need the consent of the syrian president bashar assad so russia and iran allies of the syrian government telling turkey that he needs to cooperate with bashar al assad rouhani the iranian president went even a step further saying that iran would be ready to try to you know improve the relationship between damascus and ankara or the god of bashar al assad they were good friends before the two thousand and eleven uprising but since then turkey has been a staunch supporter of the opposition also turkey coming under a lot of pressure from the iranian and russian presidents both of them talking about that deal the deal to create a demilitarized zone in the north western province rowhani and put in addressing the gun and telling him that this is a temporary solution we want action in fact russia has been piling pressure on turkey to act and it is being used really as a bargaining card now these three leaders it's a soul of unity they're partners they all have sway in syria they all have ground forces in syria and they know it is in their best interests to cooperate in syria and elsewhere but clearly. disagreements were out in the open but this is no

eleven the islamic republic decided to send military advisors to hezbollah in syria to support bashar al assad its efforts to crush the rebellion. around had its own outlook on the syrian conflict in its size the civil uprising among part of the population against bashar al assad never took place tehran saw it as a conspiracy engineer by the west and israel. tried on why is that why i support bashar assad because he wasn't is the legitimate president of syria so we are probably stayed out loud that military advisors of the islamic republic of iran have helped the syrian military the syrian government and the syrian people in order to avoid terrorists taking power over this country and replacing the legitimate syrian government. protests around the country behind the terrorist threat in syria is saudi arabia. and in riyadh the saudi leaders have indeed been looking forward to the fall of bashar assad since the beginning of the syrian crisis a means for them to oppose the rise in power of iran in the region. the kingdom understood very well and told. the u.s. and countries if you look at all of

they are both pursuing different goals in the region the russian support the syrian president bashar al assad other turkey would like to see him removed from power to reign in support of the shia militias fighting on the side of assad to be shot opposed by easdale however the russian support the israelis and in the same time they are military partners of the iranians in syria so it's a delicate to diplomatic situation for the russians and for iranians and for turkey of a front for turks. all right well you mentioned that this is the first meeting since u.s. president donald trump has said he intends to pull out all two thousand u.s. troops for syria if that does happen as he says it will what will that mean for the role of russia iran and turkey in syria with the americans gone. well it looks like russia is trying to be the most influential player in the middle east right now especially now that the americans always drawing from syria right now it seems to the cards are in president putin's favor the question is how much is he willing to risk for his geopolitical games and can he sell them to

president vladimir putin and he runs hassan rouhani are the main backers of syrian president bashar al assad turkey's president supports rebel forces fighting assad also on the agenda will be the planned withdrawal of u.s. troops from the conflict after u.s. president donald trump made a controversial announcement in december while this will leave kurdish troops who are closely allied with the u.s. vulnerable we have this report from the kurdish city of co bani in northern syria leila who visits this grave in cobol and every thursday to pray and all of the memory of her only son wrote he died fighting the so-called islamic state in twenty thirteen as did thousands more kurds. hopes her sons commitment to freedom wasn't in vain it's a hope that unites many mothers who have lost their sons in this region. we'll never forget them it is truly a tremendous loss that we're keeping our composure by remembering our sons and our hometown god forbid that blood has been shed in vain them and lot of people have doubled. but many kurds in northern syria have misgivings this is where the kurdish militia t

washington prepares to withdraw its troops to russia and iran the regime of syrian president bashar al assad turkey supports the rebel forces fighting against him all three have position themselves as key foreign players in syria's a long running war. so back to christine helberg. it's the wherever these conferences happen it always strikes me so you have a russia turkey but iran is usually never there when it whether it is when syria is usually never there when its fate is being discussed yet it's not about the internal conflict between bashar assad and his own opponents anymore it's about influence of foreign powers that are trying to make sure that whatever they invested in this conflict in the past few years well now you know make them take some wind out of it and we if we look at russia iran and turkey these other three intervening powers that have invested most and now they are deciding who. get what out of this conference so it's not about finding a solution it's not about is this is about how much of a cake each of them gets once it's done and bashar al assad you'll just have to live

group are now in control of much of it live while russia and iran are backing syrian president bashar al assad turkey is supporting the forces fighting against him. let's bring in our correspondent yury rachet there who is in sochi covering the story for us hi yuri these talks are still ongoing what can you tell us about what's being discussed there. well the goal of today's summit assuming was to concede a joint steps between russia turkey and iran that would lead towards a long term settlement in syria one of those steps closer coordination of military cooperation on the ground turkish president wants for example russian air support over turkish held areas and suggested operations could be called unaided at the russia's base in northwestern syria however there is still disagreement on a range of issues here for example turkey wants to create a buffer zone or safe zone near its border with syria and also around province with russian help but russia told turkey on it has no right to create a safe zone inside syria without consent of president bashar al assad and turkey for its part of would li

