well the popular mobilization forces were essentially created in 2014 to fight eisel in country now some of those groups including these groups they exist in the world before they were actually part of the insurgency against american troops in the wake of the 2003 invasion so they are now all part of this big umbrella of armed groups and of course they were they were basically created to fight as well but following the territorial defeat of iceland 2017 they haven't ceased to exist they didn't demobilize again they actually were formally integrated into iraq's security apparatus and are considered state actors and that is why the prime minister out of the the source strongly confirmed this airstrike killing these 2 figures and especially i will mark the other one this was considered an iraqi official and the fact that he focused on their achievements in iraq during the war against eisel really suggests that he is basically trailing iran's position here there was no criticism whatsoever about any of the more negative impacts that they may have played many iraqis strongly opposed to the pr

airport major general cost them money seen by many in iran as a war hero who led the charge against eisel in iraq and syria was killed in a u.s. airstrike. his close ally the deputy head of hush those xabi iranian backed iraqi militia the 100 was also killed along with other members of his group u.s. missiles hit their convoy as they left the airport. so the money was commander of the kurds force a unit of iran's revolutionary guard responsible for foreign operations for iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei so the money was a trusted confidant a member of his inner circle his killing in a targeted u.s. strike is the most extreme escalation in tensions between to her own in washington in recent years how many warned there will be retaliation. the cruelest people on earth assassinated the honorable commander who courageously fought for years against the evils and bandis of the world sulaimani is martyrdom will make iran more decisive to resist america's expansionism and to defend our islam values with no doubt iran and other freedom seeking countries in the region will take his reve

led coalition fighting eisel in iraq has opened up the assad military air base to international media revealing the damage from last week's missile attack right up to date with the headlines here and out there got more news coming up that's right after inside story. mourns the latest victims of what the u.n. calls precedented bobbins in the silence. from smith only 5000 troops that is meeting regional leaders to decide what to do next as the military campaign failed and cook the conflict spread further in west africa this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program i'm a. 4000 west africans killed in just 12 months the united nations says last year was the worst yet in the fight against groups in the sile the u.n. says it's a number press it.

calls for the americans to leave roughly 5000 troops remain as part of the global coalition to defeat eisel on friday the iraqi government said it wants a u.s. delegation to visit iraq to plan for a withdrawal but the u.s. says it's not pulling out as times change and we get to a place where we can deliver upon what i believe the president believes is a right structure with fewer resources dedicated to that mission we will do so. compel says any delegation sent to iraq will be for the purpose of discussing strategic partnerships like increasing the role of nato in the region an idea u.s. president donald trump announced this week a nato delegation visited the state department to discuss that prospect of working to develop a plan which will get burden sharing right in the region as well despite once calling nato obsolete president trump says nato now must be expanded to include middle east nations to reduce tensions and to assist in the fight against eisel it's an issue he insists is an international problem can't really help at al-jazeera the white house. some of and your fate has more from

central command has put out a statement saying it is pausing operations against eisel while it focuses on protecting american bases were rockey bases with an american personnel presence that is after weeks of attacks rocket attacks on those bases that have killed iraqi security personnel and one american contractor the u.s. central command goes on to say. we remain resolute as partners of the government of iraq but as you just heard the government of iraq isn't so sure it is going to want to maintain its partnership with the u.s. that was a non binding vote but it's certainly a shot across the bow here in the u.s. military commanders seem to believe that iraq still needs that u.s. presence there but for now the u.s. is simply protecting itself in iraq so it's effectively not doing anything militarily and if if this statement includes special forces which we believe it does that means that ironically it is iran and iraq the forces who will increasingly have to compensate for the lack of the american presence in that eisel fight so the u.s. is not really making friends and influencing pe

deaths in the war the us and iran's priorities aligned once more in the fight against eisel but didn't devolve possible actual field in april last year the u.s. designated the islamic revolutionary guard corps as a terrorist organization with this designation we are sending a clear signal a clear message to iran's leaders including his band of thugs that the united states is bringing all pressure to bear to stop the regime's outlaw behavior we ask that our allies and partners around the world do the same. but salomone had the full support of iran's government he received iran's highest military award last year as tensions between the u.s. and iran solomonic continue to support shia militias including the hezbollah brigades who were targeted in 5 u.s. is strikes last week after they fired rockets at a us base he survived many attacks on his life inside iran and abroad but it would be in iraq where shia militias trained by his could force killed hundreds of americans that the u.s. indeed his writing age 62 shall not ballasts out his era we're going to hear from mark kimmitt now who's the

