you had said that hezbollah and iran have already established some sort of infrastructure?>> yes. >> what kind of evidence is there for that? >> oh, i think there's a great deal of evidence. if you read what the fbi has written with about it and has said publicly, there are strong al-qaeda organizations -- or hezbollah organizations in north carolina, in new york, montreal, toronto, vancouver, los angeles. initially established with the iranian intelligence service to keep an eye on the young shah and his followers, but it's clearly designed, also, to have a dual use which is to strike back against us. it's not talked about very much, you know, the bush administration talked about saddam having a terrorist capability here. and, of course, he didn't. but the iranians absolutely have a presence here. >> okay, thank you. on our left in the third row. >> i've a question or ask for a comment on the failure of the intelligence community which is part, you know, which is rapidly grown in funding and also power in the united states. and as a large part is responsible, i feel, for t

i want to make a quick point about hezbollah, actually.hink one of the things that's gone on in the debate over syria is the assumption that if the assad regime falls, somehow magically you're going to get another regime in syria that is going to be pro-u.s., pro-israel and that is not going to be involved in lebanon, and i think that's completely-- it's delusional. >> simon: who says that? >> well, there are some conservatives in washington--. >> simon: american conservatives. >> yeah, and others as well. we can't assume that if the assad regime falls, i think any subsequent syrian regime is still going to see lebanon as a linchpin to syrian security, and there's no reason to think that they're not going to be as supportive to hezbollah. and they might have a slightly different relationship with iran but they're going to see influence and strong influence over lebanon as a key to their regional position, and i think assad is almost inconsequential in that. >> simon: robert, rashid referred to the notion of islamists taking over as a bogey

the ousted improvement caud on hezbollah to lay down its weapons. hezbollah considered a terrorist organization by the  united states, holding more fire power than the lebanese national army. >>> people in jerusalem crowded a funeral for a family killed in their sleep. late friday the 1-year-old daughter included her parents and three siblings, including a baby, with their throats slashed. israel is condemning the act as "murderous terrorism." in spite of the violence, today the government approved expansion of four more settlements into the west bank. >>> secretary of state hillary clinton's chief spokesperson suddenly quit today following controversial remarks about the military's wikileaks case. p.j. crowley stepped down under pressure from the white house. last week while speaking to students at mit, he called the treatment of private bradley manning." >> ridiculous and stupid." manning is in solitary confinement and most recently forced to sleep naked, which the military described as a precaution to keep the 23-year- old soldier from hurting

> hill: the supreme allied commander for nato says today that there are flickers of al qaeda and hezbollah amongst these rebels. how do we know what their end goal is? and how do we know they won't, in fact, turn on the u.s. and our allies? >> well, first of all i think it's important to note that the people we've met with have been fully vetted. so we have a clear sense of who they are and so far they're saying the right things and most of them are professionals, lawyers, doctors, people who appear to be credible. that doesn't mean that all the people who... among all the people who opposed qaddafi there might not be elements that are unfriendly to the united states and our interests. and that's why i think it's important for us not to jump in with both feet but to carefully consider what are the goals of the opposition, what kind of transition do they want to bring about inside of libya? because our main concern here is the libyan people as well as stability in the region. >> hill: can you give us an idea of what some of those goals are beyond just removing qaddafi from power? >> well so

refer to the importance of talking to terrorist groups more as you know some groups like hamas and hezbollah these groups that we've just refused to talk to and if you even raise the idea of talking to them and bringing to them into a political process then you kind of that's kind of out of bounds of the american political process in relation to the american muslim community i think it's very different we've already seen great cooperation notwithstanding what peter king himself claims he claims that they're not helping enough i think there was a report from the triangle center at duke university which showed that over a third of arrests post nine eleven. terrorist arrests have come from tips from the muslim american community they are engaged they are there doing what they need to do but it's important you know not to target this community because that will only lead to greater alienation and frankly greater radicalization and really quickly you brought up their report that said actually being a member of a mosque being a member of any kind of church leads to more so that you can give more d

thousands have joined a rally of the lebanese capital beirut to protest the weapons arsenal held by hezbollah fundamentalists the crowds of supporters of prime minister hariri who stepped down last month after his units of government collapsed hezbollah and its allies the house of the cabinet and the un back tribunals which is like these indicators members of the killing the countries playing with. fifteen people have died in a tour bus accidents in grew up with another ten seriously injured the coach was carrying out these lessons one house just flipped over slid on its side and hit a pole pole then that sliced the bus in hard tearing the roof top of the off the vehicle the driver told investigators he swerved to avoid a tractor trailer which spread away a vehicle was returning from a casino house like a sexy. earlier this week russia's republic of chechnya hosted an all star march widely seen as a major step forward for the region and a team of brazilian football veterans arrived for a charity game against a team captain by chechen leader ransom could hear of arsons tom gardner explores how

