frank gardner, bbc news.on saturday, the un's envoy for syria told of its own people, but a big question mark now hangs over what comes next. as his rule crumbles around him, many fear what could follow for syria. frank gardner, bbc news. speaking earlier on saturday, the un's envoy for syria told the bbc a negotiated solution is still possible and that a deal is necessary to avoid bloodshed and chaos. geir pedersen was speaking in qatar's capital, doha, where diplomats were holding emergency talks. key regional players including saudi arabia, egypt, turkey, jordan, iran and iraq were in attendance, along with russia's foreign minister, sergei lavrov. let speak now to mohamed taha from bbc arabic. very good to have you with us. what's the latest you can tell us? ~ ., ., .,, what's the latest you can tell us? ~ ., ., ., us? well, helena, now most of the reports _ us? well, helena, now most of the reports that _ us? well, helena, now most of the reports that are _ us? well, helena, now most of the reports that

thank you very much, frank gardner. - this regime. thank you very much, frank gardner.you very l much, frank gardner. the fbi are offering $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect who shot dead the boss of a health insurance firm. police believe they have found a backpack in central park in new york which has been sent for tests. 0fficers new york which has been sent for tests. officers are still trying to identify the suspected killer, who they say arrived by bus ten days earlier. 0ur correspondent has the details. the police investigation into this targeted murder of brian thompson continues apace, and the most significant developer this evening is that our partners here in the united states, cbs news, are reporting that the new york police department believe they have recovered the backpack which the gunman was wearing at the time of the attack. they believe that he dropped that backpackin believe that he dropped that backpack in central park, and they have been scouring the park for evidence. they believe they recovered that backpa

frank, thank you i very much for the frank gardner our security correspondent.l. the vigil taking place. you can imagine what a beautiful scene this would be this close to christmas, normally looking at the cathedral and so many people in there. this is so very different because of the events 24 different because of the events 2a hours ago. they are holding a vigilfor those 2a hours ago. they are holding a vigil for those killed and injured in the christmas market attacks. let's listen in for a moment. music. this service reserved particularly for those affected by those attacks 2a hours ago. that attack yesterday for the emergency and relief workers, families and representatives of the federal, state and city governments all their gathering in the cathedral. there is not room for everybody who wants to attend. people as we have seen outside there. this is the point of comfort for those so traumatized by the events of yesterday evening in magdeburg at the christmas market where at least five people market where at least five peopl

frank gardner, bbc news. let speak now to mohamed taha, from bbc arabic.est you can tell us? thank you. the statement that was issued by the syrian prime minister now that he is ready to co—operate with any force that would be elected or chosen by the syrian people, that particular statement means that all the reports we are talking about are fairly correct. at the syrian president, bashar al—assad, probably has left the country and the opposition now is under control. this is a historic moment for the syrian people and the region. we saw the syrian president, bashar al—assad, defiant against the opposition for nearly 14 years while in this time there were many arab leaders who fell into what was called the arab uprising or the arab spring, amongst them their tunisian president, the egyptian president, the egyptian president, the egyptian president, the sudanese president, the yemeni president and of course before all of them was the iraqi president. we are now in the moment we can see hts is in control of damascus and we report that they are asking for th

frank gardner, bbc news.s fate hangs in the balance, the un's envoy for syria has told the bbc a negotiated solution is still possible — and that a deal is necessary to avoid bloodshed and chaos. geir pederson was speaking in qatar's capital doha, where diplomats are holding emergency talks. key regional players including saudi arabia, egypt, turkey, jordan, iran and iraq — were in attendance , along with russia'sforeign minister, sergei lavrov. with me is now is mouaz moustafa, executive director of the syrian emergency task force. good to have you with us, thank you for coming into the studio, and just to you for coming into the studio, andjust to begin, you for coming into the studio, and just to begin, i would like to get your reaction to what we are and you are and people that you know in syria and are speaking to our witnessing on happening on the ground today. what is unfolding underground is something that is undescribable a good, is that iran, russia, the tyrants, i get out of syria, and syria, witho

we are joined by our security correspondent, frank gardner.ld say at this point we don't have any information regarding motive or intent of this individual who has been arrested. what are we seeing in terms of the response from the german authorities to what has happened? frank: obviously, it has been a major incident for first responders. we were very quickly on the scene. if you look at the footage of his actual arrest, ensure you will have access to that. it has been playing on local television and on international. you will see there is a relatively undecided response by the german police. they approached the van. they order him to get on the ground. but they seem at one point to pull back because they are clearly afraid that he might have an explosive vest. there is talk of possibly explosives being in his car. they were not detonated, if there were. this is a very unusual situation. not because of what happened. it is not the first time somebody has rammed a car at high speed into a christmas market in germany. indeed, something -- somet