union of arab states and most of all you have a syria a war that apparently is partly one now by bashar al assad and the leaders here of the e.u. but also arab leaders will have to think about how they deal with this and then you have conflicts a civil wars in yemen but also unstable very unstable situation in libya also a big issues here and the question of course for european leaders is how do they deal with these issues and how do they deal with the liberal and non democratic elected counterparts here that was a question put to junk at the head of the european commission and he said he has a headache talking to these people but he said if that be the criteria his week would end on tuesday so he said we really have to talk and this is the place to do it. care not us and china shape egypt where the arab league and the e.u. are meeting for the first time thank you so much. polls have just closed in an election in the west african nation of senegal president maki saul is set to win a second term in office but opponents complain that the leader has blocked the strongest opposition candidates from

solutions to regional crises and as the arab league openly discusses the return of the syria and of bashar al assad into its circle of leaders with no questions asked german chancellor angela merkel called on arab leaders to initiate political change in syria referring to germany's commitments to a region with few democracies champus to say. when committing to multilateralism then you have to apply it even when things get difficult and when political systems are very different stuff. in the end up by lateral meetings on the sidelines made more headlines than what was billed as a historic first e.u. arab league summit the group photograph from the weekend may yet remain the most tangible outcome. last night's oscar ceremony in los angeles helped plenty of surprises best picture was one of them going to the green book a feel good film about race relations in the u.s. britain's olivia colman took best actress for her role in the favorite and this year's ceremony seemed finally to have gotten the memo about diversity. british rock legends queen up the ceremony inside hollywood's dolby theatre off to a

union of arab states and most of all you have syria a war that apparently is partly one now by bashar al assad and the leaders here of the e.u. but also arab leaders will have to think about how they deal with this and then you have conflicts a civil wars in yemen but also unstable very unstable situation in libya also a big issues here and the question of course for european leaders is how do they deal with these issues and how do they deal with the liberal and non democratic elected counterparts here that it was a question put to jump to the head of the european commission and he said he has a headache talking to these people but he said if that be the criteria his week would end on tuesday so he said we really have to talk and this is the place to do it. time now to look at some of the other stories making news around the world. more violent clashes have erupted on the border between venezuela and colombia opposition efforts to bring humanitarian aid into the crisis written country of venezuela have decided bloody chaos international pressure on president nicolas maduro is growing the u.s.

syrian president bashar al assad has warned kurdish fighters in the country's north that the u.s. will not protect them speaking in damascus assad said the u.s. backed kurdish fighters were mere tools of washington who risked being sold out in december u.s. president donald trump announced his intention to remove american troops from syria . saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman has begun a tour of asia in the pakistani capital islamabad after his arrival he signed investment agreements worth some twenty billion dollars pakistan hopes the deals will provide welcome relief for its troubled economy prince muhammad will continue his trip in china and india. alexander alexander on homebuilt was a nineteenth century scientific superstar and an early environmentalist the great germans explorers expert expeditions famously took him to south america and the galapagos islands in the pacific now germany's president frank valter steinmeyer is following in his footsteps as part of a tour of the region sharon marr use the occasion to draw attention to plastic pollution which is threatening th

syrian president bashar al assad has warned kurdish fighters in the country's north that the u.s. will not protect them speaking in damascus assad said the u.s. backed kurdish fighters were mere tools of washington who risks being sold out in december u.s. president donald trump announced his attention to remove american troops from syria . saudi arabia and pakistan have signed a raft of investment deals worth up to twenty billion dollars for the cash strapped south asian country saudi arabia's crown prince mohammed bin salman arrived in pakistan to sign the accords on the first leg of his trip to asia the trip comes as the saudi kingdom's defacto ruler is facing a barrage of international criticism over the killing of saudi journalists. last year. pakistan needs money and saudi arabia needs friends to that end saudi crown prince mohammed bin solomon began his trip to asia on sunday night touching down to a red carpet welcome from pakistan's prime minister imran khan. the saudi royal review the military before moving on to cannes residents to confirm the final details of seven sep

