of the story, anderson. >> you're not allowing us in. you're not allowing reporters to actually go to the frontlines and see. you're restricting reporters. it's disingenuous to say you don't know the truth when you're not allowing the international community to see the truth. >> this is w

we do not view bashar al assad as indispensnsle. we do not view his continuation in power as important to american interests. we view him and his government as a source of instability and source of violence in syria. i think our views are very clear. the president has said, his government will be left in the past. the meaning is clear, christiane. >> many americans watching this unfolding, say, well, look, the united states joined a coalition of a no-fly zone, military intervention in libya, for instance. there's no such thing on the horizon as syria. can you explain that? >> the libyan situation is very different from what we had in syria. but probably the first and foremost thing in my discussion, moving around the country and talking to people, even in hama where there is this atrocity going on righthtow. even in hama. when i talk to people, about what do you think the americans should do, the international community, they were very clear, christiane, they did not want american military intervention. i want to underline that. the

russia has continued its calls for the syrian president bashar assad to end the bloodshed and implement promised reforms this comes as human rights activists report at least seven more people were killed as government forces continue their crackdown on protesters are caesar in a delusion as in syria reports that the contras political violence is now putting its religious harmony in danger. protests in syria start out with political slogans . and violence breaks out people come to blows over issues of faith not politics. with more than four thousand years of history damascus like the rest of syria has been home to modern faith for centuries but with an increasing political unrest nany are starting to wonder whether this could upset the delicate balance of religious tolerance in the country for now who is enjoying the quiet comfort of her home like most christians in the country it's a lie she's been used to since her childhood but then i was growing up in a place with christians jews muslims and everyone got along just fine we still do actually but it's not like this everywhere more than

muslims here belong to different branches of the religion take for example the president himself bashar al assad is a follower of the elwood branch or islam who are a minority among a predominantly sunni population so some of those dissatisfied with the current regime spread their animosity towards all brits if someone finds a problem with the government. some people believe this because of this belong to this strict and we have to struggle against instincts and this can be a bloody battle over them i don't know why my son was killed he was just working in a shop and his killers knew that he was not politically active but he also knew he was an alawite and that must have been the reason for his murder so she violence is something that's new to syria where religious minorities have a special status largely because the country's leader is himself a member of such well. protected by law which allows us to live according to our customs since the brutal started a lot has changed and it's strange for us it must be coming from the outside and. whoever is rocking the boat of syria which is tole

different the months that could be crucial for president bashar assad but i don't think he will survive this. difficult experience ok thank you so much that's all we've got time for a couple was and thank you very much indeed for joining us. you're welcome. other news now here in r.t. this is. the former head of the i.m.f. has been cleared of criminal sexual assault charges but a new york court. has the details. khan has been cleared of all sexual assault charges that were filed more than two months ago and in a nutshell the prosecutors say that the accuser in this case thirty three year old nafissatou diallo is not a credible witness according to prosecutors they say that the accuser former cleaning lady at the sofitel hotel here in new york was untruthful with investigators in virtually every interview prosecutors say she lied in matters great and small and that the problem in this circumstance is her credibility all these charges against him have been dropped however this order is on hold because the defendant. has appealed for a special special product prosecutor in this case now th

>> i want to end of bashar regime. he needs to go. there's a whole very morally corrupt regime. >> to you, after you. the question is what do the protesters want? >> i think they made a very fair point in highlights there's been a snowball effect. people initially wanted reform and have moved on. but i think actually a key point is being missed here. which isn't about necessarily who's on the street, it's about who's not on the street. and that's about, you know, there are key segments of society, and key geographic call regions which is absolutely key. which i'm not joining in, and that is the question that they have to ask. until that happens, until those key groups, especially, for example, the sunni merchant, urban middle class. until they join, they cannot succeed. >> that's the key question. >> what's your answer? >> why are they not joining it? they don't want to be the winner. we don't want to be in power. but we don't think the opposition is doing to win. until we are convinced that bashar is going to go. >> talk about the pr