we will bejoined we will be joined by our middle east correspondent in damascus and frank gardner andith us here on bbc news. hello again. a bitterly cold start to the day across parts of scotland and northern ireland with a widespread frost. whereas for england and wales we have had more cloud around and that has helped keep the temperatures up a little bit higher. high pressure is going to build as we go through this week, settling things down. it will feel cold at times, especially scotland and northern ireland, and there will be overnight frosts and fog, some of which will be freezing fog. you can see how the high pressure is building in the north. the isobars are still quite close together as we come further south so still blustery winds coming in from the north sea. north—easterly direction, that's chilly for us. a lot of cloud and some showers and later some of the showers in the south—east and channel islands will be heavy, whereas we hang onto some sunshine for scotland, northern ireland and northern england, cloud in the east breaking, and lighter winds in the north but gust

a few hours ago our security correspondent frank gardner filed this report.think they've won already. these are syrian rebels in the south of the country, in daraa, part of a pincer movement that is closing in on the capital, damascus. more celebrations today in the north, in the city of hama. the rebels�* advance across the country has been lightning—fast. and outside the strategically vital city of homs, islamist—led rebels are streaming towards the city centre, reportedly freeing hundreds from the prison there. of syria's president, bashar al—assad, there is little sign. this does now feel like the dying days of the al—assad regime, a family dynasty that has held syria within its brutal grasp for more than half a century. but where is the syrian army in all of this? because they mostly seem to be surrendering or defecting. but tonight syrian state television did put out a video with the impression that the al—assad regime is still very much in charge. the reality is syria's army is weak. without enough support from russia, iran and hezbollah, it has been u

that was the bbc�*s frank gardner.a celebrating following the fact that bashar al—assad has been deposed from power. we have much more on this for you here on bbc news. hello there. well, it's still another very windy day by any standards, but storm darragh is now pulling off towards the south and the east. staying very blustery towards coastal areas, but it is looking calmer from the north with fewer showers. most of those are out towards the east. there will be some sunshine further north and west. do keep up to date with any further disruption from the storm on your bbc local radio station. the thing we haven't been talking about quite so much as the strength of the winds has been just how much rain has been falling. there are a number of flood warnings in force, most of those across england and wales, and still some more heavy rain for a time, for the rest of the morning, perhaps the first part of the afternoon out towards north—eastern areas of england. there is the storm. it's pulling away. high pressure building

frank gardner, bbc news.assad's fate hangs in the balance, the un's envoy for syria has told the bbc a negotiated solution is still possible — and that a deal is necessary to avoid bloodshed and chaos. geir pederson was speaking in qatar's capital doha, where diplomats are holding emergency talks. key regional players, including saudi arabia, egypt, turkey, jordan, iran and iraq were in attendance, along with russia's foreign minister, sergei lavrov. joining me live is broderick mcdonald, associate fellow at kings college london. welcome to you, good to have in the programme. the view from the united states from various officials is that damascus could fall. i know to have sources there underground, what are you hearing from them was to mark? ,., ., ., ~ are you hearing from them was to mark? h, ., . ~' i., mark? good evening, thank you, the situation in — mark? good evening, thank you, the situation in damascus _ mark? good evening, thank you, the situation in damascus is _ mark? good evening, thank you, the

our security correspondent frank gardner is with me now.nce on the nature of the assad regime.— of the assad regime. seria is a patchwork _ of the assad regime. seria is a patchwork of — of the assad regime. seria is a patchwork of different - patchwork of different controlled areas. it has had a bitter civil war since 2011, the government is the absolute antithesis of a democratic government, they have locked up, imprisoned and tortured tens of thousands of their own citizens. it is one of the most brutal regimes in modern history which is why there is such strong opposition to it but this conflict has been largely frozen but in the last few years. there was a sort of peace deal. the rebels, be they islamist or not have been bottled largely in the four north—east of the country. that changed at the end of november, only ten days ago when they came barrelling out to take aleppo in a surprise move and then advance south to take another city. they seem well armed, well motivated, i think they have obvious internal divisions once things settle

