i think is a great precursor for the future from the supply side. >> are there any doubts that saudi arabia has the supply capability that it claims or that the world believes it does have? >> of course. that's been the relevant question going on all the time, whether the saudis have the cap able. my answer because i work there for quite a bit of time, they certainly have the resources, they certainly have the organizational capabilities. as far as producing 10, 11, 12 million barrels, that's a very high certainty, barring black swan events, other geopolitical events take place, that's another question. but the country's capabilities as far as production are there. >> everything you said about libya's increase, north dakota and the renaissance in states has been out there for mornnths. don't you find it suspicious the price reflected what's gone on, as the embargo about to hit, iran seems to be recalcitrant on what they are going to do with the iea and nuclear situation? it just seems to coincidental. >> too coincidental for whom? go and read some of the op-eds i've been putting out for yea

. >>> on to saudi arabia now the heir to the throne is dead. saudi officials say crown prince nayef bin abdullah had health problems and died while speaking medical care in switzerland. cnn's nick robertson reports the prince was known as a hard line conservative. >> reporter: after 9/11 he was really leading al qaeda's -- saudi's charge against al qaeda. al qaeda at that time in saudi arabia were turning against the crown and they were seen as a very serious threat, blowing up apartment complexes where foreign workers were living, taking control of oil facilities, and the threat of dealing with that threat was taken on by prince nayef at that time. >> the body of the crown prince will be flown to saudi arabia and buried tomorrow. his unexpected death reopens the question of succession in saudi arabia. king abdula is 88 years old and has outlived now two successors. >>> now to egypt where voters have just finished the first of two days of crucial voting. egyptians are deciding which of two candidates they want to replace ousted president hosni m

turkey and reportedly saudi arabia are mobilizing forces towards the syrian border . join us on will stay put or an embassy in london until a decision on his asylum request declining to comply with a demand from british police to surrender for extradition to sweden. and german chancellor angela merkel to fans at home that deal to help struggling banks but there's skepticism the measure will solve the blocks core problems and debt crisis . coming to you live from moscow i'm marina joshie major world and regional powers are convening in geneva to try and map out a strategy to and the bloody sixteen month old conflict in syria and the deep divisions between nations russia's foreign minister says there's a good chance to forge common ground sergey lavrov was speaking after meeting u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton are just loosely confident was following their talks in st petersburg. hillary clinton and lover of the foreign minister met for about an hour the russian foreign minister did walk away from the meeting with cautious optimism he said that he hopes that som

government of saudi arabia. among other countries are. members of the. war in syria for the last fifteen months and its original come the end of terror there isn't subversion can do you don't commit. to. the mercenaries will be growing these people are playing with fire there is no doubt awarded at the minute i would say it's a sign alteration schieber rope and the pressure on the. government could it could precipitated a war we really want a knife edge here at home or else as an reaction to developments and syria can log onto our web site r.t. dot com and also don't forget to check out our correspondence twitter feeds for all the latest on the ongoing conflict there. if. you're watching our team join assad will remain as a quid or an embassy in london until a decision on his asylum bit is made he said he's staying put after a defying a british police demand to turn himself in to face extradition procedures assad is trying to escape being handed over to sweden claiming the u.s. will get its hands on him once he's their fears that retired cia officer ray

to pressure on the assad regime yes the government of saudi arabia. among other countries are. members of the coover or in styria for the last fifteen months and it's a normally come the end of terror there is a miniature version there is there's going to talk you did links to the with the states to the mercenaries when you grow and these people are playing with fire there is no doubt of water at the minute i would say it's a cycle of job creation and the pressure on the. government but it could it could precipitate it a war we really want in life and here. now for more analysis and reaction to developments in syria log on to our website r.t. dot com also don't forget to check out our correspondents twitter feeds for all the latest on the ongoing conflict. join us and will remain a door an embassy in london until a decision on his asylum bed is made he said he is staying put after defying a british police demand to turn himself in to face extradition procedures assad is trying to escape being handed over to sweden claiming the u.s. will get its hands

saudi arabia is to the united states strategically of course but also economically saudi arabia is theon the oil coming from the kingdom. it's an ultra conservative monarchy. it's a close u.s. ally. what's important as well is to situate it regionally, suzanne. saudi arabia finds iran to be in a potential nuclear armed area to be an existential threat as do other gulf countries. so, again strategically as far as the united states is concerned, this is a very important country. within the arab spring as well it has made no secret that it is supporting the syrian rebels against the regime of bashar al-assad. >> holley, explain this to us. his predecessor was a hard line interior minister, spearheaded the crackdown, if you will, on al qaeda's branch after the september 11th attacks. secretary panetta is now there. he is mourning the death there. how important is this new leader in the war on terror? >> well, i think it's a continuation, really, of his brother, prince nyeth. i think it's important to look at as far as saudi arabia is concerned is how these revolutions are rounded, are chan

