this is mubarak's chance. let ayman out of jail. let him run and run an open, free and fair election. mubarak is going to win. he's going to win with 69% of the vote. who cares that it's not 73% or 85%. but have a free and fair election, and have him campaign. and have him describe to the egyptian people what he's going to do, and we sat there for about 2.5 hours, and he said, well what about the security service? we said there's going to be

election, the first since the ouster of the hosni mubarak regime last year. egyptians are watching intensely as the election approaches. the country has never had a free and fair presidential poll. young people, who played a key pole in ousting the mubarak regime are at the forefront of efforts to spread the word about democracy. nhk world's satoro aoyama has the story. >> reporter: every day, 25-year-old lawyer mostafa sharara tells people about the elections and the candidates who will be running. >> translator: which candidate is most suited for the position of president? why do you back him? >> translator: i value his campaign pledges. >> reporter: demonstrations against the regime of president hosni mubarak erupted in january of last year.

and mubarak did go out and campaign. and after that election, the egyptian press was saying, egypt will never be the sail. be the same. so we said, great job. you're on the road. go to the parliamentary elections, and the first round of the parliamentary elections occur and the brotherhood, not surprisingly, since mubarak had destroyed the center, and the muslim brotherhood was the only vehicle for expressing dissent left, the muslim brotherhood started to do well and mubarak got scared, and in the second part of that parliamentary election, they crashed down with a vengeance. and at that point our effort to get mubarak to preside over a transition ended. it's not that we didn't keep talking about freedom and democracy, that the president didn't keep making the cause with mubarak, but we got, you know, in spades what dennis talked about. you don't understand our people. we tried your experiment, and it blew up in our face. it's a hard business, and, you know, one of the challenges for the obama administration is for thos

young people, who played a key pole in ousting the mubarak regime are at the forefront of efforts to spread the word about democracy. nhk world's satoro aoyama has the story. >> reporter: every day, 25-year-old lawyer mostafa sharara tells people about the elections and the candidates who will be running. >> translator: which candidate is most suited for the position of president? why do you back him? >> translator: i value his campaign pledges. >> reporter: demonstrations against the regime of president hosni mubarak erupted in january of last year. over the following month there were fierce clashes with security forces, and many casualties. every day, sharara joined in demonstrations in tahrir square in the heart of cairo. now he works to support the victims of the harsh government crackdown during the upheaval. over a year after the mubarak regime was ousted, bereaved families are still contacting sharara to find out how they can claim compensation. >> translator: so you can see the wound in the back of his body where he was shot by the security forces. >> reporter: one of sharara

the first since the ouster of the hosni mubarak regime last year. the country has never had a free and fair presidential poll. now young people who played a key role in ousting the mubarak regime are at the forefront of efforts to spread the word about democracy. nhk world has the story. >> reporter: every day, 25-year-old lawyer mustafa, hits the streets. he's the leader of a volunteer group formed last year to tell people about the elections and the candidates who will be running. >> translator: which candidate is most suited for the position of president? why do you back him? >> translator: i value his campaign pledges. >> reporter: demonstrations against the regime of president hosni mubarak erupted in january of last year. over the following month, there were fierce clashes with security forces and many casualties. every day, he joined in the demonstrations in tahrir square. in the heart of cairo. now he works to support the victims of the harsh government crackdown during the upheaval. after a year after the mubarak regime was ousted, families

mubarak. we will never settle for remnants of his regime. >> protesters targeted omar suleiman's connection with israel. for years, he was the middleman in negotiations between israel and egypt. the fear from the moslem brotherhood is that omar suleiman's candidacy is part of an attempt by remnants of the regime to cling onto power. >> mubarak has decided to step down -- >> omar suleiman was made vice president and the dying days of mubarak possible. he appeared on television to announce mubarak's departure from power. this is the latest sign of a growing confrontation between islamists of the muslim brotherhood and the ruling military council. the brotherhood are putting down a marker, this is what is going to happen if omar suleiman wins the election. this is just the beginning. today's demonstration comes six weeks before the first round of the presidential elections. the battle for power is just beginning to heat up. egypt could face a turbulent summer. >> unrest continuing in egypt. norwa

