. >>> let's talk to malcolm webb. the summit opened about an hour ago. what's been happening? >> that's right. the heads of state are talking now. they are in the round auditorium you can see just behind me. what we are expecting to get out of this we don't know yet but there has been a lot of talk about request from the eu that heads of state be given immunity from trial at the international criminal court. whether it's possible for the icc to do that, it may be illegal for them to grant that. the trials of kenya's president and deputy president who are facing charges in the hague for insighting violence, they are just trying to evade court and gain impunity. kenya's democratically elected leaders need the time or space to govern. they're saying that they just want their leaders to be able to rule in peace. >> so if there is a vote, that grants the heads -- sitting heads of state immunity, what do they need to do and how would the decision actually be enforced? >> the african union wouldn't actually have the power to give heads of state immunity but they could put out a state

malcolm webb was with the congolese soldiers for the final assault in this exclusive report. day breaks. it's time to fight. a volley of rockets fired at the m23 rebels boosts moral. the congolese soldiers have a long way to go. the rebel fighters still hold a 20km stretch of road surrounded by hills and bush. at the end lies the last rebel stronghold - the town of bunagana. it's on the border and uganda. >> i'm just cleaning my gun, because i want to fight m23. m23 are not strong. our mission is to chase them over the border. >> they don't know what resistance they'll find on the way. but they soon find out. some are terrified. most just keep moving forward. between fire-fights. they are well received in the villages. beatrice things things are about to get better. >> if the government takes back bunagana, all the rely tifs who are refugees can come back. under m23 it was tough. >> it's time to resupply. the confidence grows. then another gun battle. again, the rebels flee. they were trying to defend this bridge. then they tried to burn it to stop tanks from passing. but the

malcolm webb reports. >> walter can no longer talk or barely eat. he's 12 years ago out but his body is stunted. he has knotting syndrome fount in certain areas of east africa. here thousands of children have it, and there's no cure and eventually it kill i had. his sister grace has it, too. most of the time she's too weak to come out of the hut. the parents don't know what to do. >> translator: it's very difficult to look at these two children. as a mother it's unbearable. i hope for any kind of support from any well w-wishewell-wishe. without that i feel useless and think they can eventually die. >> reporter: a few kilometers away it's a different scene. these children came to the special day for a year, and the improvement in their health is astounding. they're given basic education, balanced meals and the staff help them to wash every day. >> those that are not talking, now they can talk. we have some of them here. you can see them. those who could not play, they're now jumping, kicking. they were having no smiles on their paces, and now they la

malcolm webb was with the army for the final result. here is his exclusive report. >> day breaks.t's time to fight. >> a volley of rockets fired at the m23 rebels boosts more article. >> the congolese soldiers have a lopping way to go -- a long way to go. the rebel fighters hold a 20km stretch of the road surrounded by hills and bush. at the end holds the last rebel stronghold, bunagana. on the boarder. >> translation: i'm cleaning my gun. i'm fighting m23. they are not strong. >> they didn't know what resistance they'll find on the way. they soon find out. some are terrified. most just keep moving forward. between firefights they are well received in the villages. this woman things things will get better. >> translation: if the government takes back bunagana, all our relatives who are refugees in uganda can come back. under m23 it was tough. >> it's time to resupply. confidence grows. then another gun battle. again the rebels flee. they were trying to defend this bridge. they tried to burn it to stop tanks from passing. but the strategy failed. the advance gathers momentum. on th

malcolm webb al jazeera at the african union. >>> a truck that' has plunged oe road in peru killing 50eople. the vehicle was driving through the andes when it slipped falling 300 meters into a ravine. the victims were all indigenous people. the rescue workers say it was impossible for anyone to have survived the crash. >>> iin chile fighting has brokn out in a land rights protest. thousands marched to the capital of santiago demappeddinmapped dn of their a an an ancestorial la. >>> in mexico where people are struggling to find a house they can afford to buy. they will have to put up a million and a half homes in the coming years. but many that are being built are already standing empty. >> these homes were supposed to be a dream come true for millions of mexicans. hardworking men and women who struggled for years to find affordable housing. like silvia martinez and her husband who moved there several years ago. after they bought their home thanks to low interest mortgages financed by the government, their dream of home ownership turned into a nightmare. there is no public transportatio

malcolm webb in northern uganda. >> the second part will be on tuesday and we will visit u.s.enter for disease control to find out if a hope for a cure is implement and go to al jazeera.com and al jazeera. >> ali: fed wofederal workers ak on the job but millions of americans are looking for work. america's working poor. >> they are highly educated but struggling to make ends meet. >> plus craft brewers are looking at ways to make money. i'm ali veshi and this is "real money." >> welcome to "real

malcolm webb, malcolm, they're still ausing the icc of targeting african leaders. but now the focus is on the sitting leaders. what can we expect to come out of the summit? >> well, first you have to bear in mind central to this meeting are the trials that have been faced by the kenyan president and deputy president. they've both been charged with inciting violence. and the deputy president's trial has already started. his trial is meant to start one month from now. so outcome from here cannot legally change that situation. any message from here would be political rather than legal in terms of pushing for any kind of immunity. countries here can reach a consensus. they could put out a statement asking the u.n. security council but they can be deferred after certain conditions and can only be deferred one year after time. >> what about those who are not so critical of the icc. what arguments have they been making in the last couple of days. >> the countries that have been mostly against the people who are--let's just be clear. kenya has been critical of the icc, tho