the americans to leave roughly $5000.00 troops are made as part of the global coalition to defeat eisel on friday the iraqi government said it wants a u.s. delegation to visit iraq to plan for a withdrawal but the u.s. says it's not pulling out as times change and we get to a place where we can deliver upon what i believe the president believes is a right structure with fewer resources dedicated to that mission we will do so. compel says any delegation sent to iraq will be for the purpose of discussing strategic partnerships like increasing the role of nato in the region an idea u.s. president donald trump announced this week a nato delegation visited the state department to discuss that prospect of working to develop a plan which will get burden sharing right in the region as well despite once calling nato obsolete president trump says nato now must be expanded to include middle east nations to reduce tensions and to assist in the fight against eisel it's an issue he insists is an international problem can't really help at al-jazeera the white house some enjoy a design for us in baghda

regime as well as in the governments of the iraqi the various governments in iraq in the fight against eisel there are many iranians believe that this is a very serious escalation this is the united states telling iran that it has carried out an act of war there's a thank you study there of course we'll come back to you to check in on developments in iran as we continue to follow this story it's just gone 6 g.m.t. grant and here at al-jazeera we're bringing you rolling coverage of a major breaking news story let's bring you the latest as we understand it the south iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali how many has vowed revenge after a u.s. strike cuties senior military command solomonic he was assassinated in a pre-dawn attack in the iraqi capital baghdad so the body was the leader of the elite al quds force a division of revolutionary guard school which has far reaching influence in iraq syria lebanon and the on the pentagon has released a statement confirming the strike was carried out on the orders of the u.s. president donald trump and that the military has taken decisive action to protec

help from 2 with which they had sent to the international coalition this is referring to the anti eisel coalition what's the ramifications here for iraq and indeed the middle east as a whole well again this is a victory for iran and another interesting development that we have seen today is that the iraqi prime minister has filled the briefings as to why general salim army was on was in baghdad in the 1st place apparently according according to the iraqi prime minister he was on a mission and he will he had an appointment with him have a listen will it do you think you can i was about to meet to money at 830 on friday morning on the day of his death he was carrying a message to me from the iranian side in reply to a saudi message that we sent to the arena earlier to reach important grievance regarding the deescalation of tensions in iraq and in the region we have heard donald trump calling on the american boys and girls to come back home he's been very adamant on the fact that he wants that apparently he wants u.s. troops back home wasn't it we want to bring our troops back home and i g

led coalition fighting eisel in iraq has opened up the assad military air base to international media revealing the damage from last week's missile attack right up to date with the headlines here and out there got more news coming up that's right after inside story i feel. lesia and mourns the latest victims of what the u.n. calls unprecedented violence in the sun held in egypt and france with almost $5000.00 troops there is meeting regional leaders to decide what to do next as the military campaign failed and cook the conflict spread further in west africa this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program i'm melting dennis and all the 4000 west africans killed in just 12 months the united nations says last year was the worst yet in the fight against armed groups in the sile the u.n. says it's an ump ressa dented rise in terrorist file and fronts and 5 regional countries have files ins of troops fighting groups some of whom a link to eisele and al qaeda but anger against the operation and against france is growing now president macro is hosting a summit to discuss whether french

the state department says that the presence of the so-called global coalition is needed to defeat eisel but already that suspended operations again feisal following the death of a presence in iran right so the u.s. troops are there primarily for 2 purposes one is to combat terrorists and protect lay isom there's a fear resurgence in iraq and along the roxbury border in particular and they're to train the iraqi security forces to to form this role and become and develop other skills so if the u.s. forces are confined to base for force protection reasons or a withdraw then. the iraqi security forces wouldn't have the support and i still would be faced less resistance so what would probably happen is i think the iranians would try and fill that gap but if they do that's just going to encourage the sectarian split in the iraqi national security forces that alarmed the kurds and the sunni's so i think it could be counterproductive so this is why i think that there is you know the iraqi decision makers are we've got a time got to balance their need to as our previous guest said appease iran v