each day the never ending noise of trial here accompanies the work of touch mubarak the.shop is situated close to the restless square. aside from his other activities young revolutionary khaled is the presenter of an analytical talk show on a local channel it just so happens the book about exposure shop is the closest place where can i have his head trimmed before going on. one of the revolutionary youths. one of the ones from talking to square. and i like you guys you are the best generation in egypt getting nothing was happening in egypt before . a few minutes later the conversation predictably drifts to the march of the last few football club fans the ultras came from another place they came from the streets where the palace of the nile stands tonight yes indeed i swear to god it was going to real heroes. that missed the paralyzing the traffic in central cairo for several hours the marches from the football club well you reach that destination justice palace ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah the

i think what he ness didn't feel like this nearly as often under mubarak.i mean i think that all this is simply a means for the end. mohammed bouazizi self-immolation interim izzy's sidi bouzid took place eighteen months ago since then the economic situation in the town where the chinese ian revolution started has taken a turn for the worst. the young vendor was driven to despair by joblessness unemployment rates have gone up but local use of found a way to spend all their free time almost every wall is covered in graffiti. we do have liberties but otherwise. i see no changes. people are free to talk with the many journalists who come here. there is no pressure from the government or the police stop it if you look but during the revolution people were more united with his death and they are now at. a he's an ease with some of the first local bloggers to post news of the young vendor setting himself on fire you tube and facebook spread reports of the horrifying act far beyond his hometown the gymnasium revolution was the first arab internet kook i he's an is

among them, the last prime minister under hosni mubarak.nly two days ago, he had been barred from standing. he is seen as one of the top contenders for next month's vote and can expect support from secular voters, as can the man who served as foreign minister under mubarak. both have ties to the military and the ousted mubarak regime, which are seen as a handicap. on the other side is the rival islamist camp. another candidate being watched is the former member of the muslim brotherhood who was expelled from the crew. he also appeals to secular supporters. both are seen as moderates but are vying for votes from the more radical solophists. their candidate was disqualified because his mother has a u.s. passport. so far, the race for the presidential palace looks open. egyptians do not know exactly what they are looking for. the country is still waiting for a new constitution, which will spell out what powers the new president will exercise. >> a german pharmaceuticals giant says it is increasingly confident about its business after a strong

the switch was against hosni mubarak. in the midst of a revolution, that is clearly what is going on. it did not happen out of the blue. it happened over the evolution of revolution. at the beginning, people were saying this is a great military, this is descending the revolution. there were some gains for a short time, that is over now. what does that mean? here is another nuance. egypt is a country of institutions. egypt is not going to let go of its military, it is not going to give up its military establishment. it cares very much about its military establishment. its military plays an important role. the question is how the nuance or how to distinguish between the guardian of the country and the generals that are associated with [inaudible] and those who cannot associate with the military change. that is where the egyptians are dabbling. how to make sure they guard their military establishment. they need that in the future for their own sovereignty. at the same time, being able to move a young and put the generals bac

sure i mean you can understand the wariness whereas you know who's mubarak was an ally of the united states saudi arabia the united arab emirates are both allies and so they can kind of see what's going on here they're going to be very cautious. that the chaos that has been described is exactly what especially in the u.a.e. that it wants to avoid its whole economic model is based on being a bridge between east and west takes great pride in being the home to multinational companies to people from all over the world and it has made its mark in the global economy from this this sort of chaos described in libya what's going on even in egypt is the last thing that the u.a.e. wants and it will the leaders here will do what they need to do to sort of preserve what they believe is the correct model for this country ok i go back to los angeles and if we can look at syria here i mean different narratives are employed here but you know the syrian uprising the protests across the country to what degree or another we really don't know because of media access here but then it became militarized by

the switch was against hosni mubarak. in the midst of a revolution, that is clearly what is going on. it did not happen out of the blue. it happened over the evolution of revolution. at the beginning, people were saying this is a great military, this is descending the revolution. there were some gains for a short time, that is over now. what does that mean? here is another nuance. egypt is a country of institutions. egypt is not going to let go of its military, it is not going to give up its military establishment. it cares very much about its military establishment. its military plays an important role. the question is how the nuance or how to distinguish between the guardian of the country and the generals that are associated with [inaudible] and those who cannot associate with the military change. that is where the egyptians are dabbling. how to make sure they guard their military establishment. they need that in the future for their own sovereignty. at the same time, being able to move a young and put the generals bac

