libya was desperately pleading for u.s.attention back then, for aid to get itself together to be able to, you know, to stand on its own feet. this was before the discovery of oil. and the u.s. kind of took a, well, you know, you're really not as important as egypt, for example, and, you know, we'll think about it. and the result was that the prime minister at the time, you know, basically devised a plan to court the soviets and see if he could grab the united states' attention. and that happened. the next, you know, major event was the libya's and gadhafi's successful bid to change drastically the way that oil pricing was conducted by squeezing the independent oil companies -- occidental petroleum first and foremost -- into changing the system whereby there would be a 50/50 split and, basically, controlling interests by u.s. companies in libyan oil. and the consequence of that has come through to this day in terms of increasing the power of, the economic power of the gulf states, available b ya in particular. -- saudi arabi

prime minister david cameron defines warnings of an eminent threat g u k interests and travels to libya where he has pledged to help train the countries that stretched security forces. you're watching r t a live from moscow with me say first. the frozen video footage apparently showing israeli planes. bombing syria's military research facility has appeared on the internet the video was uploaded to the web by activists who are thought to be from a district close to the target and shows bright flashes in the night sky loud bangs were heard at the site shortly after midnight on wednesday tell of these days correspondent has more. now we are hearing from syria that israel did launch a military strike inside their country israel has not commented neither confirming nor denying these reports the syrian ambassador to lebanon did say that it was not clear when ever tell you would happen and that it was up to the powers that be to decide on such decisive action but he did say that it was an option and that it was and would be a surprise now the iranian foreign minister has also stated that this

ambassador to libya. i had the honor to serve as the envoy to the libyan revolution and i was thrilled to watch the libyan people stand up and demand their rights. now i'm excited to return to libya to continue the great work we've started, building a solid partnership between the united states and libya to help you the libyan people achieve your goals. right now i'm in washington, preparing for my assignment. as i walk around the monuments and memorials commemorating the courageous men and women that made america what it is, i'm reminded we too went through challenging periods, when america was divided by a bitter civil war 150 years ago. president abraham lincoln had the vision to pull us together toward a shared goal of peace and prosperity. growing up in california i didn't know much about the arab world. then after graduating from the university of california at berkeley, i traveled to north africa as peace corps engineer. i worked as an english teacher in morocco two years and quickly grew to love t

with regard to the situation in libya, not just eastern libya, across libya, there were a number of conversations and meetings to try to see what we could while libya went through the transition from transitional government to elections to get in there and help them with security. because it was clear that that was going to be one of their highest needs once they finally got stabilized. so, you know, there were a number of meetings and i personally -- i went to libya in october of 2011. i spoke with the then leadership. i met with them in international settings. we sent teams out both civilian and military experts to try to help them. until recently, while they were going through their transitions, it was a very difficult conversation because they didn't have the authority they thought. now we're beginning and we have a long list of ways we're trying to help improve security in libya. >> for example, the october 2011 meeting, at that meeting, did this issue come up with regards to the inability of the libyan government to protect our diplomatic institutions, did that issue come up at all? >> we o

the american ambassador to libya post zama reid was killed he was identified by people all over libya for a long time as being one of the cia's point people in libya and one of those most responsible for the american intervention there the fact that this country free which was bombed for eight months by nato by the u.s. and its allies with thousands of people dying many homes on the infrastructure that was built up in the last forty years being devastated in the form of the people shouldn't surprise anyone that it would be people that were angry over that that might want to kill those they identified as being responsible yet the entire presentation here and over the last couple of weeks has been something quite different clinton avoided the actual testimony and so everyone else that testified which is what any witness wants to do because then you can't be contradicted by any subsequent testimony and at this point in time she's leaving with glasses we were reminded several times that are a consequence of the brain injury she suffered that didn't allow her to testify and now she's being

a terror attack alarm in libya's second largest city three european governments call for the immediate evacuation of their citizens amid fears the city could be ripped apart by terror attacks soon more on that in a few minutes. career is warning of war saying it will attack south korea if its neighbor takes part in fresh u.n. sanctions eltham eighteen months a third day of fairy rhetoric with pyongyang previously involving more nuclear and ballistic tests james corbet editor of a japan based news website says the region is on the brink. joining it is an absolute wildcard in this whole situation and it really is just an irrational actor in the whole scene there it's been years now of carrots and sticks and neither of them seem to have any effect there seems to be periods of relative quiet and then periods of panic and threats and violence threats of violence and so far that it's failed to materialize into into very much on the korean peninsula but of course it's always possible that some sort of some incident could come out of this i don't think anyone even the north koreans really want