for talks in geneva desperately seeking a plan to and syria's watched as turkey and reportedly saudi arabia are mobilizing forces towards the syrian border. join santal stay put out the door and embassy in london until a decision on his asylum request declining to comply with a demand from british police this ranter for extradition to sweden. and german chancellor angela merkel the fans uphold the e.u. deal to help struggling banks but their skepticism of the measure will solve the blocks or problems and death crisis. eleven am in the russian capital you're watching. major world and regional powers will convene in geneva today to try and map out a strategy to and the bloody sixteen month old conflict in syria and the deep divisions between nations russia's foreign minister says there's a good chance to forge common ground sergey lavrov was speaking after a one on one meeting with u.s. secretary hillary clinton are just losing often of has been following their talks in st petersburg. hillary clinton and lover of the foreign minister met for about an hour the russian foreign minister did walk

that was you guys to think about this for a second saudi arabia while yes a u.s. ally also one of the most conservative oppressive religious regimes in the world for. all of our talk about supporting democracy standing up to tyrants worldwide makes them look a little funny when our top officials all run to saudi arabia to kiss the hand of the monarchy don't you think name me one other country where we see you official us see us officials grovel so shamelessly now he could say israel but at least they have elections right now sure there are obvious reasons for this oil israel being the two most prominent examples hell because the saudi arabia's importance to us interests our officials have still had very close relations with them despite the whole sending army to bahrain thing that whole financing of terrorist thing and once again the whole repressive monarchy that takes oppression of women to entirely new level thing and sure you can call it real politic that's just how the world works you pick and choose your battles and your allies all based on their value to yo

saudi arabia. towards the syrian border. push the ecuadorian embassy in london and decision is made on his asylum request to comply with a demand from british police to surrender extradition to sweden. and german chancellor angela merkel defends. deal to help struggling but there is skepticism the measure will solve the. debt crisis. a very warm welcome to you from all of us here in moscow. major world and regional powers are meeting in geneva to try and map out a strategy to end the bloody sixteen month old conflict in syria amid deep divisions between nations russia has said there is perhaps a good chance to forge some common ground reporting from geneva. there are big hopes that this meeting should lead to the international community being able to reach some sort of a joint understanding a mutual position on the conflict in syria and sure there are disagreements and we were on the plane with the russian foreign minister said again a lot of he did outline some of the key issues that moscow doesn't agree with such as any pr

first of all became saudi arabia and the gulf arab states are supporting quite deliberately. of interest groups who if you. do decide to spend dominate the local grand scale. then there is the problem these groups are very intolerant not only to watch the christian minorities and also the whites and shiites but also sometimes yes not monarchies the new head of the syrian national council the kurds. great tension between the kurds and the more so on the interest groups who form the backbone of the rebellion so the risk inside syria is an explosion but all these groups of course straddle more of those curves in iraq and i'm talking of the christians in some level of i'm not very happy about the rise of sunni fundamentalists groups even though they have actually more suspicious of his insurance so that they were used to a civil war in syria will turn out to be a series of explosions around the borders drawing in other countries we've already seen the government in iraq the americans helped to install just like the idea some of the respect for saudi arabia let's call them to feel

because let's come to feel threatened by saudi arabia and it's actually harm of interest for much of the gulf. i was a very complicated situation on the ground there often change lives as black and white mark almond trying to break it down at least for us as simple as you could thank you for that analysis that some other faction professor from bill can't university thank you. so i had three of those hour on r t is there a way to secure your online privacy while doing a stunt winces members of a cyber movement who debate whether there is such a thing as personal data. but first france is socialist president francois hollande has been boosted after a left wing party secured a major a majority i should say in the first round of the parliamentary election the forty six percent win could see along secure the lower house and receive a powerful mandate for his rich. plans are cilia is in paris the results of the first round certainly is a very good moral boost for the socialist party in trying to get a majority of the lower house of parliament however nothing is certain definitely there's n

britain france saudi arabia qatar do not want to succeed it's the syrian government wants it to see to russia and china and we have to i think it was on friday kevin that the qatari prime minister said that perhaps a deadline for his plan to work is not helpful and what you know why is the plan working so far in bringing peace because the rebels are still fighting they're still using arms terrorist attacks are taking place in syria and one of the syrian government in response seems now evidence has come out of who are that you know last week we were told it was a syrian government now the evidence is not so clear present as sad today in damascus denied any involvement in that he said it was a terrific ugly crime so you know it really took to the people who are backing the violent rebels to rein in the final pre-fight on conflicts bill for want of a better word of the violence has been spreading beyond syria into neighboring lebanon as we've been reporting what are the wider consequences if this gets worse . well i mean we could be any towards a major. less the west changes its policy a