very unlike the time of hosni mubarak. you would not see what you see now with the ngos among which is a slap in the face. especially at a time when egyptians need assistance. it really tells you what they care about in terms of the balance between what they hear in washington and what they hear on the streets of egypt. i was doing a radio show, and there was in it -- there was an egyptian. the white house put out a statement criticizing against protesters. the egyptian journalist was asked what did you think of the u.s. statement? she said i know it was a statement, and i know that the u.s. labored for hours about how to say it. i think it said something about how less relevant the u.s. is. then there is the question of effectiveness. one thing i stressed on this last trip -- and you hear it all the time, it -- many other egyptians believe it. they are convinced that the u.s. is engaged in a conspiracy to weaken, fragment, undermine egypt's power. that was certainly hosni mubarak's thought. today, which are seen on the st

washington as well i mean the status quo was always suited the military in egypt since the fall of mubarak. very much so i would so i think disagree with the assessment that the muslim brotherhood's decision to send a candidate in in the end is true i would actually call it pragmatic i think there's a simple reason behind the muslim brotherhood's decision and that is to you know take advantage of what is effectively a historical chance for them to actually wilt power for the first time in the country's history there have been all sorts of theories behind the reasons why they are sending good candidates including first cynics i would say. that there is some secret pact between the muslim brotherhood and the military in an attempt to amend taint the status quo and indeed to engage in a power sharing deal i think you know that if a muslim brotherhood candidate is elected he will have he will have huge responsibilities to a source how the economy of the country let's not lose sight that it's the major problem that the country's facing and because the muslim brotherhood will then be the only ch

protests nation after the revolution toppled president mubarak egyptians have continued to use people power as a way to force change the sights the sounds of protestors on cairo's tahrir square have become a familiar one more than a gift since president mubarak was ousted from power with presidential elections just around the corner and the activities here have once again taken center stage but if the last years taught us anything is the revolution alone is not a democracy make this why the upcoming elections appraising so important. as a discussion group focused on a paced arab spring egypt we met a former members mubarak's regime now a prominent speaker here in egypt the revolution was a must and it's a great action but unfortunately after we have a lot of problems and the challenges we have to discuss and do we have to reach a vision for that not everyone will say positive one man asked the panel how they'd feel about the outcome if they'd been one of the young revolutionaries there's no quid pulls but he's not given a clear answer. on forces and the. administration . after. they g

is as a director this was as a direct result between the corporation between the dictatorship of mubarak and the u.s. administration. i would just assume into my early oh no no no no no no reason first an irony in that you know the knowing first is he asked first go ahead oren well it's just simply untrue that it was that the brotherhood was pushed underground due to the u.s. war on terror the end of the brotherhood has been underground for decades going back to the era of the nazi so i mean i'm not quite sure where in the below he's getting is going is facts. little you want to respond to that especially so especially so yes absolutely i'm saying it is best especially so in america's war on terror which largely contributed not just in egypt across the muslim world to stigmatise islamic parties not just in egypt in tunisia in morocco and indeed across the region and contributed to demonize this party and basically painting them as islamic extremists and now we know that the muslim brotherhood is seen as a moderate party and contrary to what alisa was saying he's also seen in egypt as a b

scattering at the moment how big is today's rally compared to other displays of discontent since mubarak was ousted. today's pretty big i mean i haven't seen this many people in the square since perhaps the anniversary celebrations in january and they were quite divided between people celebrating their one year on from the i was to mubarak and people were calling for the regime to the current military regime to fall but really it's quite significant three hundred million a million man march and november following the clashes between the police force i'm now army and protesters but really this is the largest display of this contents in quite a royal do you think this is just another demonstration or could it grow into a new uprising if the military rulers don't fulfill the protesters demands it's hard to say i mean we've had these calls for millionaires we've had these marches we've had a lot of people in the square quite a few times now since the ouster of barack and it hasn't quite coast in a tree out but certainly the failure of the constituent assembly the majority it is a mess in par

they are acting as a disorder of the national democratic party doing mubarak era as you would like to do beneath everything. they would like to limit is the influence of other political forces they would lake actually to inherent this or for that clearly in the structure of made during mubarak era as he would like to prisons of services that overwhelming the majority in egyptian society using the same tactics using the same is that outages use that by mubarak over the last. for the period for four decades and i think that people are quite cautious not to repeat the same regime in different form with different political power this is an issue. just so i can get this straight as you say that the people there they got rid of hosni mubarak the oil of regime as many call it then they vote in the muslim brotherhood they're not pleased with the muslim brotherhood now you're suggesting perhaps they want some sort of thin authoritarian structure it might seem to many what is it that's going to make these people happy don't they have jobs to go to. so i can hear you properly what is it going to

