alsocould ultimately lead to the resignation of bashar al-assad. they're not asking him to step down before the talks. still this is not being welcomed by the regime, who is not talking about the possibility of bashar al-assad running for a third term next year. russian supporters of the regime are accusing the opposition of undermining the talks. >> 1 get the impression that the national coalition and its regional sponsors are doing everything they can to prevent a political process from starting. public aincludes pensio -- public opinion in the west. >> you cannot expect the opposition to say anything other than they want bashar al-assad out at a time when they are waging battles and they're losing credibility on the ground. the rebels have been accusing them of failing to truly resent the struggle of the syrian people. peopleother news, 19 including eight police officers have been killed during a series of attacks in iraq. in baghdad, at least one officer was killed when an improvised explosive device at a checkpoint was detonated. and elsewhere

major differences with widespread international criticism of widely perceived russian support for bashar assad and his military forces and russian criticism of u.s. support for certain rebel groups but it does seem that they can agree that further talks for the negotiations may have a chance for peace unnamed russian and u.s. officials say that lavrov and kerry are indeed meeting in paris they'll be discussing attempts to try and get together an international conference in geneva in june to try and get together crucially bashar al assad's government and syrian rebel groups to try and talk peace after this two year civil war there may be problems however syrian rebel groups have factions within them and divisions and their central demand that bashar assad should step down may prove a deadlock russia has also asked iran and saudi arabia to attend the conference as well they have not yet answers france has for it part voiced concerns over iran attending because of arms supplies to bashar al assad's forces and all this time is coming at a time when tensions are rising in the region because other c

latest volley of attacks on the syrian regime and these rumors state that the syrian president bashar assad will soon officially declare war on israel not many are dismissing these reports as strictly. there was also speculation about the nature of this morning's attack of some insisting that israel's weaponry was clear lives there are some groceries or that chemicals could be smelled in the air and that the attack was coordinated between israel and the hope of syrian rebel fighters i witnessed as have described the attack as both him and earthquake and precedented now israel has in the past repeatedly warned that it is prepared to resort to resort to force to prevent syrian weapons reaching the hands of his below which is an organization israel claims. terrorist organization based in lebanon the ammunition depot that was hit this morning is a strategically important military position to the regime of the syrian president bashar assad there is video footage it is not yet verify verify but it has been posted to you too because east three videos showing a huge ball of fire why is ing into the

where the got to go they're going to go to the presidential palace and they're going to talk to bashar assad assad is not the devil he's made huge mistakes he will go eventually but let's let the the process to work with the interference from the outside and i disagree that the international community is united regime change as are all the case so i think we're going to see some progress and we might be surprised a lot of officials are starting to in syria and common people have not given up on by bashar assad he may decide to go but. we've got to we've got to keep hands off let the election and. the next year take place what the russians and the americans and the iranians the iranians have a big role in this let's see what they can come up with ok martin what do you think about the peace process the russian peace plan. it dead on arrival i think that. i think there is no peace with all russia's involvement but ironically that the russian plan will not lead to peace and i want to take issue with what you said here about syria's right to defend itself as you called it. the continuing shipment

european policy maker was wrong in refusing to talk to bashar al assad. he is a brute, no doubt about that, but nevertheless, he is going to stick in power in damascus. >> thank you so much for your insight. >> on to some business news now. the eu competition commissioner says internet search giant google will probably have to come up with more concessions if it wants to avert a $5 billion fine for anti-competitive practices in europe. >> over a dozen rival companies accuse google of squeezing them out of the results of search queries. the eu opened an investigation, and last month, google came up with a list of solutions, but many critics say those proposals are inadequate. shares in a spanish finance group plunged, enraging small shareholders who said they were cheated into making risky investments. created in 2010 from the merger of seven troubled savings banks, it has become a symbol of spain's banking crisis. last year, it was bailed out by the spanish government and has received billions of euros from the eurozone rescue package. >> hundreds of cust

european policy maker was wrong in refusing to talk to bashar al assad. he is a brute, no doubt about that, but nevertheless, he is going to stick in power in damascus. >> thank you so much for your insight. >> on to some business news now. the eu competition commissioner says internet search giant google will probably have to come up with more concessions if it wants to avert a $5 billion fine for anti-competitive practices in europe. >> over a dozen rival companies accuse google of squeezing them out of the results of search queries. the eu opened an investigation, and last month, google came up with a list of solutions, but many critics say those proposals are inadequate. shares in a spanish finance group plunged, enraging small shareholders who said they were cheated into making risky investments. created in 2010 from the merger of seven troubled savings banks, it has become a symbol of spain's banking crisis. last year, it was bailed out by the spanish government and has received billions of euros from the eurozone rescue package. >> hundreds of cust