people don't know that, right after saudi arabia. why are we not at least paying ourselves back out of that oil? [applause] and these stupid politicians said -- and some of the press, by the wycombe in all fairness. i think -- by the way, in all fairness. but the student politician -- the stupid politicians say, can you believe? how horrible it has been. we have given them democracy. they will not have democracy, folks. there will be the meanest and hardest and greatest hitter of the united states that will takeover. and what have we done and what have we gotten? i actually said take the oil, leave them plenty. at least give us back our $1.50 trillion good in the old days, when we were smart and we were strong, we had a war and, if we won the war, we take it. we take what we need. it is called to the victor belongs the spoils. [applause] so look at iraq. we go in and spend $1.50 trillion. we're there for years. and we leave. we leave. we get nothing. whoever heard of this? take another one, libya. so libya starts and the rebels are b

consent we could get assistance or landing rights from countries like i don't believe saudi arabia would do it but the united states might do that. just remember that the distance from the united arab emirates to northern iran is as far as from israel maybe even longer so. this kind of a landing rights would be helpful only in case of attacking targets in thousand new round another. convert. might to be. might be but again problematic. might be given by a judge which is on the north side of the rain and border they have no good relations with israel trouble is that to get from israel to observers and you have to overfly turkey and at the moment i don't see with the current relations between israel and turkey i don't see the turks giving any israel any aid if we look across the border at syria why is serious so important for western nations could it be that it's the last obstacle before any invasion of iran that is a tough one why syria is important. is it important. to the western state i don't see any western country in the intervening in syria as they did in b.b. and yet there is so mu

for example saudi arabia has been urging the united states for many years now they are terrified they really are terrified on the other hand assistant assistance to israel is still out of. out of their agenda in the open israel would have to fly over our country. but it has done so before and it can be done without their consent or with. cover consent we could get assistance or landing rights from countries like. i don't believe saudi arabia would do it but the united states might do that just remember that the distance from the united arab emirates to northern iran is as far as from israel maybe even longer so. this kind of a landing rights would be helpful only in case of attacking targets in thousand new ground another. covertly aid might be. might be but again it's problematic. might be given by a judge which is on the north side of the rain and border they have good relations with israel trouble is that to get from israel to observers and you have to overfly turkey. and at the moment i don't see with the current relations between israel and turkey i don't see the turks giving any

the missiles are being financed by saudi arabia and qatar. the united states was consulted about the arming of the rebels, but did not take part directly in the weapons transfer according to "the new york times." >> we're joined by two guests, rafif jouejati, a syrian american opposition activist and the english-language spokesperson for the syrian local coordination committee. she joins us from washington, d.c. joining us by videostream is patrick seale, a leading rider in the middle east and author of, "asad: the struggle for the middle east." he most recently wrotwe welcome. let's begin with rafif jouejati. are we seeing a civil war in syria? >> i do not know if i would characterize it as a civil war. it is really a case of a regime try to repress a popular demand for freedom and democracy. >> patrick seale, would you characterize it in the same way? >> i don't think it matters what we call it. it is an extremely dangerous situation. in my view, dangerous for everybody -- syria, iran, its allies, lebanon, jordan, the united states, the gul

on saudi arabia. going to be our you should also you should know you forget that the operation started. and then un approval so this is really important that this is how they want to play it as i mean we've. that's a figure of three and there is a larger question ok josh you want to jump in there the interesting thing you're quite right there the interesting thing is that it was once the no fly zone resolution was passed by the united nations when we come came to libya that's where the real death and destruction started go ahead josh. yeah no there is there is no doubt that there was a structural problem here and that is that this the syrian regime has been very brutal in order to maintain itself unpowered skep the police state now you can argue whether a police state is the right state in a country that isn't very it doesn't have strong national cohesion but it has been brutal and the syrian people have been revolting against it because it's failed economically they're very poor they're unemployed an

now saudi arabia is reportedly gearing up for military action against syria it's all about claims the gulf state has already put militants fighting the assad regime but its payroll israel's news agency thought to have close links with israeli intelligence says saudi troops are moving

wide range of opinions of who they are tunisians let people from libya you know jihad is from saudi arabia i mean i know you live there i don't. i think that we've got to cut out the mysterious dark evil foreign fighters from this narrative it's what the americans used all the time in iraq and i don't think lebanon deserves that there are men crossing that border who are lebanese and some of whom are syrian one family said to me when we see them in the darkness we say god bless you and take care clearly weapons are going across the lebanese army found a truckload of weapons two and a half months ago on the main coast road north of beirut oddly enough the u.n. which controls the coast of lebanon with a warship to prevent hezbollah getting weapons didn't spot those weapons which are apparently going to be used against the assad regime however you can take conspiracy theories rather too far in lebanon and believe everything that everybody tells you so you will end up by believing absolutely nothing ok there there's no