while a motive for the attack is still unclear, our security correspondent, frank gardner, has been lookingeb al—abdulmohsen, and alleged warnings from the saudi government about him. they say that they passed four nodes. they say that they passed four so—called notes verbales. these are official diplomatic notifications that they sent from saudi arabia to germany. i don't have the dates, but they sent three of them to germany intelligence agencies and one to the german foreign minister, warning, they say, about taleb al—abdulmohsen�*s extreme views that he held for the two sides to this, there is a view taken by at least one respected counterterrorism expert that i know of, who is saying that this is something of a bit of a disinformation campaign, he's even saying, that the saudis are trying to blacken his name. well, it's pretty black right now, obviously. trying to say that here was somebody that was dangerous back then but why? he was allegedly trying to help a number of people who had left saudi arabia while political dissidents or people trying to turn their back on their islamic fai

frank gardner has more. syria is at a crossroads. everything now depends on us. because this could go either way. a successful transition to a democracy of sorts or a descent into chaos. the words of their leader here, abu mohammed al—jolani, are encouraging. he says he wants a government for all syrians. so is that really what's going to happen? on the one hand, they have been trying to project a moderate and more modern image of themselves and for, you know, their rule in idlib for the purpose of winning over the local population as well as the international community. but on the other hand, they have really also tried to hold on to their islamist character and roots, on the one hand, because that's that's how they started, but also to make sure that they do not antagonise the hard liners in rebel—held areas as well as in hts's own ranks. hts, the main rebel group does have a murky past. until 2016, it was linked to al-oaida, and it's still a proscribed terrorist group by many governments. the dark red on this map shows where it controls, which now extends to s

that was a security correspondent frank gardner and to let you know the kingdom frank gardner and toent damien mcguinness at the scene. can you talk throughout how events last night? you can you talk throughout how events last niuht? ., .., can you talk throughout how events last niuht? ., h, , can you talk throughout how events last niuht? ., , , can you talk throughout how events lastniuht? ., , ,~ . , last night? you can see very clearly where i'm standing, _ last night? you can see very clearly where i'm standing, we _ last night? you can see very clearly where i'm standing, we are - last night? you can see very clearly where i'm standing, we are on - last night? you can see very clearly where i'm standing, we are on a . where i'm standing, we are on a road, quite a busy road and what seems to have happened as the attacker drove a black hired car along this main road and swerved into the christmas market. what is interesting here is the question frank was talking about actual saying of security around christmas markets. as we know there was a horrific attack in 2016 at a christma

let speak to our security correspondent frank gardner who is out in london tonight, hence the lack ofon his face. nice for you to join us. talk about the strategic importance of qatar to the u.k. frank: qatar is a huge investor in the economy, also a defense partner. it is a joint squadron of jets with the royal air force. it is based up in central britain. there is incredibly close relations. britain has pretty good relations with all the gulf arab states, but with qatar, it is almost a special case, because they are huge investors in things like harrods, the department store, the shard, heathrow, banks, at one point in the stock exchange. they have around $50 billion u.s. invested in the u.k. economy. of course, there is the role as you mention, as the mediators in the conflict between israel and hamas. they are the hosts of not only the largest u.s. military base in the middle east but also the hosts for the hamas political leadership, which is very controversial. at least the military part of hamas is described as a terrorist organization. but they provide a window for western gov

frances read, bbc news. 0ur security correspondent frank gardner has this analysis.been a major incident. before first responders, they were on the scene, if you look at the footage of his actual arrest, i'm sure you will have access to that, it's been playing on local television and internationally, you'll see that there is a relatively undecided response by the german police. they approached the man, they are ordering him to get on the ground, but they seemed at one point to pull back because they are clearly afraid that he might have an explosive vest. there is talk of possibly explosives being in his car. they weren't detonated if they were. this is a very unusual situation. if they were. this is a very unusualsituation. not if they were. this is a very unusual situation. not because of what happened — is not the first time that somebody has rammed a carat first time that somebody has rammed a car at high speed into a christmas market in germany, nor, indeed, in europe. something similar happened in nice, in france. but it's unusual that he is 50 and a doctor and

coming up at 12:30pm we will be joined by our expert security correspondent frank gardner and diplomaticon syria live. if you have a question about what has happened in the last 48 hours and what is possible to happen in the future, get in touch now by using the hashtag bbc your questions. you can also e—mail your questions to the address on screen. we will answer as many questions as possible at 12:30pm, just over two hours away. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. we can return to syria and show you live pictures again out of damascus. we have seen people on the streets of the capital after the rebel coalition toppled the assad regime. it says it is working to transfer power to a transitional government, but it is facing a monumental task of actually running the country. our middle east correspondent lina sinjab, who herself is syrian is in damascus. she had to leave 11 years ago and continued to report on syria and the region from beirut but she's now been back forjust over 24 hours. i asked her to give us a sense of the mood in the country 24 hours after the fall of