linked militants in the syrian problem so in libya while russia and iran backers syrian president bashar al assad turkey is supporting the forces fighting against him. the withdrawal of u.s. troops from syria will be a blow for kurdish forces which are closely allied with the us of a fair an all out offensive from turkey once and us is out of the way turkey regards the kurdish militia in syria as terrorists we have this report from the kurdish city of karbala on the border with turkey. layla visits this grave and every thursday to pray and honor the memory of her only son rody he died fighting the so-called islamic state in twenty thirteen as did thousands more kurds leila hopes her sons commitment to freedom wasn't in vain it's a hope that unites many mothers who have lost their sons in this region. home and i'll never forget them it is truly a tremendous loss that we're keeping our composure by remembering our sons and our hometown god forbid that blood has been shed in vain them and not a hail high levels but many kurds in northern syria have misgivings this is where the kurdish militia the y.

shaan formerly known as the newsroom front russia's vladimir putin and ali of course of president bashar al assad said he is ready to drive the fighters out of italy and turkey's president said hopes for a political resolution to the conflict in syria have never been stronger the iranian president also said the presence of the us in the middle east harms countries in the region well the iranian president said that the us has had a destructive presence in the middle east. regarding the first issue i.e. the united states we do not have any optimism about what the americans are saying if the united states leaves syria completely. this would be. good news for the people of syria. and of when the united states leaves iraq or afghanistan or other regional countries they decide to leave that would be good news. for the nations of these countries. said a holder has more now from tehran know what came out of the saatchi summit. the three leaders partners in the so-called ass of the process they were trying to reach some sort of a consensus on what happens after a planned u.s. pullout from the northeastern

area where colvin and her team were staying to silence her and other media critical of president bashar al assad. supporters of lebanon's prime minister have been celebrating the formation of a new government saad hariri will head a new cabinet ending a nine month deadlock which destabilize lebanon's economy. cameron's opposition leader has been charged with insurrection and inciting violence maurice come to me has led regular protests against longtime president all by air since losing an election in october which government opponents say was fortunate. and u.s. border agents say they've made a record fentanyl bus stop the mexican border customs officers sees more than one hundred kilograms of the synthetic drug in a tractor trailer trying to cross into arizona those were the headlines i'm back with more news in half an hour next on out there we continue with al-jazeera world of course all of our stories on our website at al-jazeera dot com do stay with us. people here speak emma zia and i for asiatic language going back several thousand. the arabic language only came to north africa in the seve

or a chance to talk to up with arjuna shop and political and media advisor to syrian president bashar al assad you can watch the full that if you'd like to today or not preview. the less than me. vetted this. again that's the say then people that's it and people who didn't deserve that lasted maybe they lied on propaganda and the love they call an eye witnesses and they are really not investigated the check. and it's also why helmets are terrorists so honestly i would love all of the people it was going in the last of me don't just think i am know that they live somewhere not only in city oh. this is international people in the japanese prefecture of okinawa have voted against relocating a u.s. military base that the base is being relocated to another part of the island and i work at the new site has already begun it seems that despite the referendum result prime minister shinzo up he will push ahead with the existing plan. we cannot avoid the necessity of moving food ten mom said to be the most dangerous but east in the world we cannot put this off any longer the basic question is surrounded

political assumes from president bashar al assad. so he he moved from algeria to syria with his family history in syria like one year and a half before he kidnapped from syria from syria to lebanon by militia. when his militia and they put him in the car and moved from syria to lebanon. across the broad board. when i know it he was later released by that militia group but the state authorities in lebanon put him in jail and he's been behind bars for more than three years now what exactly he's being accused of at this point. actually i saw him before two months he's not a very good condition to be honest but actually he he i don't know why he's staying in the jail because he doesn't have anything to do in this issue of. his campaign they are disappearing libya and nine hundred seventy six. nine hundred seventy eight story. in this this year he was two years old only he doesn't have the information about. the issue he doesn't nothing he doesn't know anything so i'm really surprised why they are still keep. no he has like for years and

their oppressors the former dura regime has oppressed its people for years repressive regime of bashar al assad the tyranny of the now defunct mature regime the assad regime its brutality and repression active threat to the entire region growing threat to regional peace and security it is time for me to go it's time for assad to get out of the way the stories of syria venezuela and the protest movements there are from two separate books but can someone tell me why anyone who's in charge of america always reads off the same manual when their national interest rate or spots another regime change opportunity let's go through the steps that are a must venezuela versus syria some great examples for you. people in american politics have a special sense for legitimacy what if they have a device for that or something from our perspective he has lost legitimacy he has failed to deliver on the promises he's made in its rule as the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the venezuelan people the national assembly invokes the country's constitution to declare nicolas maduro illegitimate and t