this is a problem but if you see a test or you know isis eisele was. there are lot being after the war in iraq which was let as well by the us and after this only people in iraq they had been moving in a bit like pushed out of every kind of responsibility and this was a fundament that isis could be booed icicle people that built up and it was financed by qatar by saudi arabia and through indirectly as well by the u.s. so it's saved me from enemy before you start losing the whole region and it's in the grip the middle east project and other strategy papers as well it is written that malicious and even evil malicious like ice will can be used to the studies into region so i think the best way for the middle east is if the countries can gain serenity and slowly fight the war against eisel themselves even i still was nearly. destroyed in syria and it was normal strong in iraq so i think the u.s. troops are not necessary there anymore it can be done by the iraqi troops as well so ok. martin what did you take from the head of nato his comments earlier stoppi

muslim militias it is known for playing a major role in the campaign to liberate the country from eisel several commanders of the pm f. were killed with iran's general somani in the attack yesterday. and more on this we can cross live now to a middle east analyst. this is the 2nd day you and i have had similar conversation as we're talking in the sound check so another day another strike in baghdad if it is the u.s. why another one so soon. well 1st of all goody good morning to you. i think the united states seems to be bent on a policy of. kind of blitzkrieg trying to target as many militia leaders as possible of the shiite militia leaders particularly those close to iran because there are various shiite militias in it in mind that not just those who support that support iran. perhaps my guess is that it's trying to trigger a reaction from iran it wants iran to react in taking a false move because iran the there is a great symmetry between the capabilities that military capabilities of iran and the united states where iran can strike requires some planning and some might give reality i

led coalition against eisel has opened up its iraqi military air base to international media revealing the damage sustained during an iranian missile last week to her on launch attacks on the base on wednesday in retaliation for the assassination of the military commander. those are the headlines inside story is next then it's the news hour then thanks for watching. najam mourns the latest victims of what the u.n. calls unprecedented violence in the south held in france with only $5000.00 troops there is meeting regional leaders to decide what to do next as the military campaign failed and cook the conflict spread further in west africa this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program i'm melting dennis and all the 4000 west africans killed in just 12 months the united nations says last year was the worst yet in the fight against armed groups in the sile the u.n. says it's a number precedented rise in terrorist file and france and 5 regional countries have files ins of troops fighting groups some of whom a link to eisele and al qaeda but anger against the operation and against fr

muslim militias is also known for playing a major role in the campaign to liberate the country from eisel several commanders of the p.m.s. were killed with iran's general salomone in the attack yesterday. from one of those we can now cross live to anti-war activist brian becker brian when things like this happen you're someone that i'd like to speak to to help us kind of wrap our mind around this situation what we have here is another attack being carried out in baghdad no one has taken responsibility as of yet but. really who could be behind this. well the united states is and. donald trump in the pentagon are showing to the people of iraq to the people of iran to the governments of iraq and iran who's going to be the boss of iraq the u.s. invaded iraq in march 19th 2003 more than a 1000000 iraqis died and would not have otherwise died according to the lancet medical journal the u.k. medical journal tens of thousands of americans lost their lives or suffered life changing wounds and yet the occupation hasn't worked out american influences is weaker aronian influence is stronger in the re

shia muslim militias is known for playing a major role in the campaign to liberate the country from eisel several commanders of the p.m.s. were killed with iran's general so money in the attack yesterday we spoke to anti-war activist brian becker who feels sure washington is behind the latest attack as well the united states is on a rampage donald trump in the pentagon are showing to the people of iraq and the people of iran to the governments of iraq and iran who's going to be the boss of iraq the united states has decided to use brute force to eliminate its what it perceives to be its adversaries in this showdown no matter how popular you might be or no matter what you claim the sovereignty might be we have ultimate power we have the $700.00 pound gorilla and we sit wherever we want to sit i think there is a plan and i think the united states is sounded to sort of stop what they consider to be the winning streak of iran iran in the resistance forces in the region have succeeded the pentagon in trump must want a wider war in the middle east and they believe the u.s. can win that wider wa

at friday prayers in the iranian capital for the assassination of a man who led the charge against eisel in iraq and syria and whose death seems likely to lead to more conflict. back to shake a man god willing it is now time to clear and cleanse the region of these devils it is now time to show the resistance to the americans and show our assistance with action to tell those yankees to get out of here get lost. in the early hours of friday morning shortly after arriving in baghdad international airport u.s. missiles killed so the money and his close ally of the old 100 other members of the group were also killed in the attack a drone strike hit their convoy as they left the airport for iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali come in a slow money was a trusted confidant a member of his inner circle his killing in a targeted attack the most extreme escalation in tensions between tehran and washington in recent years come and he warned there will be revenge the cruelest people on earth assassinated the honorable commander who courageously fought for years against the evils and bandis of the wor