past and current has limited support to syrian rebels who are battling the syrian presidency of bashar assad and turkey has lent the rebels both a staging center and an area from which they can conduct their logistics so what we're hearing here is that it might in fact the syrian government officials and soldiers who are retaliating against syria but as i mention no conclusive proof of this it is perhaps important to remember that back in february there was a car bomb in the same is eleven at that stage to the turkish government pointed fingers at the assad regime this is an area that does see a lot of fighting between syrian rebel forces and pro side forces and certainly the syrian turkish border is extremely volatile foreign policy analyst dr khan helen then that believes the embattled syrian regime is highly unlikely to have office treated the cross border tag which actually bears a signature of al qaeda linked extremists. you have to ask will the onset of government. be stupid enough to pick an open fight with a country on its border that has the second largest army in in the north atlan

turkey has blamed the syrian president bashar assad for these bombings without having undergone any kind of investigation what they have said is that syrian intelligence is to quote them the usual suspects now the deputy turkish prime minister says that the organization and the members behind the attacks have been largely identified but what is worrying is that this does say it's a bad precedent to merely blame assad right away without giving any kind of proof or any kind of conclusive evidence as to why you say that nine people have been detained all of them are turkish citizens according to the turkish deputy prime minister and he has stressed that there be no links to the syrian opposition previously three of the five suspects arrested after the bombings were said to have been syrian nationals not so it has denied that they are behind the attacks the syrian government issued a statement in which it said that we are saddened by the fall of martyrs in turkey yesterday in one way or another the turkish people are syrian brothers the turkish prime minister has said that the attack could a

past and current has limited support to syrian rebels who are battling the syrian presidency of bashar assad and turkey has lent the rebels both a staging santa and an area from which they can conduct their logistics so what we're hearing here is that it might in fact the syrian government officials and soldiers who. are against syria but as i mention no conclusive proof of this it is perhaps important to remember that back in february there was a car bomb in the same is eleven at that stage to the turkish government pointing fingers at the assad regime this is an area that does see a lot of fighting between syrian rebel forces and pro side forces and certainly the syrian turkish border is extremely volatile. political commentator. believes the battle syrian regime is no position to stage an attack on it and they told me. i really do hope that the united states government would take note of their hold in loss of life because if it thinks that whole the whole weapons into the into a conflict will actually resolve it and it's very very wrong it will only bring about more death and destruction

past and current has lent it support to syrian rebels who are backing the city and presidency of bashar assad and turkey has lent the rebels both a staging santa and an area from which they can conduct their logistics so what we're hearing him is that it might in fact the syrian government officials and soldiers who. are against syria but as i mention no conclusive proof of this it is perhaps important to remember that back in february there was a car bomb in the same is eleven at that stage to the turkish government pointed fingers at the assad regime this is an area that does see a lot of fighting between syrian rebel forces and pro side forces and certainly the syrian turkish border is extremely volatile. and reaction now from london based blogger karl rove who writes extensively about the middle east thank you so much karl for joining us here on r.g.p. talk about exists there so turkey blames the syria for the bombing is there any reason in your opinion damascus would want to work a straight such an attack. well it is the unity there might be but i think what's important now is not to rus

chemical weapons were in fact used by bashar assad's troops in syria something which hasn't yet been proven. the this bill will ultimately become reality which many experts have already described this as a certain leeway for the united states to still have a certain leverage in the syrian conflict now also on friday the british prime minister david cameron came to the city of sorts in russia and the biggest intrigue of that meeting was whether david cameron would sing to the same tune as john kerry did in moscow it's no secret that we have had differing views on how best to handle the situation but we shift fundamentally aims to end the conflict to stop syria fragmenting to let the syrian people choose who governs them and to prevent the growth of violent extremism so i strongly support the conference that mr labral for mr kerry agreed this week to deliver a political solution a solution which has a transitional government based on the consent of the syrian people as a whole so clearly the events of the of this week have given us a clear indication that there may be interesting thing

online that following the latest volley of attacks on the syrian regime of the syrian president bashar assad will soon officially declare war on his role now of course this is the news in terms of social media in no way of having any independent verification of this but disturbing rumors nonetheless many are dismissing these reports of strictly rumors various commentators are claiming that such a move would be sure to end the regime of the syrian president bashar assad to quote these commentators within a week they respect relation it will also about the nature of this alleged it is radio tech now some are insisting that israel's weaponry was to quote them nuclear like that people said they could smell chemicals in the air and that the attack was coordinated by israel with the hope from syrian rebel forces the ammunition depôt that was hit is a strategic military position used by the forces of the syrian president bashar assad there is video footage that has been uploaded to youtube by activists and they show a huge ball of fire rising into the night sky we haven't as of yet been able to ver