our syria correspondent frank gardner has been looking at the threats as group imposes. is easier to forget this now but nine years ago the self—proclaimed isis caliphate was at the height of its power and controlled around a third of syria governing and repressing millions of people. it was defeated after five years by u.s.—led multinational coalition and today the map of syria looks a bit like this. a patchwork of different spheres of control. hds in red, the kurds in purple and so one. the white area in the centre is what is known as the empty desert. where the surviving remnants of isis are mostly hiding out. getting periodically bombed by us forces that are still keeping an outpost down on the border. up an outpost down on the border. up in the northeast corner in the kurdish area is where isis prisoners are being held. the fear is what would happen if they broke out. there are number include britons that went off tojoin number include britons that went off to join isis. these prison camps are a tinderbox, they are angry, overcrowded and isis has long made it top pr

coming up at 12.30 gmt, we'll bejoined by our experts — security correspondent frank gardner and diplomatic live. so get in touch using the hashtag #bbcyourquestions — or email yourquestions@bbc.co.uk. if you have a question about what we have been talking about, do get in touch. in around 75 minutes our correspondents will be here answering your questions. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. more from syria now. the syrian civil defence group known as the white helmets says it's investigating reports that there are people still trapped in hidden underground cells in the notorious saydnaya prison. the prison — in the capital damascus — was one of several that saw political detainees freed as rebels took control of the country. posting on social media, the white helmets said they had deployed five specialised emergency teams to the prison, who are being helped by a guide familiar with the building's layout. ismail alab—dullah is a white helmets volunteer in aleppo and explained what is happening in the prison. after the deploying the teams the specialised find teams and the

our security correspondent frank gardner has been looking at the threat they may now pose.hat bad actors will try to fill the space it once occupied. the extremejihadist groups isis ? that s so—called islamic state ? and al-qaida are no exceptions. they d both like to exploit the current situation if they could. its easy to forget this now, butjust nine years ago, the isis self—proclaimed caliphate, at the height of its power, controlled around a third of syria, governing and repressing millions of people. it was defeated by a us—led multinational coalition and today, the map of syria looks like this — its a patchwork of different spheres of control, hts in red, the kurds in purple, and so on. now, the white area in the centre is what s known in arabic as the baadia, the empty desert. it's where the surviving remnants of isis are hiding out, getting periodically bombed by us forces, who still keep an outpost down on the border. up in the north—east corner in hasaka governate, in the kurdish area, is where isis prisoners are being held. and the fear here is what would happen

0ur security correspondent frank gardner explains.ebel group that's ousted assad — because this could go either way — a successful transition to a democracy of sorts, or a descent into chaos. the words of their leader here, abu mohammed al—jawlani, are encouraging. he says he wants a government for all syrians. so, is that really what's going to happen? hts, the main rebel group, does have a murky past. until 2016, it was linked to al-qaeda, and it's still a prescribed terrorist group by many governments. the dark red on this map shows how they burst out of their northwest stronghold to come south — that's the dotted line — and take damascus. the orange and yellow areas are other smaller rebel groups. the purple is the kurds. and up on the coast, the pink area shows the alawite heartland — that's assad's former power base. as if this wasn't complicated enough already, you've also got the outside nations, russia and iran, who'vejust lost an ally in bashar al—assad. there will be looking to salvage their interest in the new uncharted sy

our security correspondent frank gardner explains.he main rebel group that has ousted a55ad, because this could go either way. a successful transition to a democracy of sorts, or a descent into chao5. democracy of sorts, or a descent into chaos. the words of their leader here are encouraging. he says he wants a government for all syrian5 so is there really was going to happen? hts, the main rebel group, does have a murky pa5t. until 2016 it was linked to al-qaeda and it is still a prescribed terrorist group by many governments. the dark red on this map shows how they burst out of a north—west stronghold to come south. that's the dotted line, and take damascus. the orange and yellow areas are the smaller rebel group5, yellow areas are the smaller rebel groups, the purple i5 yellow areas are the smaller rebel groups, the purple is the kurds and up on the coast, the pink area shows the alawite heartland, assad's former power base. a5 heartland, assad's former power base. as if this wasn't, getting enough already, you also have the outsid

frank gardner there with analysis. at the city masque of the rebel leader. this is the moment he arrived at the building, surrounded by cheering supporters. he prayed and also made a speech. 0ur correspondent was inside the mask. so little of his report which was filed earlier and arabic and translated. here's my a0 saw. arabic and translated. here's my 40 sava— arabic and translated. here's m 40 saw. . ., . , . my 40 saw. the leader of hayat tahnr my 40 saw. the leader of hayat tahrir al-sham _ my 40 saw. the leader of hayat tahrir al-sham in _ my 40 saw. the leader of hayat tahrir al-sham in damascus. i tahrir al—sham in damascus. hours after taking control of the syrian capital. we found out he is touring the historical landmarks and a short while ago he was in the square to thank god in a prayer. and he will now head inside the mask, the city's distinctive monument. —— make the a historic moment in every sense of the word. he was here for the first time in the great since taking control and ousting the president. fi