conducted in securing iran's stability and security along its borders and ensuring that the likes of eisel do not ever set foot on iranian soil his death is being seen as an act of war by iranians and most of the people we spoke to this morning say that they expect iran they want to iran. to to examine. revenge rather. the americans for this act that they've carried out they say that this is an act of war and iran has to respond that it is just very black and white right now in the islamic republic and door so i suppose the question for many people is would this language coming from tehran. talking of revenge what that might look like what what are the options that tehran. well according to some analysts we spoke to the most immediate one would be targeted strikes at various u.s. interests and facilities and installations within iraq that is the 1st thing that many are going to say iran will be looking at. and then they say that they will be looking at their allies in the region mainly has in lebanon as well as hamas and gaza these are options that iran has and they've cultivated these rel

submerged under the popular mobilization porters which as a whole was mobilized in 2014 to fight against eisel here in iraq now since i sort of official territorial defeat this group has not been demoralized that they have basically been officially integrated into iraq security apparatus and they are basically unknown to yield to wield a lot of power over not just the military forces but also they have political parties which currently control the largest bloc in parliament so this popular mobilization of forces are essentially seen as wielding a vast amount of influence and they organized are basically this march just funeral procession that began on tuesday where they 1st of all they wanted to. commemorate the deaths of the 27 fighters of the hezbollah brigades who were killed in the airstrike and it all turned into basically this huge procession that marched into the fortified green zone without any opposition by the iraqi government whatsoever and on to the u.s. embassy and it's very important to emphasize that this crowd is very different from the crowd that has been protesting entire squ

is in no one's interest nato maintains a 500 strong training mission in iraq for the fight against eisel it suspended that however after solomon is death. nato is prepared to continue our training and capacity building when the situation permits we remain strongly committed to the fight against international terrorism. after the meeting today in the united states also briefed on the regional situation following recent attacks on coalition forces in iraq on the strike against generals for the money. for years all our lives have expressed concern about 2 wrongs do you stabilizing activities in the why the middle east region. we agreed iran must never require a nuclear weapon we shared concern about iran's missile tests meanwhile iraqis are worried that they will bear the brunt of these growing tensions between iran and us especially since donald trump threatened to impose sanctions so wonderful tin has more from baghdad. and an easy mood has settled over back that scarred by decades of intermittent war people in iraq's capital know the eerie suspense that precedes one in coffee shops old a

sincerely manny's death the fight against eisel continues but at a slower pace kurds and those living in places like chalk and behold fear that i still could take advantage to strengthen its foothold on the area once again. in northern iraq. of all current corruption in the philippines is forcing tens of thousands of peoples are fleeing their homes taal volcano into a tie about 70 kilometers south of the capital manila started spewing ash and lava on sunday 8000 people have already been evacuated from the island on which the volcano sets of thousands more leverage leaving neighboring coastal towns and oregon has this report from nearby us province. there is fear and anxiety here thousands of people are fleeing their homes and looking for a safe place to go everything happened in an instant. no in the northern philippines spewed ashes. on sunday a violent activity not seen for decades and raising the threat not just to those living in the provinces of the day but even in the capital manila where many people also woke up to a city covered in ash. driving to but down the us was a difficu

to reach the goals is much better soleimani enjoyed some support when he led the charge to displace eisel from iraq a strong. holds but many iraqis now blame iran for instability and interference in their country and soleimani directly for a violent crackdown on anti-government protests which began in october the us assassinations are the most extreme escalation in tensions between to head on in washington in recent years and many in baghdad fear it will continue to play out on iraqi soil and if in any state that has she always syria and we condemn this it's unacceptable for something like this to be happening in our country it's a tween america and iran and in the end we will be hurt our situation is already not stable many iraqis oppose iranian and american interventions alike. earlier this week mohandas himself let a crowd of popular mobilization forces supporters as they attacked and besieged the u.s. embassy in baghdad he walked alongside. another senior military leader of the pro iran group who has now called on his followers to take up arms against the american presence iraq's care