washington prepares to withdraw its troops russia and iran backing the regime of syrian president bashar al assad as we know wild turkey supports the rebel forces fighting against him all three positioning themselves as key foreign players in syria's long running war. so you know given that therefore i'd like to ask you what does russia want out of being a central player and all of these talks in your opinion. well the the iranians the russians and the turks have converging occasionally diverging interests in syria and that meant hand carrying out these trilateral discussions since twenty seventeen russia over the past couple of years and particularly since twenty fifteen onwards is emerged as a key player on the ground in or president assad iran has sent advisers and has been involved in a tit for tat over its involvement in syria with israel and you know the situation in syria is obviously and entering a very interesting turning point potentially with the defeat of isis and also with the u.s. withdrawal expected by the end of april so i think all of these countries are jostling to make sure tha

as the arab league openly discusses the return of a syria under bashar al assad into its circle of leaders with no questions asked german chancellor angela merkel called on arab leaders to initiate political change in syria referring to germany's commitments to the region with few democracies she had this to say. when committing to multilateralism then you have to apply it even when things get difficult and what political systems are very different. in the end that by lateral meetings on the sidelines made more headlines than what was billed as a historic first e.u. arab league summit the group photograph from the weekend may yet remain the most tangible outcome. in egypt the capital cairo has become a magnet for migrants from other parts of north africa and the arab world but many of them live on the margins with few rights and barely enough to live on we have this report tonight from daniel. was jailed for a year in ethiopia for taking part in a protest against the government in twenty fifteen he fled to the egyptian capital cairo he now lives in a poor neighborhood sharing a two room ap

at ending the eight year civil war in syria while russia and iran are backing syrian president bashar al assad turkey is supporting the forces fighting against him yeah the three countries have worked together before to try and find a solution to the conflict. now air bus is pulling the plug on its largest plane the a three eighty it was supposed to revolutionize air travel but it never really took off it is a plane that was beloved by pilots and passengers but in the end it didn't have enough orders from airline customers now the a three eighty represents more than twenty billion dollars in development costs it is also the world's largest passenger aircraft a double decker with a wingspan of almost eighty meters it also has room for around eight hundred fifty three passengers a range of almost sixteen thousand kilometers enough to cover virtually any connection on earth without refueling as impressive as it sounds only eighteen airlines actually found that the a three eighty was worth the investment of the big customers were emirates a singapore airlines also the australian carrier quantas an

in the media here in tehran that it had a lot to do with the meeting of the syrian president bashar al assad yesterday and that the foreign ministry and more importantly the foreign minister was not included in that meeting. there is a lot of debate about why that is and it is yet to be to be seen whether it was a mistake whether there was a lack of coordination whether it was she was deliberately sidelined by president rouhani or what was really behind it but that has been. the key element here but you know if we look at the political side of things i mean it's very few see seen as as a moderate relatively speaking does this resignation do you think it now weakens the position of the also moderate president rouhani now. in general we have to say that the situation in iran not only internally but primarily in international politics has certainly weakened the the moderate direction this country wanted to take that has this has to do with the frustration of where the nuclear deal has been going and that this moderates political current which was led by rouhani and the fs certainly is under tre

more interested in alleged isis brides in syria well joining me now from moscow is president bashar al assad's top media adviser dr between a shoe bomb with a thanks for coming on the program will trump says he wants the troops back but i understand that there is evidence that u.s. soldiers have continued to fire at syrian soldiers they are not that. is in theory at claiming to be fighting terrorism up in thought they course money civilian casualties. hundred tribute of sudan casualties and you know i would like to offer one logical question we all know that russian air forces help the theory an army in fighting the terrorists that is a fuck and that i shall stand again the thera's and syria that they fought and there sure has been calling on the us the core of the net then a fourth and fighting terrorism now my question is if the desha and the us are there to fight terrorism why doesn't the us accept to coordinate its efforts with that russian federation and they will be much more effective in fighting terrorism we know that the americans are helping the terrorists. they have nothing i think