like hezbollah, leb anon and hamas. if there was a democratic election, radical islamist would take over. new enough they were telling egyptians they had a spiritual obligation to say yes. this video shows a man filling in dozens of yes ballots. clerics said they would tolerate no changes establishing islam as egypt's religion. >> we will declare jihad in the sake of allah immediately. >> for egypt's christians it is a sign they will be second. they were the together of deadly attacks bill radical muslims. they believe under the muslim brotherhood the situation will only get worse. >> we are concerned about the long time, the elections in 4 year's time. we will then see a different approach. history seems to indicate what we are seeing now is not what we will see in the future. >> ramez atallah says it doesn't mean more freedom for christians but could lead to a stronger church. >> i believe if christians in egypt are under duress, faith will flourish and better for the gospel. if we get the freedom we are yearning for,

and then its unlimited support for israel. >> reporter: he says syrians strongly support hamas and hezbollah viewed as resistance forces against israel, which occupied, then annexed the golan heights, captured from syria during the 1967 war. add to that, atrach says, a deeply unpopular iraq war and u.s. sanctions brought assad support his departed counterparts in egypt or tunisia did not share. >> the difference with other arab regimes is that the credit that bashar assad got during the last six to seven years are going to give him more time to implement the reforms. >> reporter: many analysts worry about a growing gap between rich and poor. unemployment is officially put at 11%, but hard to measure since many syrians work in the informal economy. add to them waves of new entrants to the labor market-- 250,000 every year and growing in this country of 22 million. for their part, government officials say they're committed to addressing the challenges and complaints. >> the people on the street are voicing their ideas. i mean, all the issues are on the table. we are not defending anything that

little is known about these fighters, some allegedly with ties to militant groups like al-qaeda and hezbollah. >> if you ask who are those guys you are going to think about whether you want to arm them. our history of arming groups we don't know hasn't been a terribly good one. >> we don't know as much as we would like to know and as much as we expect we will know. >> today, congressional hearings will discuss involvement in libya. nato kicked off operations in libya including enforcing a no-fly zone and protecting civilians from gadhafi forces. even with diplomatic back up it seems rebels are losing ground. there is one sign that gadhafi might be crumbling under pressure, the foreign minister defected to britain. he was one of gadhafi's most senior members. >> kristen: more radiation from the japan disaster being detected. scientists have found trace amounts but experts are very clear, it's not dangerous. u.c. berkeley testing shows the presence of iodine and other chemicals that have made their way from japan to the shore here. the pollution also is in the air but good news the iodine has h

we're watching 11 on slowly being annexed by hezbollah -- lebanon slowly being annexed by his belovhezbollah. and the price of oil is affecting everyone in this room and their parents, because the instability in the middle east creates instability in the oil markets. as long as there is instability in the middle east and countries are wary about what is going to happen, then it will drive up the price of oil. at every step of the way, while we are certainly interested in these revolutions, we need to keep sight of what the core strategic interests are in the middle east. i am afraid the president obama administration has taken eyes off of what the core interests are. it is a 24/7 job, and i am afraid they are only spending 12 hours on it. host: i want by show of hands, how many of you think we have a responsibility to be in those three countries? how many say yes, and how many say no? joining us from port washington, maryland. caller: mary joe. why is it whenever president obama does anything it is scrutinized in a really bad way? i also want to say president obama choice to take human life

. >> we have seen flickers in the intelligence potential, al qaeda, hezbollah, different things. >> at the conference in london they were careful to say there were only authorized to protect civilians, not change the libyan regime, even though the missiles and bombs have done the colonel's forces severe damage. and the western mission over libya is at the moment open net and. -- open ended. >> this conference may iron out some of the differences, but even if it can, there is so much uncertainty that for the future, it does not look certain or clean for anyone involved in the libyan crisis. >> they are starting a contact group to oversee what happens next. that suggests the conference did not expect the crisis to end soon. >> as the diplomatic channels work through london, the libyan prime minister has claimed that rebel forces are losing ground every day. in the desert, rebel fighters and government troops continued to clash, especially along the coast and east of the country. fighting has been concentrated near colonel gaddafi's hometown. our correspondent sends us this report from th