in the structure of made during mubarak era as you allege the prisms of services that over women the majority leadership feel safe using the same tactics using the same mr outages used by mubarak that is a power struggle between civility of the muslim brotherhood who lifted you to square with them as their virtual evolutionary powerful cup the relationship was of the secular and political forces and now they are claiming that evolutionary agenda in the coming back to the previous career took them copulate it here after their presence in the street has been obviously shaken. now from egypt now to bahrain where the roar of formula one engines or this weekend will be mixed with the angry voices of anti regime activists there promising days of rain shaft your year of arab spring protests the police have fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse demonstrators in clashes just ahead of sunday's grand prix but it's artes or we're not going to school reports unlike libya and syria this uprising has been well off the radar. it took a car fire ahead of a major sporting event for the world to

vote confusion and disappointment over the election campaign worlds with the reinstatement help mubarak's former prime minister as a candidate casting a shadow over hopes for a democratic change. or you can build an alexander litvinenko down. british lie detector experts clear a russian m.p. of any involvement in the murder of a former security officer at examine the beginning gold in london six years ago. europe's heralded open borders come under threat sneak up sarkozy ups's and time aggression rhetoric ahead of the presidential run off saying funds could quit the showing in zone. thanks for joining r t this thursday it's three o'clock here in moscow on karen well recent political protests in russia moscow's relations with other countries and the fate of prisoner called it a cough ski those were a part of a whole range of issues that came into focus as the outgoing president to meet to meet the video was grilled by journalists in the final question and answer event of his tenure let's get the details from our tease even go you know so a lot of things to assess for me the video of who's

mubarak is to do the majority rule. we should not use people from parliament from the constitution. >> thank you for asking. it is a valid question. it is very important to know that this represents more than 47%. in spite of this, we became underrepresented. the people will choose those who would write the constitution. this included liberal [inaudible] it was interesting about the committee writing the constitution. it is described by both extremes. we will continue exactly that the committee is trying to be in the middle and invite everyone to the addition. these are the committee's that would involve anyone. it belongs to the egyptians. the voices have to be included. they have representatives from them living outside of this. writing the constitution is open for everyone. we welcome every voice. the people have a constitution that the egyptians will be proud of. -- we will have a constitution that the egyptians will be proud of. >> i have two quick points. one is the direction of a electing the assembly. over 70% o

presidential hopefuls have now submitted their applications to fight it out for the vacated seat of hosni mubarak. and moscow valves to secure the return of victor that's after a u.s. judge sentenced the russian businessman to twenty five years behind bars for conspiring to kill americans. but the stories that made headlines this week you're watching the weekly with me wrong reception the u.n. backed peace plan for syria is in jeopardy just days ahead of a ceasefire deadline to mask says it went on the right side of the deal to stand down the military unless the armed opposition provides guarantees that it will follow suit however the free syrian army is refusing to meet the regime's demand our middle east correspondent paula has the latest. this follows last week's understanding that the syrian regime was prepared to accept a cease fire put forward according to the former u.n. chief kofi annan and according to that cease fire comes this choose day the masses will withdraw all its troops from the major cities and then it will be up to the opposition to meet a final deadline of six a in. which the

there president mubarak promised the serbs they were safe. they were not. more than 7,000 men and boys were killed in cold blood. it was this massacre that led to nato's intervention, forcing serbs into retreat. the western-imposed dayton peace agreement ended the war. bozia was divided. and that is how it remains today. a country split, divided even on this day of remembrance. the past defines the presence in the balkans, two decades gone but still as raw as ever. matthew price, bbc news. >> on the 6th of april 1917 the united states ascended into world war i. years later the war is a faded memory. other wars have come and gone. their memorials sit on washington's monument. world war i is not on the national mon ulet. the -- monument. the way the war was seen at the time is part of how it's remembered now. >> it's been 95 years since 5 million americans joined the battles on european soil but no one is left who can they they fought in the great war. frank buckles was the last-known america two could. >> you have a certain responsibility there that you are