i decided to actually start killing people. -- bashar al-assad to actually stop killing people. >> it seems that they're judging violence as the only way to hold onto power. >> to libya, months of fighting has brought misery to much of the population. in most product, more than 8000 have been wounded. -- in misrata, 8000 have been wounded. we reported on a girl who had been badly injured when her home came under attack. we have returned to misrata to find her. >> six years old and in agony. this is as we last saw her in april. she is a child of misrata and a victim of the regime. this is our or -- this is heard today. back home and back to normal, her family says. there are reminders of a round of the artillery that landed on her house. she will wear the scars for the rest of her life. when she hears explosions in the distance, her fear is back. i get scared, i run inside, she tells us with a whisper. her wish list includes a bicycle and a chance to go to school. when the schools are open again, i want to go there to learn how to read. this is the retreat, a pigeon loft where she play

bashar assad issued two decrees to give more right to the political opponents.le activists said the death toll from this week's crackdown in hamas has now topped 100. dominic di-natale has details. a warning here, some of the pictures in the report may be disturbing. >> the latest images are gruesome and chilling. a truck parked on overpass. the wounds so bad we can't show them in detail. were tossed in the river and left to flow downstream. a youtube page says they unloaded them -- [ inaudible ] the media reports the men are protesters prevented by the government from holding funerals. >> on state tv they broke from the rhetoric to make this announcement. >> citizens of the arab republic have the right to establish political parties. >> effective today new laws from president bashar assad ending a five-decade ban on political opposition. faving the way for elections. legislative and local, but not presidential. the tanks continue to fire on the crowds. widespread rejection of the forum. on the internet, an activist said, "we are the free people call on you to p

president obama tells syrian president bashar al assad to step down now with thousands of civilians already dead is this too little too late. while london's youth showed its unfriendly side big brother got a little too friendly with facebook postings and even arrested two men for inciting violence never actually happened so should the government be allowed to poke around in people's privacy. it's a bird it's a plane no it's a mysterious comet but potentially be headed directly toward earth or at least that's what some theorists would have you believe so just what is the yellin and going on here. it's thursday august eighteenth eight pm in washington d.c. i'm christine friends out here watching our team. i want to start off by talking about china this evening by president joe biden is there right now meeting with china's vice president and no doubt this is significant for a number of reasons china of course the holder in chief of so much u.s. debt and with the downgrade of the u.s. credit rating china wants assurances the u.s. will indeed continue making payments on that china also continues

we brought back this report latakia very suspicious significance for syria and for the president bashar lassoed his father is from a village near the city in which the population is predominantly just like the rest of the province the process began here in march of this year this is one of the main buildings this is one of the main squares in the city of latakia with the syria tell headquarters located on rights in the middle of this syria tell us a company. telephone company which was always why one of the cousins of the president and the protesters expressed their hatred towards the regime by looting the place and then burning it violence returned to vote again just a couple of weeks ago claiming more than thirty lives antigovernment protests broke out in the sunni part of the city officials said they were battling with armed groups which they say have infiltrated the area now what's the story here the story goes according to the protesters according to the opposition answer majority of the main western media sources is that there were warships stationed right here in this bay and the

. >> historical, bashar al-assad has only ever bowed to one thing and that is concerted multilateral pressure. the united states and its allies are trying to marshal similar pressure. it shows no signs of letting up. >> she said it is clear that syria would be better off without president's bashar al- assad. she stopped short of asking him to stand down. why is that? >> the united states is trying to muster that concerted international pressure. that requires taking certain positions at certain times in a sequence of events. it is very clear from her, and said -- from her comments were the united states is. >> four months ago, she was fighting for life in a libyan hospital. when we first reported, her story, the six-year-old was one of thousands of casualties. we return to misrata to find her. this report contains distressing images. >> six years old and in agony. as we last saw her in april. a child of misrata and a victim of the regime. lacerated by shrapnel. this is her today. how are you? how are you? back home, back to normal. there are reminders all around. she will carry her s