to his commitment to a new and better libya. benghazi in a real sense, as you have heard today, became his city. as it is with a deep sense of fate that in benghazi he and his colleagues gave that last full measure for his country and his many friends in the city where he died, continuing to defend and prosper their hopes and their aspirations for the future. many have commented since on chris's salient commitment to the people of benghazi. john thorn writing in the christian science monitor noted that when he passed in the street, the young men would call out, hello, chris. they knew his face. would laugh and say hello always. this is the right way to deal with our people, he said. libyan friends said he was always ready to put his country first. he shone by being himself, interested in the lives of ordinary people. his death was met with shock and sadness in libya. feelings with regard to americans that are rare in that part of the world these days. for me that judgment captures key characteristics of chris and his approach to

interest and travels to libya where he has pledged to help train the countries that stretched security forces. you're watching r t a live from moscow with me say first the frozen video footage apparently showing israeli planes bombing syria's military research facility has appeared on the internet the video was uploaded to the web by activists who are thought to be from a district close to the target and shows bright flashes in the night sky loud bangs were heard at the site shortly after midnight on wednesday television correspondent has more. now we are hearing from syria that israel did launch a military strike inside their country israel has not commented neither confirming nor denying these reports the syrian ambassador to lebanon did say that it was not clear when ever tell you would happen and that it was up to the powers that be to decide on such decisive action but he did say that it was an option and that it was and would be a surprise now the iranian deputy foreign minister has also stated that this israeli attack has serious implications for the israeli city of tel aviv and

westerners are planned in response to the french intervention in mali and the west past actions in libya are increasingly blamed for the escalating north african crisis. barack obama kicks off his second term in office with promises to back the mocker see across the globe sparking concerns america's intervention policies are not likely to change during his coming years in office and. his role goes to the polls in parliamentary elections but a lack of viable competition and a widespread feeling known yahoo is set for reelection as left to marry voters disenchanted with the system. this is r t live from moscow with. al qaeda linked militants acclaim to be behind the deadly hostage taking in algeria are promising more attacks on westerners in response to french intervention in mali at least thirty seven foreign nationals including french british and americans were killed during the terrorist siege of the gas plant that was stormed by a jury in forces at the weekend many of the militants reportedly came from another african state libya using chorus provided to rebels there by foreign sponsor

africa's security analyst rudy atalla says the jihadist has worked in libya, mauritania, libya and malimarried a daughter of the timbuktu. he named his son osama. >> he's operated in that space very comfortably and he knows how to make himself disappear. >> he says his involvement with the algerian hostage situation is just another reason that counterterrorism units around the world need to take notice. >> he's got the potential to go to the next level, which is, you know, not only just taking hostages, but if cornered, he's probably prepared to fight. >> "outfront" next, the president has made gun control a priority in his second term. but fewer than half of americans approve of what he's doing. here is the bottom line. is the nra winning the gun debate? >>> plus doctors racing to save the vision of a man attacked a acid. police investigating whether his work with the ballet is the reason for the horrific attack. ♪ [ male announcer ] don't just reject convention. drown it out. introducing the all-new 2013 lexus ls f sport. an entirely new pursuit. introducing the all-new 2013 lexus ls

called al qaeda and libya profile that outlinedback quarterback's growing presence if libya particularly east libya where benghazi is located. something especially alarming was the mention that al qaeda groups in libya have adopted the black flag which symbolizes commitment to violent jihad promoted by jakarr al qaeda. i hold a picture of the picture identified to be prominent issuing of this flag in libya. a hold a picture of the same type of flag in tunisia where the protesters were outside the embassy. i have a flag in cairo where demonstrations took place at the embassy. another picture in jordan of the united states embassy where protests took place. in bahrain over 2,000 protesters burned numerous united states and israeliing ins. again, at embassy. in kuwait, embassy 500 demonstrators chaned "obama we are osama bin laden." the flag again and fineally in libya, the flag was blown and carried through the streets this, as well. my question, madam secretary, were you aware of the d.o.d. report prior to the terrorist attack in benghazi? >> i was certainly aware of a number of reports f

chris, it is a great loss for libya.e lost him as a friend and man that understands the history of the people of libya before and after. chris, he built the bridge between libya and the united states. a bridge of love, of hope. we never believed one day we would be able to raise against this dictatorship. i knew chris after he came back. i knew chris more. he would come to the house and we play tennis. after the tennis we come back home and have libyan breakfast. he is a man of principles and he is serious. i agree he never speaks about himself, what achievement he made. he is a guy when you look for him again. this is kind of different element but one time he told me story when he was serving in tripoli and then in benghazi. he walked on the street of benghazi and looked over his back and saw two people following. whereever he goes they follow him. hen he stop and he went up to them and he said hello, how are you. yeah, they speak with him. they invite for coffee. these people of course are service. maybe not to protect