simic the asked mubarak in 2005 especially -- >> sorry, question. islamic i do have a question but i also have the right -- stat no you don't. >> yes i do. given that we are in this atmosphere and probably don't. spec that's right. >> he recently said that islamism and islamic rule works in several stages to stabilize. he gave this speech in egypt and i was wondering what state of stabilization of the sharia law for the islamic into realism in his words are we in right now? >> thank you. great question. you've got three questions. [applause] >> concerning female participation, i would just like to contest that we are not happy about the situation of women we think the presentation of women in the parliament is the engagement in society needs improvement and of course it's part of our platform to engage women both in the civil society and politics in the next election we are intending to field more women candidates but also working to improve the situation in society getting to the root causes of the problems on the marginalization of women and into

this election set islamists against officials who served under hoss no mubarak. with very little campaign time, it's not so much policies as personality and religious values that will decide who wins. people across egypt mainly voted for islamist parties when they went to the polls to select a new parliament after last year's popular uprising. now they're weighing their options again. >> i would like the political masses with good international and domestic relations. >> we want a president who fears god, who is pious. i hope this will make things better in egypt. >> for thousands of years, egypt's been ruled by strong leaders. whoever comes next faces huge challengs and high expectations. >> that's all for the moment, but you are watching "bbc world news." >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. union bank. and shell. >> this is kim - about to feel one of his favorite sensations. at shell, were developing more efficient fuels in

presidential vote confusion and disappointment of the election campaign grows the reinstatement of mubarak's former prime minister as a candidate casting a shadow over hopes for democratic change. please if you were involved in alexandra listening goes down in the. british larger tech to experts clear russian m.p. of any involvement in the murder of a former security officer alexander litvinenko in london six years ago. europe's heralded open borders come under threat as nicolas sarkozy ups's anti immigration rhetoric ahead of the presidential runoff saying france could quit. this will get this deal it will get its final interview as head of state to the media presses al gore in president well some of his four years in power and outlined goals for the future are more detailed minutes ahead. twelve news and much more twenty four hours a day you're watching r.t. egypt is due to announce a final list of presidential candidates with a vote less than a month away however there are fresh concerns that the revolution was in vain as the last prime minister under hosni mubarak is back in the running

egypt's presidential hopefuls have submitted applications to fight it out for the vacated seat of hosni mubarak. and moscow vows to secure the return of victor boot after a u.s. judge sentences the russian businessman to twenty five years behind bars for conspiring to kill americans. midnight in moscow live match resurvey new today's top stories in a look back at the week's news here on our t.v. the un back peace plan for syria could be an deadlock hours ahead of a cease fire deadline rebels have refused to give damascus any guarantees they'll lay down arms before the government troops pull back our middle east correspondent paula sneer has the latest. the commander of the rebel free syrian army has indicated that he will not give any kind of written guarantees that he plans to mate on arms and this is just hours after the syrian forward of a crazed sports such explanations what the syrian regime is asking for is confirmation that the rebels will lay down arms before they withdraw they tense and the troops from population centers well this does threaten to derail the peace process just two days

and as egypt's first presidential campaign since mubarak's fall gathers pace there is criticism but the country could well end up with a dictator as its leader again. using common broadcasting to launch from the heart of moscow and. well syria remains mostly called after the u.n. brokered cease fire between the government and the opposition came into force on thursday morning a truce resulting from the mediation efforts of international envoy kofi annan is the first in the year long violence but as oksana boyko reports from damascus with mutual distrust between the sides he still remains fragile this ceasefire came into effect at six am local time and so far it's been holding syrian the finance minister promised not to conduct any operations and have found so vague as they are that military groups while they did say that they reserve the right to retaliate in case their units are being attacked as for the syrian opposition what we're hearing from various members of various opposition groups is that there are going to respect the cease fire and they promise not to open fire if the regula

at once but now as he found the are acting as of the son for the national democratic party during mubarak era as you look to the need to proceed. i would like to limit is the influence of other political forces see woodlake actually to inherent the same will fully clearly in the structure of made during mubarak era as he would like to present themselves as a lot of women the majority in egyptian society using this impact it's using the sinister that is is used by mubarak that there is a power struggle between the military rule and the muslim brotherhood who live to tell you to square vote unless they're backed out of usually a power cut their emissions should was other secular and political forces and now they are claiming that evolutionary agenda and they're coming back to the river square to gamble clearly of curve their presence in history it has been obviously shaken. it's good to have your company today this is our t. live from moscow we're still ahead for you in the program but of a frozen voyage. these train tracks are one of the few successful parts of a project to try to bring tr