bashar al assad has a credibility problem. justdays ago he told the u.n.the military operations were over. they're clearly still under way. according to one prominent opposition group, at least 20 people have been killed alone in one syrian province in the last 24 hours. >> ivan watson in istanbul, turkey, thank you. >>> now, politics back in this country. jobs. creating them or bringing them back from overseas, it seems like everyone has an opinion on how best to do that. the topic dominated the sunday talk shows today. here are some of the highlights. >> a city might also suggest, and let me suggest it here, you all are putting things out there that you know, particularly the house republicans will not go for so that you can then have that to run on. >> the president unveils the entire program, there's nothing in there that -- that reasonable people shouldn't be able to agree on. and if we make the house republicans, particularly that tea party faction, if we make them the standard, we're in deep trouble. this is the group that almost brought us to the b

we want to see india. >> president bashar al-assad remains in power. it appears that he still has the support of the army. the protest and the violence, the killings and the funerals, continue. months after the uprising began, no one really knows how this conflict will end. >> you've quite an intriguing story. the chinese are celebrating the hundred ghost festival. what is that? >> it is the hungry ghost festival. it is to try to appear -- a list to try to appease the spirits of the data walk among us. -- dead but welcome on the spirit >> it is the chinese version of halloween. the festival is a time to pay tribute to spirits' got to be roaming the earth. they are being entertained in style. special seats with special money are reserved for them because no one wants and greed ghosts -- angry ghosts making trouble. >> i do not think they will be disappointed. the elaborate ritual goes on all month and because of the money involved, there are when dictators -- very are leading indicators for the economy. >> if the economy is good, people did more money.

-- bashar assad to step down. this crossing moments ago, according to u.s. officials, the officials says the white house will also very shortly within the hour we expect issue a, quote, very tough new executive order sanctioning syria. we believe this will lend strong action, lend additional force to the president's words, meaning the sanctions will back up his words on that. we're working on this story, we're going to get more on this as it comes through. bashar assad said they believe the crackdown on protestors was going to stop, they were going to end that and there were more reports of deaths in the streets in syria. more coming on that moments from now. >>> in the meantime, "the new york times" is reporting this morning the justice department is investigating the credit rating agency standard & poor's for their role back in the '08 financial cry crisis that began then and the mortgage meltdown. the investigation began before they downgraded u.s. credit rating but as you can imagine, when this news crossed be

bashar has violated the norms of his world.n you kill people who are coming out of prayer, when you ban people from prayer, when you attack mosques. they're already now beginning among many, many religious juryists in the region talk about the ill religious nature of bashar assad. he is a hair tick to many of them because of the contempt he's shown for all the norms of his country. >> often the mosque is the only time people are allowed to gather in groups. and it's after the mosques that often demonstrations break out. but we're seeing people being killed inside the mosques as soon as they come outside. >> right. and i think now there is another question which has offered itself. should the syrian opposition, should the syrian opposition invite foreign intervention? it's not they could dial a number and people would come. it sounds like nato is ready for another engagement. but the success of the libyan opposition now has raised the question for the syrians. why not enlist foreign intervention? thus far they've been too proud.

president bashar al assad deployed security forces around the nation before the start of the holy month of ramadan month. the government is trying to halt the escalation of protests for ramadan when muslims gather for prayers. the european union imposed further sanctions against syrian. aly habib mahmoud and four others were hit with economic sanctions that brings the total number of people to 35, including president bashar al assad. the eu warns it willsanctions i government fails to stop the violation. italy has recalled its ambassador to syria in protest. the italian government urged other european nations to follow suit. >>> high speed trains in china are suffering substantial delays on the line where a fatal collision occurred last month. a shanghai newspaper and other sources report that more than ten trains were up to three and a half hours behind schedule on monday. nhk has confirmed that wenzhou station, near the site of the accident, 14 trains had been taken out of service on tuesday. about two-thirds of those in operation were running late. there has been no official explanat

for the syrian president to step down comes just hours after president bashar assad has announced that the military operation here in syria is over and have promised more reforms we witnessed the army withdraw. we've seen at least thirty tanks live in the city and inside the city we haven't seen any ministry laught police has returned to duty meanwhile we are receiving reports and the raw media reports that based on the information received protestors and local residents that's the army is still. on the ground in latakia and even the reports that. the soldier is firing from type to time to peaceful demonstrators but i have to emphasize and this is very important that these reports are very hard to verify because international journalists are not allowed to move freely here in the country as the syrian government because it's dangerous. reporting for us there from damascus now staying with the story the european union is to prepare plans for an embargo on syrian crude oil it's also suspended assistance to damascus by the european investment bank james denselow a middle east analyst base

