nouri al-maliki's problems do not end there. leaders in the golf accuse his government of discriminating against sunni muslims. nouri al-maliki makes his own accusations and blames saudi arabia and qatar. the last summit in sirra underscored the political subdivisions between iraq and sunni neighbours. the opposition is sending fighters to syria. people are paying the price. the saudis want the president bashar al-assad out of power. >> translation: bashar al-assad and his associates have a place in the future of syria. >> with the war in syria showing no signs of letting up, the concern that sectarian violence could spread to neighbouring countries, and that could leave iraq more isolated. >>> chemical weapons inspectors are being sent to syria to investigate allegations of gas attacks. the syrian government denies it has been using chlorine on civilians. it's not listed as a banned agent but is outlawed. kath turner has the details from the united nations in new york. >> reporter: in recent weeks there has been a spate of incid

his name, nouri al-maliki, the head of the state of law and coalition including his open party. 's the incumbent prime minister. he is seeking a third term, assumed office in 2006. maliki spent 24 years in exile. he spent years in iran, and syria, and that explanation why malikis government has good relations. i'll go back to you. is it assumed that maliki will win again? >> i think that's the most likely outcome, which i think is really depressing. i think there's a glimmer of hope that there are a range of parties that did well in the elections, and demonstrated a capacity to work together. they are sunni parties, shi'ite and kurdish. if the opposition parties can overcome the many differences and put together a credible candidate for prime minister, it would be a promising move for iraq, and could reopen a path towards reconciliation, and could forge a credible way in which the violence in iraq could be confronted. >> do you worry that it's dangerous if the prime minister wins a third term here? >> how much do responsibility does he bear for the violence and corruption in iraq

nouri al maliki has failed to share power with sunni and kurds. and even though the national oil industry brought in $89 billion last year, al maliki is still asking washington for military and economic aid. $2.3 million in 2012. $590 million in 2013. and nearly as much for this year. that has washington fearing they're dealing with an autocrat. >> the most you could do is regularly ask or push at least politely within the constraints of diplomacy for al maliki to be more national, less inclusive and less corrupt. >> hawk has every right to chart it's own course regardless of what the u.s. thinks it might be bess for. al jazeera, washington. >> why does this vote matter to the united states? join us for our special iraq bloodshed. that's coming up tonight. at 8:30 eastern, 5:30 pacific. >>> ukraine is saying there is no way to stop growing up rest in the eastern part of the country. he said security forces are helpless and in some cases cooperating with pro russian activists. this comes as n.a.t.o. boosts it's military presence hoping to send a mes

during a rally, protesters accuse the prime minister nouri al-maliki of being a puppet of iran. liki's problems do not end there. leaders in the gulf accuse the government of discriminating against sunni. nouri al-maliki blames saudi arabia and qatar for helping armed groups. the last summit on syria in march underscored the political divisions between iraq and its sunni neighbours. >> translation: sending fighters increases the violence and the people are paying the price. >> the saudis and their allies want bashar al-assad out of power. >> none of them have a place in the future of syria. with the war in syria showing no signs of letting up, concerns of sectarian violence can spread to neighbouring countries and could leave iraq more isolated. >> the united nations top human right official said the situation in south sudan is close to calamity. speaking at a news conference in the capital navi pilae said the u.n. requested an investigation into the killings. rebel leader riek machar met with her on friday to discuss the violence. >> chemical weapons inspectors are being sent to

this works well for prime minister nouri al-maliki, who said he will be tough on security. that is a big issue for the iraqi election campaign. >> al jazeera demands the release of its journalists imprisoned in egypt. mohamed fadel fahmy, baher mohamed, and peter greste are falsely accused of providing a platform to the outlawed muslim brotherhood. they have been behind bars for 114 days. their case has been adjourned until tuesday. al jazeera rejects all the accusations against its staff. abdullah al-shami, the fourth journalist in detention has been held without trial sips august. he's been on hunger strike for 9 91 days. >> in ukraine three were shot dead at a checkpoint manned by pro-russian activists. kiev says it was so-called outside provocateurs. we have this report from jacky rowland. >> local people call it the easter mass anger. what took place at the makeshift checkpoint on sunday is unclear. villages say unknown attackers drove up and opened fire on activists manning the barricade. >> translation: they came in four jeeps, lit up the barricades with their head li

prime minister nouri al-maliki promised to be tough on security, which is clearly a big issue. we'll see a lot more of these types of operations, the announcements of these operations. >> we'll cover it all very closely. thank you for joining us from baghdad. >>> now, al jazeera continues to demand the immediate release of its journalists imprisoned in egypt. mohamed fadel fahmy, peter greste, and baher mohamed, are falsely accused of providing a platform to the outlawed muslim brotherhood. they have been behind bars for 114 days. their case has been adjourned until tuesday. al jazeera rejects all applications. a fourth journalist, abdullah al-shami, has been held in detention sips -- since august. he's been on hunger strike for over 100 days. >>> three were shut dead at a checkpoint manned by chinese activists. it was outside provocateurs. we have this report from jacky rowland. >> local people call it the easter mass anger. what took place at the checkpoint in the early hours of sunday is unclear. villages say that unknown attackers drove up and opened fire on the pro-russian

you talk about prime minister nouri al-maliki, who are his r ivals? guest: certainly nouri al-maliki is the front runner. it is not that anyone is a huge fan of his but he -- you cannot something with nothing. when you look at the other candidates, there are not a lot of new and dynamic politicians coming to the fore. there is some other shia parties. it would be the hope among the sunnis that the shia parties would be hopelessly split. iski party, there ists,so the saatar the ayatollah solder is not a candidate. you have three formations of shia parties and the next prime minister will come out of those. maliki is probably feeling confident he can beat challenges. how the lack of a u.s. president in iraq has changed the dynamic on the ground. here's a wrapup from the washington times on the security situation. is experiencing its worst bloodshed since the height of sectarian conflict from 2006 to 2008. 7818 civilians were killed in attacks across iraq in 2013. guest: i think the security situation is very tough. a lot of people lay this at the .oorste