with statements in the western countries that bashar assad must step down at the same time the westernworld has never been saying that it's the syrian people that have to choose their new government to have to choose their new future now hardly anyone expected after all of these this rhetoric that a meeting between the u.s. state secretary john kerry and the russian president and the russian foreign minister would produce something positive never the less international conference which is to be called by the end of this month was the direct result of the meeting in moscow that a conference is expected to have both the members of the syrian opposition and the syrian government at the same negotiation table at the same time a press conference between the russian foreign minister lavrov and john kerry took an interesting twist when a reporter asked about the bill to support the syrian rebels with weaponry which is now being considered by the u.s. congress the reply from the u.s. state secretary it was that if the united states finds substantial proof that chemical weapons were in fact use

that he will attend those talks however the opposition has said that they will only do so if bashar al assad steps down we go back again to these pre-conditions these differences in before making any steps or progress into the peace process and we've already seen that everybody agrees essentially to have a solution for syria the crux of the matter here is how to go about doing so each country seems to have its own vision of how to accomplish this goal and this is already what we've been seeing for the past couple of years and we can say that it has been hampering any substantial progress in syria. and let's now get some reaction from middle east expert professor jeremy sold and joining us now live professor sol very nice to see you as always on r.t. of course we know there's a strong opposition from within the e.u. against arming the rebels and even washington has been reluctant so far what is driving the british and french here. if i could just say one thing before we talk about the diplomacy and i think the center of the action right now in the center of our focus should be what's happenin

support for the rebels and this could prove to be a problem in trying to get all sides involved bashar al assad in principle had said that he will attend those talks however the. so if bashar al assad steps down we go back again to these pre-conditions these differences into into before making any steps or progress into the peace process and we've already seen that everybody agrees essentially to have a solution for syria the crux of the matter here is how to go about doing so each country seems to have its own vision of how to accomplish this goal and this is already what we've been seeing for the past couple of years and we can say that it has been hampering the any substantial conspires syria london and paris are making a last ditch effort to bolster the syrian rebels who are losing the fight against damascus well that's the view of middle east expert professor jeremy sold we know the syrian army is just about retaken completely the town of. the very shortly will move north towards homs to make sure that's completely explained they will move on and that of course is going to be a big struggl

trying to encourage both rebel groups and bashar al assad's regime to have talks together to try and resolve that crisis iran and saudi arabia are also planning to attend that conference the big question is whether the rebel groups and bashar al assad's regime can both sit down at the table at that conference there are indications at the moment that both parties in principle want to sit down however divisions within the rebels' ranks and their their main demand that bashar al assad should step down may cause a lot of problems for that for that conference and their participation in it the u.s. has tried to press rebel leaders to attend that conference and russia for its part has tried to persuade bashar al assad and his regime to do the same with more than eighty thousand dead in the two year civil war and more than one point three million refugees having fled syria according to the u.n. the u.n. official say that something really has to be done or. about this situation and they've stated that sentiment multiple times there are a number of ongoing initiatives not just in syria but also

beirut suburb of death and in that speech he pledged all out support for the syrian president bashar assad saying that his shiite muslim group would stay in the syrian war to quote him to the end of the road and achieve victory together. there are two major threats facing the lebanese people and the entire region today the first imitates from israel and its avid intentions and blots the second thread stems from the changes taking place in syria which neighbors our cities villages and homes syria is seeing major activity by radical islamist movements this one is said that his war was with extremists he called an attack fearless he said that tens of thousands of them from all over the world are currently fighting in syria and he warned that if syria forces they've been on to move forward this in turn he said would lead to israel we occupying lebanon now eleven years the media is reporting that a rocket has been fired towards israel from the lebanese town of measure you and this is off to two other rockets landed in the has been a strong holding down here on sunday the lebanese army saying th

support for the rebels and this could prove to be a problem in trying to get all sides involved now bashar al assad in principle had said that he will attend those talks however the opposition has said that they will only do so if bashar al assad steps down we go back again to these pre-conditions these differences in before making any steps or progress into the peace process and we've already seen that everybody agrees essentially to have a solution for syria the crux of the matter here is how to go about doing so each country seems to have its own vision. of how to accomplish this goal and this is already what we've been seeing for the past couple of years and we can say that it has been hampering any substantial can syria. and as always we want to know your opinion on virus issues and today on our website r.t. dot com where asking you what your staind about these latest talks on syria proposed by russian foreign minister sergei lavrov and his us count about john kerry and as i just said on our website dot com here's our online poll and you can go there and cast your vote and so far let's now hav