. >> we have seen flickers in the intelligence of potential al qaeda, hezbollah. we've seen different things. >> reporter: the president has not yet decided whether to arm the rebels, and he may not have to. tonight, libya's foreign minister defected to london, the first big crack in qaddafi's inner circle. erica. >> hill: david, talk to us a little bit about the documents the president signed authorizing covert operations in support. what exactly would that include? >> reporter: well, it makes it legal for the c.i.a. to open contacts with the rebels, but the president would still have to sign off on any specific operations. >> hill: so just a first step. in terms of qaddafi, has he changed his tactics at all? >> reporter: he is now telling his forces to switch to civilian vehicles which will make it harder for aircraft to identify friend from foe on the battlefield. >> hill: david martin at the pentagon tonight, david, thanks. there's more turmoil in syria today after a hard-line speech by president al-assad. instead of announcing reforms, assad blamed recent pro

. >> we have seen flickers in the intelligence of potential al qaeda, hezbollah. >> at the conference in london, they were careful to say they're only authorized to protect civilians, not change the libyan regime, even though western bombs and missiles have done the colonel's forces severe damage. and the western military mission over libya is at the moment open-ended. this has thrown up a lot of contradictions. this conference may iron so. them out, but even if it can, there's so much uncertainty, but the future doesn't look easy or clean for anybody involved in the libyan crisis. they're starting a contact group to see what happens next. that suggests they don't expect the crisis to end soon. >> the libyan deputy foreign minister has claimed in an interview with the bbc that rebel forces are losing ground every day. they continue to clash especially along the coast in the east of the country. fighting has been concentrated near colonel gaddafi's hometown. some of the heaviest clashes have been around the town of benjawad. >> the fight was in jawad. for the rebels, this was a rematch

meantime, the top nato commander says there are flickers of al-qaeda and hezbollah involvement among the rebel forces, but at this point it appears in significant. in an interview with diane sawyer, president obama said qaddafi's regime is showing signs they want out. >> i think what we are seeing is that the circle around qaddafi understands that the noose is tightening. their days are probably numbered. they will have to think through what their next steps are. >> secretary of state hillary clinton says they are not ruling out a political solution that would have qaddafi leave the country. >>> a lot more to bring you tonight. officers said they had to shoot. why tranquilizers were not an option when dealing with the mountain lion that wandered into a redwood city backyard. >> and buried alive. the snowboarder who recorded his own terrifying fall and rescue. >> and the avalanche busters who keep tahoe's slopes safe. all that's coming up. and then on "nightline,." >> i'm terry moran. coming up next on "nightline" a stunning look at a lit knee of violations at american nuclear plants.

syria is a linchpin of the so- called resistance alliance, close allies with iran and hezbollah. but in recent years, the president has been courted by western countries and seen as a key to peace or war in the middle east. many syrians like president assad, but he seems to be calculating that strength, concessions, will get him through. -- strength, not concessions, will get him through. >> the un security council has unanimously ordered sanctions against laurent gbagbo over his refusal to hand power over to the national recognized winner of the elections last november. since then, violence and the country have increased with forces making heavy gains in recent weeks. >> this was once called the paris of west africa, but abidjan is increasingly chaotic as the presidential claimant's battle for control. it's now i know go area for the security forces. they have resorted to shelling the densely packed suburb from a distance, causing tens of civilian deaths. the tension is rising because outside the main city, laurent gbagbo is losing several hundred kilometers of territory today.

. >> we have seen flickers in the intelligence of potential al qaeda, hezbollah. >> reporter: but the president says those elements are just a small fraction of the opposition forces. >> most of them are professionals, lawyers, doctors, people who appear to be credible. that doesn't mean that all the people who -- among all the people who oppose gadhafi, there might not be elements that are unfriendly to the united states and our interests. >> reporter: counterattacks forced the rebels to retreat in at least two libyan towns. clearly demonstrating their weakness without allied support. fresh from london, secretary of state clinton will be on capitol hill this morning to give a closed-door briefing to lawmakers there. many of whom still want answers to what's the administration's end game in libya. betty? >> a lot of people want those answers. joel brown in washington, thank you, joel. >>> this morning, secretary of state clinton and other administration officials will brief congressional leaders on the situation in libya. president obama hopes the libyan leader will step down soon, an

we seen hezbollah take the prime minister of lebanon, which is approximately for iran. in terms of counterterrorism, there's cairn libya if it goes into a civil war could become a failed state. looks a lot like somalia then where there's an al qaeda affiliate. we're also worried islammists could hijack some of the democratic transitions in places like egypt. finally that 14-1 vote on the security council protecting israel from a resolution criticizing settlements is a pretty good indicator it's going to be a pretty lonely fight protecting israel right now because these governments become more democratic and they will give voice to the arab street that's anti-israel in terms of settlements and its occupation of the west bank. >> you know, there are so many things that are problematic, especially the spike in oil that you talk about that seems like there will be no re -- reprieve, but isn't there for the long game an advantage of these democratic the movements over time? >> i think that's right. we all feel this sort of kinship, you can't help to be kind of proud and hope