. >> let's talk about the prime minister, nouri al-maliki. the incumbent prime minister of iraq. he assumed office in 2006. al-maliki spent many years in compile. many years in iran and syria, that explains why they have good relations with those two countries. is it assumed that al-maliki will win again? >> i think that's the most likely outcome which i think is really depressing. i think there's a small glimmer of hope that are a range of iraqi opposition parties that did very well in provisional elections last year, have demonstrated an ability to work together. and if those opposition parties can overcome their many differences and put together a credible candidate for prime minister that would be an incredibly promising future for iraq and move iraq towards reconciliation. and the way the violence could be confronted. >> do you think it's dangerous if the prime minister wins a third term here? how much responsibility does he bear for all the violence and corruption in iraq? >> there's no question corruption is rampant and everyone is invo

prime minister nouri al-maliki will be seeking a third term care at the discussion will 's ambassador to the u.s. and could touch on a parliamentary vote that could legalize marriage for girls as young as nine years old. the center for shortages and international studies is the host. --expected to get underway the center for strategic and international studies is the host. we expect it to get underway in just a few moments here on c-span. >> good afternoon. i am ahead of the program here tocsis, and i am delighted welcome lukman faily here, ambassador to iraq to talk about the election -- about the parliamentary elections to take place on april 30. prior to this, he served as iraq 's ambassador to japan, and spent many years in the u.k. studying to be an engineer when it was not safe to be in iraq. speaking of not safe, ambassador lukman faily is a veteran. he ran the boston marathon two days ago, and he completed the boston marathon two days ago, so when he comes up, please give him extra time to make it up the stairs. he will make it up, and we are delighted and look forward to what

prime minister nouri al-maliki has promised to fight the groups out of the city with full scale measures meaning there is little hope of a reprieve any time soon. >> reporter: for dr. mahmood, a specialist at the fallujah hospital. he said there is a shortage of staff and medical supplies. >> reporter: since the crisis in fallujah city, there is only one hospital this forces many to leave the hospital and escape the attacks. so facing a shortage, definitely a shortage staff and medical equipment because of sanctions, from the city, from the forces which make entrance from the hospital from the city difficult. >> al jazeera is demanding the immediate release of its journalists in prison in egypt. they appeared in court on thursday. the case has been adjourned until later in mop before they're falsely accused of providing a platform for the muslim brotherhood. they have been behind bars for 105 days. the four al jazeera journalist held in detention has been held without trial since august. he has been on hunger strike for the last 82 days. al jazeera rejects all the charges. >>> locked up

displaced by war no single political bloc is likely to win a majority although prime minister nouri al maliki's state of law lines is expected to lead he's seeking a third term but it's hard to label the past few years a success as a country was sixteen percent unemployment widespread accusations of political corruption and crumbling public services but the real concern catastrophic levels of violence that got worse in the run up to the vote campaign rallies targeted by suicide bombers both sunni and shia militias have been out for blood. voting has been canceled in parts of western iraq the u.s. led invasion brought shiite majority rule to the country which had turned the anbar province into a focal point of sunni discontent when i was in fallujah this time last year the province was in the midst of a political uprising and the demonstrators had been demanding the release of sunni prisoners they wanted an end to what they saw as political marginalization of their sect these days it's a no go area. al qaeda linked group seize control of key cities provoking fierce clashes with iraqi troops the

but in a country now racked by sectarian violence, iraq goferred for eight years by nouri al maliki from the shia majority, a man who rarely smiles. he voted early today casting this election as a referendum on his war against terror. >> i wish to see a huge turnout. god willing, we'll celebrate the success of this election and defeat terrorism and those who bet the election would be postponed. >> reporter: in parts of anbar province there's no eaks today but a full scale sunni insurgency. these men so determined to kill iraqi shia that even al qaeda is considered not extreme enough for them and now the i ask haddists are trying to advance the capital. this is the abu ghraib district 20 miles from the center of baghdad. last week the violence and tenseified. this was a suicide bombing which killed 31 at a shia election rally in baghdad. in the center of capital today cars were banned. sunni extremists have threatened to kill anyone who votes. mr. malaki, we'll probably see him releected but not with a clear majority. a divisive figure in a bitterly divided country. the election is a day

this works very well for nouri i al maliki. a video posted online by the a armed group showed mohammed al sheik. the kidnappers demanded the release of two fighters jailed in libya. >>> al jazeera continues to demand the immediate release of its journalists. they are accused of providing a platform for the outlawed muslim brotherhood. al jazeera rejects all accusations against its staff. a fourth al jazeera journal has been held without trial since august, and he has been hunger strike for 91 days. he has become a symbol of the fight for press freedom around the world. >> from this position i call western authority in north america that now they want to give amnesty to this agent how can you now say that you will do election, and you will do this and this, and the journalists, if they believe that, the situation in egypt, will it change? can it change, and journalists bear the brunt of that. it can't. many journalists injured. my son for than 251 days wa witt taken to court. without telling him what is the crime. of what he did