that verbatim, that copy sent to us by our security correspondent frank gardner.et a bit more context and more words from frank gardner in the programme. just to get a bit more detail about how the advances unfolded and the consequences. advances unfolded and the consequences. let's speak to professor of policing and security and director of thejean monnet network on eu counter—terrorism, christian kaunert. thank you for coming on the programme. good afternoon. it's coming up to 2a hours, you and i were live on air yesterday. in the immediate aftermath of these attacks at the christmas market. nearly 2a hours on, what are your reflections about what are your reflections about what we have learned since then? i what we have learned since then? ~ �* , , , then? i think it's very, very strange. — then? i think it's very, very strange, the _ then? i think it's very, very strange, the profile - then? i think it's very, very strange, the profile of- then? i think it's very, very strange, the profile of the l strange, the profile of the perpetrator is ever so strange, it

frank gardner, bbc news.s fate hangs in the balance, the un's envoy for syria has told the bbc a negotiated solution is still possible and that a deal is necessary to avoid bloodshed and chaos. geir pedersen was speaking in qatar's capital, doha, where diplomats are holding emergency talks. key regional players including saudi arabia, egypt, turkey, jordan, iran and iraq were in attendance, along with russia's foreign minister, sergei lavrov. joining me live to talk about all of this is rim turkmani, syria research director at the conflict and civicness research group at the london school of economics. thank you very much for being with us at this late hour. us officials have been briefing that semesters could fall. they have been saying that syria could be approaching the end of the assad dynasty. what do you make of what we're seeing? i5 make of what we're seeing? i3 falling as we are speaking. by the time you finished the report that you just played, things have changed on the ground already. the rebel for

the next question is for you frank gardner. tell us what you know about that hts.hat has led to the operation over the last ten days. can you tell us more about hts? it the last ten days. can you tell us more about hts?— us more about hts? it is an acronym — us more about hts? it is an acronym that _ us more about hts? it is an acronym that is _ us more about hts? it is an acronym that is an - us more about hts? it is an . acronym that is an organisation for the — acronym that is an organisation for the liberation of greater syrie — for the liberation of greater syrie it _ for the liberation of greater syria. it grew out of the arab spring — syria. it grew out of the arab spring protests. a tiny potted hisiory— spring protests. a tiny potted history here. if you remember the arab — history here. if you remember the arab spring movement that erupted — the arab spring movement that erupted across the middle east in 2011 — erupted across the middle east in 2011 with crowds pouring up and abused and at least one of them — up and abused and at least one of them was muti

let's bring in our security correspondent, frank gardner, who has got so much expertise in this area.he hard question is, what happens next?- question on the hard question is, what happens next? there is auoin to is, what happens next? there is going to be _ is, what happens next? there is going to be a — is, what happens next? there is going to be a really _ is, what happens next? there is going to be a really difficult - going to be a really difficult balancing act for the leader of hts. this is somebody who until now has gone by the name of al jawlani. he wants to revert to his real name because he tried to ditch his jihadist links. his real name because he tried to ditch hisjihadist links. he has ditched them largely but he certainly wants to distance himself from that. the difficult balancing act is this - 11 difficult balancing act is this — 11 hand, he needs to establish enough of a rule of law enough discipline that there is more looting and dismantling of government infrastructure of the way that iraq was ransacked after the 2003 us led invasion. he also needs to make sure th

let's bring in frank gardner, our security correspondent again. let's focus on my arrest there.on now? will be happening with the suspect now that he is being detained? welcome to the first priority for them is to find out if there are any further dangers to the public. are there any explosives? does he have any accomplices? who is helping him? a certain amount is known about him from the fact that he is a doctor, that he worked at a nearby clinic, he is a 50—year—old saudi arabian national. there will be contact with the saudi embassy in berlin. interesting that the current saudi ambassador to london used to be the saudi ambassador to berlin, so i'm sure he'll be watching this very closely. but the real priority, i think, very closely. but the real priority, ithink, is very closely. but the real priority, i think, is what a primarily public safety and trying to forestall any further attacks. did he have explosive? if so, who provided them to him? and most importantly, his motive? why has he done this? they are not looking, we are told to move or any other suspects. it'sjust tol