diplomat richard haass said the final agreement must be reached by monday. the talks broke without agreement but he said months of simmering resentment and violence is extraordinarily close. >> reporter: they're calling it a final effort to reach an agreement between northern ireland's political parties. as richard haass and his team has found in belfast, it's proven to be difficult. >> we'll have 12 hours of plenary session. it will be very hard at that point given everything that will have come before to argue that the missing indeed is mor ingree time. >> reporter: in late 2012 belfast city council voted to fly the flag on certain days. that sparked protests in which police officers were injured. >> nationalists say we 47% are nationalists, we feel that you shouldn't rub our noses in it flying it wherever we don't want it to fly, and we want to fly it only sometimes. >> reporter: one recurring tension is the so-called marching season. every year parades most of them organized by protestant groups take place. while most pass off peacefully parades through

as richard haass and his team convene talks, he admitted it was difficult. >> by noon on monday we'll have had 12 hours of plenary sessions. it will be very hard at that point, given everything that will have come before it to argue that rt missing ingredient is more time. >> the issue that is toughest to crack is flags. in late 2012 they voted to only fly the british flags from city hall and other buildings. it sparked street protests in which 100 police officers were injured. >> nationalists say 47% are catholic nationals and they feel the flag shouldn't be flown where they don't want it, and they want it flown sometimes. >> a recurring source of tension is the so-called marching season. every year parades - most organised by protestant groups like the orange order take place. while most pass off parades through some areas invoke clashes. the talks see progress on that and another key issue dealing with the legacy of violence, troubles preceding 1998's good friday agreement. more than 3,500 lost their lives. nobody was brought to justice. >> the reports of victim's groups, studies b

. >> richard haass and his team convene talks in belfast, but he admitted it proved difficult. >> by noon on monday we'll have 12 hours of plenary sessions. it will be very hard at that point, given everything that will have come before it, to argue that the missing ingredient is more time. >> the issue that is reportedly toughest to crack is flags. in late 2012 belfast city council voted to fly the british flag from city hall and other buildings on certain days, sparking street protests in which more than 100 police officers were injured. >> they want is flag flown anywhere and whenever they want. >> others say no, you shouldn't rub our noses in it and fly the flag where we don't want it to fly. >> one recurring source of tension between the provinces is the marching season. every year parades, most organised by groups like the orange order take place. most pass peace fly. parades through catholic areas promote antagonism and clashes. it reports progress on that. troubles preceding 1998's good friday agreement. more than 3,500 people lost their lives. in most cases no one was brough

richard haass will join us in the next half-hour. then we will bring in maxine hot -- maxine waters. she will have her perspective. back, the tension was tangible around sanctions. >> there is an example of sanctions at work. it changed the game for south africa. it changed the way that consumers felt like artists paid and political issues. page this our front morning. still a polarized south africa. at racial issues are front and center. foring us is our editor sub-saharan africa -- the former ambassador of the united dates nigeria are right on the continued divide in south africa. what is the distinction between white and black south africa membrane nelson mandela this day? -- remembering nelson mandela this day? >> i do not think there is a strong distinction. their coming together. his death has brought people of all colors and races and classes together again. it is a united nation today. people are mournful, but they're celebrating his life. they are gathering at his house in northern johannesburg, where people are paying tribu

richard haass and his team are overseeing talks. >> by nonon monday we'll have 12 hours of plenary sessions. it will be hard at that point given everything that come before it to argue that the missing ingredient is more time. m the issue that has been toughest to crack has been flags. the flag were to be flown from city hall. >> they fly when and wherever they want it to fly. nationalists say they want esteem, and feel that you shouldn't rub our noses in it. flying it where they want to to nigh. a recurring source of tension is the marching season. every year parades take place. most pass through peacefully. often they promote antagon. >> and clars. >> they report progress on that and other key issues. troubles preceding 1998's good friday agreement. in most cases nobody was brought to justice: reports of victim's groups. conversations had about dealing with the past. all influenced the process. that is another example of how we weren't starting from square one, but from a well-developed conversation. >> if the talks lead to an agreement, it could be a long time before they deal with resen

richard haass floated the idea when he came here initially. why, he asked, would you not fly the irish flag? for example, should the president of the irish republic or the prime minister visit northern ireland as it happens in every other country where the flag of the national country and the visiting dignitary fly side by side. under the unions thinking no tolerance would be had with that. they want the flag to fly wherever they want it to fly. thtypical situation. stand off situation. no hope for reconciliation for this issue in the short term. >> are people paying attention to talks where you are? is this high on people's agenda? watching and saying we want to solve this? >> yes, people are giving this attention and they have contempt for the politicians. the sense of despair almost within the broad community generally speaking. they want the politicians to get on with it, move forward. stop looking backwards. then the whole issue of parading. there is an issue of parading where the orange men identify with the protestant march wherever the

as richard haass and his team convened talks in belfast, he admits it is difficult. >> by noon on monday we'll have 12 hours of plenary sessions. it will be very hard at that point, given everything that will have come before it to argue that the missing ingredient is more time. >> the issue that has been toughest to crack is flags. late 2012, belfast city council voted to fly the city flag from city hall and other buildings on certain days. it sparked street protests in which more than 100 police were injured. >> they want it to fly when they want it. nationalists say know. 47% of us are catholic nationals, we feel you shouldn't rub our noses in it and fly the flag where we don't want it to fly. and we want to flown sometimes. >> one recurring source of tension is the so-called marging season. >> every year parades, most organised by protestant groups like the orange order take place. most pass peacefully. parades through catholic areas promote antagonism and clashes. >> the reports saw progress on that and another key issue, dealing with the legacy of violence, troubles preceding 1998'

and richard haass from the council of foreign relations wrote about this a long time ago. maybe syria now is getting to the point of exhaustion where all the parties will be ready to come to the table. i lived through this. i lived through five through 10 of the lebanese civil war. lasted 14 years all told. how did the war end? it ended in 1989, it ended, charlie, on once principle: no victor, no vanquished. no victor no vanquished and the minority, because of lebanon, the christians needed overrepresentative to assure them the final deal. i said in the very beginning "syria will only wednesday no victor no vanquish." the idea that the alawites will defeat the fundamentalists, the fundamentalists will defeat the alawites, that's a question. when do the parties there basically say "we're ready to step back"? >> rose: you have ryan crocker now saying-- former ambassador of iraq and syria-- reengage with assad. even though we said, you know he should leave, you don't necessarily have to withdraw that. you have to reengage. circumstances are different. and the nature of the op

as richard haass and his name belfast admit that it is difficult. >> on monday we'll have had 12 hours of plenary sessions. it will be very hard at that point, given everything that will have come before it, to argue that the missing ingredient is more time. >> the issue that has been toughest to crack is flags. >> in late 2012 belfast city council voted to fly the british flag from city hall to other buildings, sparking street profests in which more than 100 police were injured. >> it's like flying whenever it wants it to fly. nationalists say, "no", 40% of us are catholic nationals and we feel you shouldn't rub our noses in it and fly the flag where we don't want to to fly, and we want it flying sometimes. >> a recurring source of tension is the marching parades. parades organised by protetant groups, like the orange order, take place. parades through catholic areas provoke antagonism and clashes. the talks have seep progress on that and other issues dealing with a legacy of violence. the troubles preceding the 1998 agreements. nobody was brought to justice. the reports of victims gr