deaths in the war the us and iran's priorities aligned once more in the fight against eisel but didn't evolve past the battlefield in april last year the u.s. designated the islamic revolutionary guard corps as a terrorist organization with this designation we are sending a clear signal a clear message to iran's leaders including his band of thugs that the united states is bringing all pressure to bear to stop the regime's outlaw behavior we ask that our allies and partners around the world do the same. but salomone had the full support of iran's government he received iran's highest military award last year as tensions high sions between the u.s. and iran so the money continued to support shia militias including the hizbollah brigades who were targeted in 5 u.s. is strikes last week after they fired rockets at a us space he survived many attacks on his life inside iran and uproot but it would be in iraq where shia militias trained by his could force killed hundreds of americans that the u.s. indeed his writing age 62 ballasts his era now in just a week things have escalated dramatical

military says that those troops have stopped most of their operations against eisel and an awful seeing on protecting themselves at the same time the leader of hezbollah in lebanon has warned that the u.s. military across the region is now a fair target for retaliation and in iran massive crowds have gathered in the cities of abbas and mashad to welcome home the body of christ samson imani whose assassination by u.s. forces 3 days ago set in motion the current train of events will get the view from both washington and beirut in just a moment but we begin our coverage in baghdad where the last few hours have seen extraordinary scenes in the iraqi capital osama bin javid is in the iraqi capital for is an important vote in the iraqi parliament which has voted again to expel foreign troops from iraq tell us about the reactions and what happens now. hopefully the emergency session of parliament expectedly came with a resoundingly support for a resolution asking for the iraqi government to and its requests for assistance from u.s. forces essentially signaling that it wants the end of u.s. pre

restraint and deescalation nato does maintain a 500 strong training mission in iraq for the fight against eisel but it's suspended that after solomon his death and a couple of other headlines for you forces loyal to the libyan warlord khalifa haftar have reached the center of the strategic coastal city of sirte trying to wrest control from the un recognized government part of have to as wider offensive to take the capital tripoli and protests have been held across india condemning an attack that targeted students and teachers at a prominent university in new delhi demonstrators say students affiliated with the ruling b j p were behind the violence though they deny that they got to that with the headlines on al-jazeera witness starts right now. on counting the cost 2020 we pick through what could be the whole geo political and geo economic topics of the year for the most important election in the free world and we ask if the world can come together to tackle global warming inequality a globalized. account of the cost on al-jazeera. the. us economy i know you don't. say it's not a total sum but a

and preserve the security and stability of iran by securing its borders by preventing the likes of eisel from reaching reigning in soil so little to matter where that is you want to go to this assassination is very much being regarded as something that the rains will have to avenge very soon. thanks very much indeed reporting there from tehran in iran. sort of monies assassination is inflame already tense relations between the united states and iran the pentagon says it will deploy more than 3 phones in troops to the region security in the u.s. reaction to his killing has been split along party lines largely. reports now from washington d.c. . president donald trump tried to justify his decision to order the killing of iranian revolutionary guard commander qassam sulaimani by claiming the sulaimani had been planning eminent and sinister attacks on americans in the region we took action last night just stop. a war the us president said sulaimani was responsible for the deaths of thousands 'd of american service people over 2 decades solemn 80 has been perpetrating acts of terror to destab

actions as a fight against iranian influence but that is not after being attacked by the gangs of eisel it was the iraqi people who were the rebuff and resistance not the iranians. the concluded strategic framework agreement between the usa and iraq does not allow the americans to create military bases in iraq but this agreement is not being implemented today the americans are occupying iraq in military bases against the backdrop of protests in iraq the united states is trying to intervene in this process and establish its leadership which will lead to complete anarchy in the country and the american presence in iraq will be supposedly justified traditionally the u.s. uses made a pretext to attack in this case the attacks on american bases are just a cover for defeating the shiite militia. while some people are off work thanks to the new year holidays others are off because they're on strike musicians are the latest profession to join the action against france's new pension reform shouted the penske reports. so i can. cheat. in what is no the longest nationwide strike in more than 30 ye