the people have rejected bashar alassane. they do not want him or his regime. but the regime itself still has an enormous amount of firepower and destruction. that is why the league of arab states, traditionally silent on all of these violations in the arab world, finally stepped in. they began to basically speak against him because he has become this great destabilizing figure in the arab world. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> a third night of violence in the british capital, london. there has been rioting and looting across the city, but the biggest blaze occurred in south london where a furniture store that had stood for more than 100 years was destroyed. as the violence started to spread outside the capital, the british prime minister and the london mayor cut short their holidays to return to the capital to tap of the unrest. that brings today to the -- to tackle the unrest. that brings today to the end. you can get updates any time at our website. thank you for watching. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by th

ambassador bashar gentleman fafie said the security council is acting on misleading reports and he added u.s. is waging a diplomatic war against the country. ja'afari also said syria is ready to accept the u.n. fact-finding team on human rights in damascus this weekend. >>> israel has launched an air raid on the palestinian controlled gaza strip. the retaliatory measure came after a series of attacks in israel. seven israelis were killed on thursday near the red sea resort of eliat in three separate attacks on busses, a car and a military vehicle. the israeli military blamed militants in the gaza strip and bombed southern gaza on thursday night using unmanned fighter planes. six palestinians including leaders of the militant group were killed. speaking to reporters, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said israel would not fail to retaliate against terroris united nations secretary-general ban ki-moon criticized his the attack in a statement. >> the secretary-general strongly condemns today's attack in southern israel. he is concerned at the risk of escalation and calls for all to

this week pressure has been mounting again on the syrian leader bashar al assad the u.s. and european leaders called for him to step down to russia refused to support the motion saying assad should be given time to implement promised reforms this comes in the wake of the crackdown on anti regime protesters as artie's many of the national reports from the front line while the west sees the government's action as oppression some in syria see it as liberation. job is done the city liberated there is or in lease of the country has become the last syrian city in left have to clear an extremist structure have been terrorizing his citizens for weeks the military claimed that he bandits blocked their rights put up barricades it became a case of hiding we were just like hostages. soldiers of the syrian army out living in the city of their near the iraqi border. officials are saying operation is now over there the city has been freed from armed groups as you can see people are welcome in the soldiers as the waiters patois tanks have been trying to make their way through jubilant cr

damascus where it was described as a violation of the organization's principles country's leader bashar al assad announced a new log lifting censorship encouraging freedom of expression parties are going to go to school ranks of the syrian town of law talk to see for herself what's tearing the country apart. and attacking a beer is a special significance for syria and for the president bashar lassoed his father is from a village near the city in which the population is predominantly elevated just like the rest of the province the process began here in march of this year this is one of the main buildings this is one of the main squares in the city of latakia where the syria tell headquarters located on the right in the middle of its syria tell is a company a telephone company which was always why one of the cousins of the president and the protesters expressed their hatred towards the regime by looting the place and then burning it violence returns of attack yet again just a couple. weeks ago claiming more than thirty lives and to government protests broke out in the sunni part of the ci

the obama administration has described bashar al-assad as illegitimate and i wonder if it's time for him to go. >> well, that's going to be up to the syrian people. but i can tell you that president obama and i have been working very hard to marshall international opinion. so we are building what i think is a much more persuasive case that the international community-- not just the united states-- wants to see peaceful change in syria. >> pelley: you're talking about u.s. leadership. why doesn't the u.s. lead and take that one half step further and say that assad's time is done, he has to go? >> well, i think we've been very clear in what we have said about his loss of legitimacy. but what we really need to do to put the pressure on assad is to sanction the oil and gas industry, and we want to see europe take more steps in that direction, and we want to see china take steps with us. we want to see india-- because india and china have large energy investments inside of syria. we want to see russia cease selling arms to the assad regime. >> pelley: assad right at this moment seems to b