westerners are planned in response to the french intervention in mali as the west's past actions in libya are increasingly blamed for the escalating north african crisis. we use most powerful do wet celebrate their friendship but the show of unity looks likely to stumble over widening divisions between the two. israelis choose their next parliament amid widespread apathy over prime minister netanyahu like the real action we take in i'm not dual unusual i should say look at one of the most contentious campaign issues the expansion of settlements into palestinian territory. plus brock obama kicks off his second term in office with promises to back them on for see across the globe sparking concerns america's intervention policies are not likely to change during the next four years. it's three pm here in moscow this is r.t. live with me and he said now way our top story this hour kind of linked militants who claim to be behind the deadly hostage taking in algeria are promising more attacks on westerners in response to french intervention in mali at least thirty seven foreign nationalist inclu

the these death squads effectively in libya the flow of weapons and fighters. across the region which was again playing into the program of the west to destabilize the region and they ended up in northern mali the hope was that after libya algeria would forward this destabilization spread to algeria and this hasn't happened the rebels have made their base in northern mali and now what we've seen in recent weeks is that the insurgency is starting to spread south into southern mali so france and britain think no no no this is not the idea at all so now they're bombing mali to try and bomb the rebels back into it but i think what we're seeing with the attack the hostage taking as actually played into the west's hands on this is creating good propaganda for for the west to win over the support of their own populations and saying look at these look at these terrorists we have to do away with them we have to put more effort into the war is worth it because look at the alternative look at these crazy terrorists so if this hostage taking is creating the kind of propaga

i spent a libya -- a month in libya and all i did was talk to libyans.hat was openly expressed, and i emphasize the word open because you could not be open during the regime, was the content that people had, that libyans had for ghadafi, and frankly it's a shame they have had that they allowed this guy to be their leader for so long and to cut them off from the rest of the world. as for the rest -- i do not have a personal opinion about the bombing of libya. i would instead prefer to rely on the opinions of libya's i spoke to. there can't be it, and i saw the evidence of the pierre did you do not often find an example of post-9/11 of americans engaging and a conflict overseas assisting in any sort of conflict, and this part of the world being grateful for it, but in fact they are. exhibit a was up to the tragedy involving the killing of ambassador stevens. -- was after the tragedy involving the killing of ambassador stevens. we saw the protests of many people expressing their deep disapproval that something like this had taken place. host: carroll asks -

this outlined the al qaeda presence in libya. something was especially alarming to me in this d.o.d. report was the mention that siriya and other groups have adopted the black flag promoted by al qaeda senior leaders. in my hand i hold a picture of the flag that the department of state identified to be a prominent issuance of this flag on the rise in libya. i also hold a picture of the same type of flag in tunisia where the protesters were outside the embassy there. in addition i have a flag -- picture taken in cairo at the u.s. embassy where demonstrations took place. another picture in jordan at the u.s. embassy where protests took place. in bahrain over 2000 protesters who burned numerous u.s. and israeli flags again at the embassy. in kuwait chanting obama we are all osama. the flag again. and in libya, the flag was carried through the streets there as well. my question, madam secretary, is were you aware of this d.o.d. report prior to the terrorist attack in benghazi? >> well, i was certainly aware of a number of reports fro

we did a lot for the people of the biya -- of libya, for those not ruling libya. how would you appraise their efforts to cooperate with us in the investigation? i think it would have to add minimum strain their capacity to try to wrest powerful armed elements in the eastern part of the country. i did not know if they have the will to use that capacity. can you tell us after the attack, what do you think of the libyan government? >> i think you do exactly the right description. how is it will or capacity when obviously what you need is both. i have found the libyan officials to be willing but without capacity. part of our challenge is to help them build greater capacity because now it is about them. it is not only about what happened to us in benghazi, but they are having as leaders attacked and assassinated on a regular basis. we have to do more to help them build up their security capacity. i would ask the committee to work with us. there are those whose libya as a wealthy nation, we do not need to give them any money. until they get up and going, it is in our in