were called in and her team was staying to silence her and other media critical of president bashar al assad. supporters of lebanon's prime minister all celebrating the formation of a new government saad hariri will head a new cabinet ending and nine month deadlock which destabilize lebanon's economy the breakthrough came after rival factions worked out a compromise allowing representation of sunni lawmakers backed by the powerful shia group hezbollah and the heavy air we are facing financial and economic challenges as well as social and administrative wides other than the challenges that we know of in the region and the situation on our border and the israeli threats this means that the cooperation between the ministerial team is a must to be up for the challenges and for the government to succeed. activists in egypt are worried there's a plot to silence them that's after a lawyer filed a complaint against for human rights groups who met with the french president emmanuel micro-loan during his visit to egypt earlier this week the complaint accuses the groups of offending the egyptian state

instead, president bashar al—assad preserved the united syria.y that people are desperate to rebuild their lives. —— more people are heading home. here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later. the so—called air cocaine trial begins in the coming hours in france's provence region. 1a people including two pilots face charges of involvement in the attempted smuggling of almost three quarters of a ton of cocaine from the dominican republic. in brussels a short time later, the partner of murdered journalist jamal khashoggi will be at the european parliament campaigning for lawmakers to put more pressure on the saudis to explain what happened when he was murdered in the saudi arabian embassy in istanbul. and later in florida, president trump will make a speech supporting venezuela's oppositon leaderjuan guaido who promises to bring in us aid that's being blocked by president maduro. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. the talk of potential retirement might have gone out with a bang after he took gold on the

more interested in religion isis brides in syria well joining me now from mosco is president bashar al assad's top media advisable to between a ship with a thanks for coming on the program donald trump says he wants the troops back but i understand this whole jews they not this. is in theory are claiming to be fighting terrorism not in fact they cause many civilian casualties. hundred tribute of sudan casualties you know i would like to last one logical question we all know about the russian forces has the theory that an army in fighting the terrorists that is a fuck and russia stand against terrorism and syria that they fuck and they're sure has been calling on the us to quote been a dead effort and fighting terrorism now my question is if the desha and the us are there to fight terrorism why doesn't the us accept to coordinate its efforts with that russian federation and they will be much more effective in fighting terrorism we know that the americans are. helping the terrorists. they have nothing i think there is that helping them that protecting them and them if they're used in a few fake

at the moment it looks like president bashar al assad is firmly in power and that he's not going anywhere and how does the political aspect of reconstructing syria. what does it mean for you do you have to be careful in in the work you're. no because we are working then in germany and nobody is. caring about things like that but we have at the moment no official contacts we are in the context we have on the person the level two to the people who are working in the field in syria they must really personally contacts the architects and engineers and others architects and engineers in syria they haven't had any problems with it with the government with the syrian regime i don't know ok yeah i mean it's interesting that you know you ask yourself would there be any negative blowback from that what sort of support do you rely on to meet the german government has been a key source of funding right yeah optimal and hopefully if they if they will fund the first seven years now also in the future and as we've been known to two institutions the german archaeological institute and the museum of islam

his twin, abdullah, and younger brotherjaffar were killed trying to overthrow bashar al—assad's governmentll thought to be in syria. the prime minister has called on conservative mps to put aside "personal preferences" and support a brexit deal in the house of commons. theresa may's plans were rejected in a vote last week but today one of her senior ministers indicated that there might be a solution to the disagreements within the party, that doesn't involve reopening the withdrawal agreement. ben wright reports. the lobbying of eu leaders will continue apace this week as theresa may tries to deliver on her pledge to secure legally binding changes to the irish backstop, the most contentious part of the brexit deal, there to ensure no hard border on the island of ireland. but today, one cabinet minister said changes could be made without reopening the whole agreement. if there are other ways of doing it that are just as effective, that perhaps we haven't explored... so you think a legal letter or codicil or something... ? well, as i say, i don't think it's the mechanism that matters, it's t

syrian president bashar al assad has warms kurdish fighters in the country's north the us will not protect them.

washington prepares to withdraw its troops russia and iran backing the regime of syrian president bashar al assad as we know while turkey supports the rebel forces fighting against him all three positioning themselves as key foreign players in syria's long running war. so you know given that therefore i'd like to ask you what does russia want out of being a central player and all of these talks in your opinion. well the the iranians the russians and the church have converging occasionally diverging interests in syria and that meant hand carrying out these trilateral discussions since twenty seventeen russia over the past couple of years and particularly since twenty fifteen onwards is emerged as a key player on the ground in or president assad iran has sent advisors and has been involved in a tit for tat over its involvement in syria it was with israel and you know the situation in syria is obviously it and entering a very interesting turning point potentially with the defeat of isis and also with the us withdrawal expected by the end of april so i think all of these countries are jostling to mak