arms embargo sends a message to syrian president bashar al assad that support for the opposition will only increase but the u.n. meanwhile is sending its own messages of double standard let's remember that washington has been fiercely critical of russia's transfer of anti-aircraft aircraft missiles to the assad government now while moscow's maintained that it has been fulfilling defense weapons contracts that were signed long ago with syria washington believes that it's wrong for for moscow to fulfill any contracts because civil war is taking place there and whatever contracts russia is fulfilling could be used to inflame the conflict taking place there but yet now the u.s. is welcoming possible flow of arms to the syrian rebels with this e.u. arms embargo on syria expiring now it's also worth noting that just a few weeks ago u.s. secretary of state john kerry was in moscow he traveled there and pledged to the u.s. will work closely with russia and the bloodshed in syria kerry and foreign minister sergey lavrov and sergey lavrov underscored their commitment to the communique signed in

on line that following this latest volley of attacks on the syrian regime the syrian president bashar assad will soon officially declare war on israel but of course the point needs to be made that many are dismissing these reports as strictly rumors but it gives you an idea of the kind of tension on the ground at the moment. you were saying about ago it was an american official who can for the ball being attacked by israeli i.d.f. warplanes so it's a thought to talk in the past five months so what so the syrian reaction being in the east. well the attack that happened in the early hours of this morning one of the targets was in fact a warehouse of long range iranian missiles headed for hizbullah another target was an ammunition depot that is a strategic military position for the forces of the syrian president bashar assad and this research center was the target of an israeli strike back in january that's why according to the syrian government killed two workers and if these five other people badly injured they lost a strike overnight tuesday in syria we are still waiting for official public

the syrian president bashar al- assad says that there are peace talks. in the women's cup finals -- and the favorite wins the european emmelie de forest of denmark. in a rare interview with foreign media, syrian president bashar al-assad denies that his government has used chemical weapons. he told the argentinian newspaper and the argentinian state news agency that the u.s. had no right to interfere -- interfere in his affairs, he also reiterated that he has no plans to resign. >> the syrian government's military offensive targets the western town of qusayr where government troops attempt to recapture the city. supportedes have been from hezbollah soldiers from neighboring lebanon. he has not shown that he is backing down. he described level forces has been throwing back terrorists, and rejected the calls for negotiations. >> you can hold a dialogue with political forces but not with terrorists who cutthroats and assassinate and use chemical weapons. hise rejected reports that government has deployed chemical weapons. he said that these claims were used

delegation which would attend the geneva conference, they would like to see people mandated by bashar al-assadto take major decisions like transferring power to a transitional government and could and end to the era of bashar al-assad and establish a democratic state in syria. as we speak, the syrian opposition is now undergoing massive transformation, debating to expand the highest authority within the opposition which is the general committee. but there are huge differences. there is an attempt to add a new block of secular's into this authority, the conservatives and the islamists are very concerned. they say that the secular's might undermine the opposition. there is a lot of internal debates within the opposition. the moment they finished, they will come up with their final decision about the geneva meeting. question is where the opposition stands right now in terms of forming this interim government. they are over there in turkey debating these issues. how much support does the previous leader have for that proposal that he has initially put forward for a political transition in syria? >

his villa in lebanon it is a strategically military important position for the syrian president bashar assad not the syrian state television also says that this morning strikes were a response to recent military gains by assad's forces against rebels who have been trying to topple him for the better part of two years so to me the scale of this morning's the tech shows that it is beyond the military capability of just the syrian rebels and this is why you have observers pointing the finger at israel in terms of helping and assisting the syrian rebels eyewitnesses also say that they saw in the sky at the time of the blast and this seems to concern other reports we've received that israeli jets would being used so the point today in the conflict has the potential to become international people on the ground are watching it very very closely and it's almost intensifying by the minute we of course will keep you up to date orders second suspected is ready to strike in the side of syria in the past forty eight hours the latest on the breaking news maltese paula slater and celebrate thank you. part

to bring together various parties in the region chief among them the syrian government and the bashar assad and the rebels there whether they can get both those groups around the table both russia and the u.s. trying in their respective parts to get the rebels or at least a good representation of them there are many divisions within the rebel ranks and the syrian government under bashar al assad to sit down at the table to try and end this two year civil war that's been causing so much damage this all of course comes with heightened tensions in the region and that leading leading to policy a ripples beyond that as well in washington recently a senate committee voted in favor of the proposed legislation which although it's got a long way to go if it if it was passed would allow the u.s. to supply the syrian rebels or at least certain groups of them with arms which currently has the u.s. has refrained from doing also in the e.u. a meeting of foreign ministers discussing the possible lifting of the e.u. zimbardo of arms to syria and in the region south recent exchanges of fire in southern leba