by the time of the intervention, we should not forget inside libya, libya was an ally of the united states. now, it wasn't a great ally, we didn't maybe, quote, like it but it was an ally. gadhafi had given up his nuclear weapons, had given up everything that had made him a supposedly resistance hero in parts of the world and he was now allied wih the u.s., with italy, with france, with you'europe. so this notion that we had to intervention, there were threats, no doubt about it, against his population. but the idea that there was going to be an attack that was both inevitable and imminent in benghazi simply was not the case. >> well, i think it's contested intensely now. >> exactly. >> and i think one of the reasons i think it's important to kind of -- it may seem weird, why are we relitigating libyan intervention. >> because of the impact. >> and because of the first time around it never got litigated, right? and what happened -- and what's weird about the whole benghazi issue to me, this is kienlds nd weird, it's a way of talking about the libyan intervention now after the fact because

with the very weaponry they took out of libya.very shoulder-fired missiles that they took out of the inventory in libya. now they are in algeria. just made an attack on a gas facility. so yes, we are trying to push the information out to american public, as to who really it was behind this attack. i think we have succeeded in debunking that thesis that this had something to do with the video. >> bret: all right. i want to play one more clip. for context here and get your reaction from today and looking back. >> you briefed the president. did you tell him that? or did you tell him which admiral mullen suggests you knew by then that this was a well-planned and executed terrorist attack? which was the president told? >> well, first of all, i said the very next morning that it was an attack by ally armed militants -- by heavily armed militants. the president said that morning the act of terror. >> no act of terror will shake the resolve of the great nation, alter the character or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for. >> m

nato operation in libya since february twentieth eleven but libya was sandwiched by the regime change in tunisia in egypt on the one hand and that created facilitator the nato operation because gadhafi was isolated with the fall of libya and let's be very clear it's all on record in the mainstream jamestown foundation sources have said that the twenty six who fled after the fall of gadhafi you fought a lot who worked for the n.p.c. french intelligence told them to go to northern mali and destabilize mali and the coup leader in mali who overthrew the civilian government it's on record again on the jamestown foundation website that he was trained by the u.s. and french intelligence services and so not only was my money destabilized and what with terror these courts and so-called your hobbies they're not your hobby if your heart is an honorable obligation to fight against oppression these are death squads who targeted the heritage of mali and the margin people and then nato have wanted these people to actually to draw in our jewry and so this is what's happened and this is a direct conse

well i think libya is actually quite a spectacular exception because oil is very important to libya i mean oil output is actually returning to crease of all war level so libya economically speaking is doing much better than the rest of the region and also the western powers that you talk about didn't necessarily for certain businesses and contracts to be signed with. their respective countries actually it's more welcoming of an inclusiveness of the west you know libya hadn't seen that openness to the rest of the world until now i mean the other month cinnabon a desert shot opened up in libya and everyone loved it so it's a completely new wave of working and i think things are looking up for libya i was looking out for libya but i want to see how the rest of the region pans out for the holy middle east economist analyst and journalist a great pleasure to have you on our to today thank you thanks. let's get into now the r.t. world of able get you some global news in brief and now the u.k. is house of lords is set to back a motion to transfer powers to hold a referendum on independence t

using arms provided to rebels there by foreign sponsors during the revolution two years ago libya has been in disarray since the western backed toppling of the gadhafi regime resulting in a security vacuum and artie's probably boyko explains the recent surge of violence in africa is seen as a result of western states previous involvement in the region's. very very. you wanted peace you wanted freedom you wanted economic progress france great britain europe will always stand by the libyan people. but a regional crisis probably wasn't what mr sarkozy anticipated when he was spearheading the military operation to topple moammar gadhafi although the former french president can't say that he hadn't been warned personally i play a significant role in establishing peace in those regions of africa should the situation in libya be unstable al qaida will establish its rule a lot and will return and libya will be another afghanistan terrorists will flood to europe cut to paris and almost two years later markets after his words could well be ringing in me is of need what i saw was the successor f

secu so not only did the range intervention in libya not help the democrat decision process which is what they said they were after but if actively opened up the floodgates for weapons stockpiles and sliders to leave the country and go solve a lot of this is no more to mali where the recently deployed french military where reportedly stunned by the technologically advanced weapons that are in the hands of their adversaries nobody seems to think that perhaps organized groups come from somewhere other than mali it seems they came across the nearby libyan border libya is as i say central to all this problem because all the plot of weapons have been produced by the collapse of the darfur region but also a complete failure to establish any kind of real state you have essentially all the operating in different parts of libya and you have across much of this hour a situation where people have arguments where very little civic sense so bribery and corruption order grabs is commonplace gadhafi was bitter opponent all right it was ahmed groups whatever his faults and they now have the ability