. >> we have seen flickers in the intelligence about potential al qaeda, hezbollah. we have seen different things. >> reporter: in fact, a 2007 west point study looked at foreign fighters who fought against the u.s. in iraq. 19% of them were from libya -- >> reporter: in the movie, a cia agent uses a final to explain. >> a little boy. his 14th birthday gets a horse. everybody says, how wonderful. the boy got a horse. the zen master says, we'll see. two years later, he falls off his horse, breaks his leg. everybody in the village says, how terrible. the zen master says, we'll see. then war breaks out. all the young men have to go off and fight. but the young boy can't, because his leg is messed up. everybody says, how wonderful. >> and the zen master says, we'll see. >> reporter: the president has not yet made a decision about arming the rebels. >> thank you, jake tapper. at a crossroads. >>> the president delivered a speech about energy independence today. the goal, cutting u.s. oil imports by one third over the next few years. who stands to gain from that? tonight,

air missiles when arsenals were looted nato intelligence reports claim flickers of al qaida and hezbollah have been found among the rebels in libya but maintained there is no reason to believe their presence is significant but a u.s. military study three years ago said levy is made up the second largest group of jihadists in the world right after saudi arabia all of that seems to be discarded as the u.s. is trying to prop up the opposition in libya as some analysts say in an attempt to forge a relationship with them that would be favorable for the united states in the future but experts say as of now the opposition in libya hardly has a defined face or power these people. will not be able to take control over the situation as soon as the current regime. goes off and that means that somebody else will be. tempted to take over the country and we know that the only will organize. the world force in the region not in the country but in the region is unfortunately i was. some say arming the rebels could backfire we've been in this situation in afghanistan one day we help people and the next da

thousands of joined a rally in the lebanese capital beirut to protest the weapons arsenal held by hezbollah fundamentalists the crowds the supporters about going prime minister's side here really who stepped down last month after his unity government collapse has been largely its allies pulled out of the cabinet over a un back tribunal which is likely to implicate its members in the killing of the country. in two thousand and five. fourteen people have died in a two a bus accident in new york with another ten seriously injured the coach was carrying at least thirty one passengers and it flipped over slid on its side and hit a pole pole sliced the bus in half terry the roof top of the vehicle the driver told investigators he swerved to avoid a tractor trailer which sped away with bus returning from a casino outside the city. you're watching r t from moscow with me kevin o. in thanks for being with us today we will of course keep you updated with the latest news coming out of japan for the evening and you can also find the latest online on our website and our team dot com the next headline up

relationship with lebanon a country which still has yet to form a government following syria's ally hezbollah are sort of bringing down the previous one and of course has links with iraq to i'm interested in what i've heard from various commentators about the role the saudis and the jordanians that had in putting pressure on the americans. sort of back off syria and syria usually is an easy punch bag for the american administration has always been quite happy to have a go at the state's actions and its lack of democracy and freedoms but it is quite interesting that actually see the americans almost defending bashar assad as a reformer today i think which is a reflection of how incredibly dynamic and fluid the situation is in the middle east at present and that was a james a writer on middle east politics and security issues. but there's a markedly somber atmosphere on moscow's metro this tuesday it's exactly a year after it was rocked by two terror attacks thirty eight commuters were killed many others injured when two female suicide bombers blew themselves up in two stations during the morni

relationship with lebanon a country which still has yet to form a government following syria's ally hezbollah sort of bringing down the previous one and of course has links with iraq to i i'm interested in what i've heard from various commentators about the role the saudis and the jordanians have had in print pressure on the americans to sort of back off syria and syria usually isn't easy punchbag the american administration has always been quite happy to have a go at the state's actions and its lack of democracy and freedoms but it is quite interesting actually said americans almost offending bashar assad as a reformer today i think which is a reflection of how incredibly dynamic and fluid the situation is in the middle east at present and i was james that our rice on middle east politics and security issues we've got the latest from libya around the clock on air and online check our regular updates from our correspondents on the spot on our twenty three now and our facebook page also find all the latest videos on our huge huge challenge. muscovites traveling. to the devastation of. that's w