and our correspondent malcolm webb is live where this meeting is taking place. what is the likelihood of the african union coming out and saying look the icc we had enough, we are putting out? >> well, we are yet to find out the meeting has just started. foreign ministers are here today and they will be deciding what presidents are going to sign tomorrow. several countries that are allied to kenya and kenya's neighbors have been critical of the international criminal court in resent weeks and the meeting was started with an opening statement from the ethiopian minister and said the international criminal courts have been treating africa and africans unfairly and in a condescending manner and they seem lesson the side of the idea of pulling out of the icc or even condemning the icc at all and the african union has to reach consensus to make a statement so what is agreed today will decide on whether or not they can make any move from here. >> reporter: consensus could mean general agreement and what is the actual position, do we have to see a simple majority of th

malcolm webb is with the government soldiers. >> just a couple of days ago, this tank was in the hands of the rebels, then it got hit by a shell from the government side. it's completely burned. you can see the munitions that were stored here have all blown up and it smells very strongly of soot. inside the hatch can you see the remains of the people who were operating it, but too strong for us to show. since then, moved another five kilometers in that direction. still a distance down the road there's a very genuine land mood in this village. the children are singing and shouting the name mamadu, he is the colonel who has been led to these games. and we find colonel mamadu himself. >> still under the domination of the rebels. they continue to threaten the government and we are going odefeat them. >> morale here is very high. the soldiers are in very good spirits because they have had a string of victories against m-23 rebels. this house used to be occupied by the rebel general. the rebels have been pushed back to the borders of r ra ra rwandd uganda. >> hundreds of people in sudan's di

malcolm webb - al jazeera - in the democratic republic of congo. >> we move on to syria, and a damascusuburb that has been under siege by government forces since january has been evacuated after the red cross mediated a deal. there's fears the safe passage organised from the suburb may be an attempt to buy president assad's forces to control territory around damascus. imran khan has more on the story. >> this is a rare moment of relief and cooperation between regime force, rebel groups and aid workers. 1800 syrians have been trapped in a suburb and were allowed to leave during a ceasefire. priority has been given to the sick, elderly and children. officials say the civilians were taken to temporary shelters. the parties cooperated well. >> we received calls from inside and from the people - from inhabitants outside. they said they would prefer to go out because it's not only a matter of eating, but also it's a matter, you know, of security. so we began to negotiate on this basis. and the good thing in this initiative is that everybody is a partner. >> the government is eager to show tha

of state and kenya's president and kinyetta is leading the campaign to withdraw from icc and, malcolm webb us now and it's a quite controversial issue, the withdraw from icc and they said yesterday that the african leaders are effectively asking for a license to kill. how strong is the opposition within the organization to withdraw from the icc? >> so far there is only a handful of countries that are advocating for withdrawing and some are saying they don't need to take such a strong measure and others in nigeria said they don't have an issue with the icc. south africa which is one of the biggest players on the continent has not decided and will decide at the end of this. and they have to get the agreement of all of their members and even then that would not actually have any legal bearing on the members or on the existing cases against african rebels and leaders and other people who have been indicted by the court. >> reporter: is there anything else on the agenda in the next two days or is it simply about the icc? >> they are electing a new person, a new representative for their security

malcolm webb explains why. >> reporter: walter can no longer talk, and he can barely eat. he's 12 years old, but the growth of his body and brain are completely stunted. he has nodding syndrome obl found in certain areas of east africa. here in northern uganda thousands of children have it. there's no cure, and eventually it kills. his sister grace has it, too. most of the time she's too weak to come out of the hut. the parents don't know what to do. >> translator: it's very difficult to look at these two children. as hey mother, it's unbearable. i hope for any kind of support from any well-wisher. with that fact, i feel useless and eventually i think they will die. >> reporter: just a few kilomeres today is a completely different scene. these children also suffer from nodding syndrome, but they come to this special center every day for a year. the improvements in their health is astounding. they're given basic education, balanced meals and the staff help them to wash every day. >> those not talking can now talk. we have some of them here. you can see them. those who could

malcolm webb, aljazeera in the democratic republica re. of congo. >> joining us is a political science professor and expert on the d.n.c. from columbia university's bernard college. a lot of people suggest that the world has blood on its hands when it comes to the congo, livingston and the belgium and the practice of slaves hands cut off. are we finally now starting to see an end to that bloody era in the d.r.c. >> i wish, but i'm afraid we are not. there is still as you can see in the reporting, there is still a lot of violence continuing and very, very little done to end the violence right now. >> this is often referred to as the forgotten conflict, 5 million people killed since 1998, millions before that. why is it forgotten? why did the world not pay attention? >> it's very differ to answer that question. as you say, it is one of the deadliest conflicts since world war ii, if not the deadliest conflict. it is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. it has destabilized africa for 20 years. the conflict rarely makes the headlines.