link in a chain that leads back to libya.i, the u.s. is now aiding france's fight to smash al qaeda. but militants are armed to the teeth and fighting back against french troops. >> mali is the first victim of libya because of the weapon caches that were raided and just about the inability for anyone to stop weapons flying all over. >> reporter: defense secretary leon panetta issued a warning to those running training camps. >> terrorists should be on notice. that they will find no sanctuary, no refuge, not in algeria, not in north africa, not anywhere. >> reporter: so far, this al qaeda group has been focused in africa. but counterterrorism officials are concerned that if these training camps continue to flourish, their ambitions may expand. libya is right on the southern shore of the mediterranean. and officials are concerned that militants could try for an attack in europe or european militants could come to libya, get training, and then try to carry out an attack back home. erin? >> thanks very much to chris lawrence. fra

with regard to the situation in libya, not just eastern libya, across libya, there were a number of conversationsand meetings to try to see what we could do while libya went through this transition from transitional government to interim government to election toss try to get in there and help them with security, because it was clear that that was going to be one of their highest needs once they finally got stabilized. so there were a number of meetings. and i personally, i went to libya in october of 2011. i spoke with the then leadership, i met with them in international settings. we sent teams out, both civilian and military experts to try to help them. until recently, while they were going through their transitions it was a very difficult conversation because they didn't have, you know, the authority they thought. but now we're beginning and we have a long list of ways that we're trying to help improve security in libya. >> for example the october 2011 meeting at that meeting did this issue come up with regards to the inability of the libyan government to protect our institutions. did that co

i play a significant role in establishing peace in those regions of africa should the situation in libya be on stable al qaeda will establish its rule a lot and will return and libya will be another afghanistan the terrorists will flood to europe cut to paris and almost two years later mark is out these words could well be ringing in the areas of need what i saw was the successor francois hollande having just sent troops to mali france's new leader could well be learning that every action has a reaction. secu so not only did the french intervention in libya not help the democratic process which is what they said they were after but it is that simply opened up the floodgates for weapons stockpiles and fighters to leave the country and go solve a lot of this is no more to mali where the recently deployed french military were reportedly stunned by the technologically advanced weapons that are in the hands of their adversaries nobody seems to think that perhaps organized groups come from somewhere other than mali it seems they came across the nearby libyan border libya is as i say central to

attacks on westerners land in response to the french intervention in mali the west past actions in libya are increasingly blamed for the escalating north african crisis. rock obama kicks off his second term in office with promises to back democracy across the globe sparking concerns of america's intervention policies are not likely to change during his coming years in office. and israel goes to the polls in parliamentary elections but a lack of viable competition is a widespread feeling out of the out of the set for your watch and has left many voters disenchanted with the system. this is our take on him to lie for moscow with me marina joshie. al qaeda linked militants who claim to be behind a deadly hostage taking algeria are promising more attacks on westerners in response to french intervention in mali at least thirty seven foreign nationals including french british and americans were killed during the terrorist siege of the gas plant that was stormed by gerry and forces at the weekend of carrion officials say the militants used weapons gathered in another african state libya large s

libya but as. to limit its involvement. we heard secretary of state acknowledged that the revolutions in that we can have led to the spread of extremism on the revolution she said it's a great opportunity for the united states but also a great threat to us certainly the opportunity when they made the revolution in libya happened because it was mostly due to the u.s. firepower that the rebels there were able to take over hillary clinton cheered when that happened and generally up until that tragic attack in benghazi in september in the murder of the u.s. ambassador the obama administration had libya checked as a foreign policy success what's happening in the region now of course looks anything but success we actually heard that in hillary clinton's testimony as she talked about the spread of extremism and the spread of weapons in the region and the new opening in the war on terror benghazi did not happen in a vacuum the arab revolutions have scrambled power dynamics and shattered security forces across the region instability

with regard to the situation in libya, not just eastern libya, across libya, there were a number of conversationsnd meetings to see what we could can do while libya went through this transition to try and help them with security. because it was clear that that was going to be one of their highest needs once they finally got stabilized. so there were a number of meetings and i personally went to libya in october of 2011. i spoke with the then leadership. i met with them in international settings. we took teams out, both civilian and military and tried to help them until recently while they were going through there's transitions, it was a very difficult conversation because they didn't have the authority we thought. >> for example, the october 2011 meeting, at that meeting, did this issue come up with regard to the inability of the libyan government to protect our diplomatic institutions? did that issue come up at all in that conversation? >> well, we obviously talked at great deal about the deteriorating threat environment in libya. one of the reasons we had our own people on the ground and why we