air missiles when arsenals were looted nato intelligence reports claim flickers of al qaida and hezbollah has been found among the rebels in libya but maintained there is no reason to believe their presence is significant but a u.s. military study three years ago said lidia's made up the second largest group of jihadists in the world right after saudi arabia all of that seems to be discarded as the u.s. is trying to prop up the opposition in libya as some analysts say in an attempt to forge a relationship with them that would be favorable for the united states in the future but experts say arming the rebels could backfire we've been in this situation in afghanistan one day we help people and the next day they shoot at us in afghanistan back in the eighty's the u.s. had a narrow goal to help them fight soviet troops subsequently the same militants turned their weapons and training against the u.s. . among those of them was osama bin ladin whose group eventual evolved into al qaida. and what we've seen were a tribal society. you know interests. and leading to. some construction of. over two

the government is keeping international media out, even so reports have surfaced that hezbollah may be taking part of the crack down. >>> anti nuclear greens gaining power. in an upset vote today conservatives lost the office of premier in their rich industrial state of budenburg. conservatives had held power there for 68 years straight. the green party call it a turning point. and both parties can see that japan's nuclear plant -- caused the change. >>> thousands of families had to leave their homes as a precaution. that fire was still burning late tonight. no one was hurt. >>> we're following developing news tonight out of southern california where two men drowned when a sailboat carrying three people capsized and sank in san diego bay. their 35-foot boat flipped over for unknown reasons around 5:00 p.m. sending all 10 people into the water. harbor police pulled everyone from the water and took them to a boat dock where dozens of firefighters and paramedics were waiting. the two men in their 50s and 60s died at the scene. the other eight people were taken to the hospital with minor t

news making headlines and that is the last rally of the lebanese capital beirut to the disarming of hezbollah fundamentalists the ground supporters of the prime minister. said down after his unity government talents. and its allies pulled out of the town but it's a u.n. tribunal which is likely to implicate its members in the two thousand and five killing of how we respond when the us premiere. but horrific. has claimed the lives of fifteen people and seriously injured another ten was carrying at least thirty one passengers when it flipped over slid on its side and had a pole pole slice the bass in home along the windows terrible roof top of the vehicle with a driver told investigators he swerved to avoid a tractor trailer where this is claimed the blast traveling at high speeds the vehicle was returning from a casino outside the city. what single thing in mind from moscow gets out in the bad light in just a few moments say without. brown or do. we hear it because our petri outs that. god promised them this millinery long stuff. will if they are still going to be thinking that. goal chosen pe

in iran we have moved to the hezbollah ackyix. the union should never have supported a government with hezbollah. with hezbollah in control, what is the justification for continued u.s. taxpayer investments? in egypt and elsewhere successive u.s. administrations failed to move beyond the status quo and prepare for the future. we should not associate the protests in jordan and bahrain with events transpiring in tripoli, cairo, and beirut. there is one constant. we have failed to build strong accountable institutions to protect human rights. this administration's decision to cut support from pro-democracy civil groups and to only fund groups precleared with the mubarak government is a mistake that we must never repeat. then there is the mistake of the bush administration and continued under the current administration to conduct business as usual with the libyan regime following the lifting of u.n. security sanctions sanctions that imposed that included lives -- which included taking the live of two people. madam secretary, i have a

relationship with lebanon a country which still has yet to form a government following syria's ally hezbollah are sort of bringing down the previous one and of course has links with iraq to interested in what i've heard from various commentators about the role the saudis and the jordanians have had in print pressure on the americans to sort of back off syria and syria usually is an easy punch bag for the american administration has always been quite happy to have a go at the states actions and it's a lack of democracy and freedoms but it is quite interesting that she said the americans almost defending the shar asset as a reformer today i think which is a reflection of how incredibly dynamic and fluid the situation is in the middle east at present. well that was james then a slower rise from middle east classics on security issues. are russia's most wanted man may have been killed in an anti terror operation in the north caucuses local model of is thought to have most aligned at times almost you don't get out of apples on the city's metro or commemorating the one year anniversary of the missi

relationship with lebanon a country which still has yet to form a government following syria's ally hezbollah are sort of bringing down the previous one and of course has links with iraq to i'm interested in what i've heard from various commentators about the role the saudis and the jordanians have had increased pressure on the americans to sort of back off seventy syria usually is an easy punch back for the american administration has always been quite happy to have a go at the state's actions and it's a lack of democracy and freedoms but it is quite interesting that she said americans almost defending bashar assad as a reformer today i think which is a reflection of how incredibly dynamic and fluid the situation is in the middle east at present. but that was not james jones like a writer on middle east politics on for security features. for many muscovites traveling on the metro today likely to think back to the devastating events of exactly one year ago when dozens of commuters were killed and many others injured by a pair of a female suicide bombers targeting two stations in the morning r