the americans to leave roughly $5000.00 troops are made as part of the global coalition to defeat eisel on friday the iraqi government said it wants a u.s. delegation to visit iraq to plan for a withdrawal but the u.s. says it's not pulling out as times change and we get to a place where we can deliver upon what i believe the president believes is a right structure with fewer resources dedicated to that mission we will do so. pumpin says any delegation sent to iraq will be for the purpose of discussing strategic partnerships like increasing the role of nato in the region an idea u.s. president donald trump announced this week a nato delegation visited the state department to discuss that prospect of working to develop a plan which will get burden sharing right in the region as well despite once calling nato obsolete president trump says nato now must be expanded to include middle east nations to reduce tensions and to assist in the fight against eisel it's an issue he insists is an international problem can't really help at al-jazeera the white house. correspondent in tehran she says a

at friday prayers in the iranian capital for the assassination of a man who led the charge against eisel in iraq and syria and whose death seems likely to lead to more conflict. back to shake a man god willing it is now time to clear and cleanse the region of these devils it is now time to show the resistance to the americans and show our resistance with action to tell those yankees to get out of here get lost. in the early hours of friday morning shortly after arriving in baghdad international airport u.s. missiles killed so the money and his close ally of the old 100 s. other members of the group were also killed in the attack a drone strike hit their convoy as they left the airport for iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali come in a slow money was a trusted confidant a member of his inner circle his killing in a targeted attack the most extreme escalation in tensions between tehran and washington in recent years come and he warned there will be revenge. the cruelest people on earth assassinated the honorable commander who courageously fought for years against the evils and bandis of the

nations such as france germany who also have troops based here in iraq as part of the coalition to fight eisel basically launched their own efforts to try to preserve their own relationships with iraq they've been caught in an extremely awkward position because on the one hand they're part of this correlation to fight isis but then they are caught in the middle when the u.s. takes unilateral action. against patents and money and i will mark the 100 who were killed in those airstrikes it put them in a very difficult position so they're trying to now negotiate to speak to the iraqi government to see whether their own troops will remain in country some of them are being redeployed germany for example is redeploying some of the troops that are based here for training purposes and also for example france's redeploying some of the troops that are based at the headquarters in baghdad but it remains to be seen what exactly will happen and the legal foundation for this is extremely confusing none of these countries have a status of forces agreement with the iraqi government so it's extremely difficult

in training iraqi forces in the fight against eisel nato is involved with fairly small numbers on the ground at present announcing following the events of last friday that it was scaling back ending essentially its activities temporarily remember donald trump has a fairly checkered history with nato ones calling it obsolete now apparently supporting it but frequently railing against its members calling them to take on a greater share of the burden a greater share of the cost for their own defense on the collective coffers of nato now i think he will see nato alongside european powers as having disappointed the administration my compo the secretary of state said as much in failing to full throated lee support the actions last week against custom solid money. an opportunity i think in this address to give everyone a sort of dressing down here a bit of naming and shaming and in nato as case presumably as i said to take up some of the burden in iraq opening the door for the u.s. possibly to draw down its forces there something we know donald trump is keen to do and something of course tha

is after domination for its own interests general was one who stood up bravely especially fighting eisel he was a key figure 100 percent they were targeting him they knew where he was surely a role would leave it on and sort of will do something silly money rarely. spoke in public but gave this interview in october saying iran's revolutionary guard had expanded what he called islamic resistance to half a 1000000 square kilometers connecting iran through iraq and syria to lebanon on the courts force runs iran's foreign military and clandestine operations so they money delegated iranian diplomats to meet u.s. officials after the $911.00 attacks and they brutally worked together against the taliban. but that relationship didn't last long. the u.s. and iran's pirate is aligned once again in the fight against eisel but then evolved beyond the battlefield in april last year the u.s. designated iran's islamic revolutionary guards corps as a terrorist organization but so in money had the full support of his government the supreme leader ayatollah khamenei awarded him iran's highest military hono

briefing was taking the credit for having destroyed he said we have completely eradicated iraq of eisel forces so we've got one report from our correspondents were about 13 rockets we have another report talking about 6 rockets another report as well as he talking about 9 rockets we'll get you right across all the developments on that breaking story just as soon as we can here on the news out. the russian president vladimir putin has made a surprise visit to syria to meet president bashar al assad the kremlin says the leaders discussed military strategy in syria moscow has been a key support during the civil war the visit comes to heighten regional tensions following the assassination of qassam so the money for the remount leverage is a former u.s. diplomat and now she's the c.e.o. of stratagem a political risk consultancy consultancy she says as america's relationship with the middle east we couldn't china and russia taking the opportunity to strengthen toys in that area the united states has been the great power in the middle of the great external power in the middle east now for deca