. >> saudi arabia. what would you do with our relationship there? >> i would let the saudis deal with their own internal problems as they are dealing with them. i think they're dealing with them. i think they're beginning to loose up their structure but at their own speed. not on the basesy of preaching from us. we have to -- this culture of superiority. different societies have different historical roots. and if they crave anything more than anything else, collectively and individually it is dignity and not someone preaching to them from the standpoint of moral superiority. the saudis are dealing with a terrorism problem i think with increasing efficacy and they're beginning to change their society but at their own pace. we have to have respect for that. >> for 22 years prince bandar was the ambassador to the united states from saudi arabia. do you know him? >> yes. >> we've also seen a lot of the friendship between the prince and george herbert walker bush and that bush one, president bush one sent the prince to see his son in 1999 do advise him on

they're being supported by the united states britain france and the client regimes the gulf states saudi arabia qatar turkey and so you see a civil war but it civil war with international dimensions in the international situation will of course have a direct impact on the outcome i believe that there is going to be protracted conflict i think the syrian government is fighting to the finish and their allies russia in this case recognize that if they were to be overthrown the united states would create in syria a proxy client regime as they have in iraq and as they have in libya ok if i go to you and i ask the question who would be the winners and losers when considering what we just heard here only the syrian people lose. the syrian people and this is it is said because. of the crisis but all of the more than more than ten thousand people killed so this is you know to see. is the name. in my view the civil war all of this unfortunately and people. for four or four months and from the from the from header you know the person who i am afraid that implored internally and explode because there are c

keep to decide which groups inside syria will get weapons and ammunitions paid full tookey and saudi arabiathere are tools claim that the cia offices in turkey to ensure no weapons qaida well it remains exactly how they intend to put that knowledge is that he. and for more on the syrian situation joined by james debt jatra so former adviser to the u.s. senate republican leadership thank you for joining us here on r.t.c. let's talk about turkey's reaction to the reports that its war plane was shot down over syria hours after those reports surfaced the country's prime minister failed to clarify the situation in a news conference why not and what do you think is going on here it seems like there's some kind of gray area. well of course there's a gray area and the question is how are turkey or nato or the countries that want to intervene military in syria going to take advantage of that gray area it's interesting for example that syria is supposedly apologizing to turkey why isn't turkey apologizing for one of its warplanes over following syrian space i think the real danger that it's pointed t

even those in saudi arabia, for example. those who are threatened by openness and freedom of expression are the ones that are most interested in gaining control through this means. >> uh-huh. >> there are other motivations, however, that also drive this whole process. the developing world has historically generated through telecommunications services, i'm sure you're aware. the internet has become the alternative to much of what had been the telecommunications environment, and i see them looking for ways of adapting the earlier telecommunications settlement arrangements, interconnection arrangements and the like as a way of recovering revenue that they didn't have. so -- >> what's a -- what's a -- just give us, ambassador gross mentioned this, give us one red line subject that we should never entertain. >> i think two things in particular. i would never want to see any of the itu standards being mandatory. they should stay involuntary form. and, second, i think we should run away from any settlement arrangements on enforced

these are not my you know there's oppression in bahrain in saudi arabia stage and i surrounded me ok syria i mean can i jump in here just go right ahead and i want to hear obviously the united states is selective ok john go ahead jump in i thought i'd like to say something about yes. first of all the libyan case there was something extremely wrong about our action in libya for the war in iraq at least george bush took the time to lie to congress about going in barack obama completely five of the constitution he never even asked for a vote of congress he went in and waged a war that is an impeachable offense secondly some of the facts about libya are left out there kyra it's all over africa all over the world but libya was unique in africa in one sense there's united nations has a number which of the signs to every country called the human development index it includes gender equity it includes a level of literacy it includes standard of living it includes health care now in libya had the highest human development index in all of africa so which dictator did obama and his buddies deci

one of the reasons is, with saudi arabia, we having for sometime, saudi arabia of coal. we are now apparently the saudi arabia of natural gas. i understand that we have become that porter of oil. while we're not the top producer of oil in the world, i think we might be number three or so but we apparently have more drills going today. more wells producing today than i think maybe the rest of the world combined which is pretty amazing. i share subcommittee deals with nuclear safety, and we have four brand-new nuclear power plants being built in this country for the first time in 25 years. and i'm encouraged with the technology and the safety of the technology that it provides. cafe, we implemented -- adopted cafe legislation, fuel efficiency for vehicles in 2007. congressman sharp, that was something that i know you had a whole lot of interest in. and we appreciate your help on that legislation. but we're ramping up fuel efficiency standards for cars. we average about 36 miles a gallon by 2016. and i think by over 50 miles per gallon about a decade after that. our friends

that will force saudi arabia and qatar to stop sending weapons and sending fighters to conduct jihad against the regime i think we have this vicious circle in syria where blood is leading to more blood but not only is responsible for the blood bloodshed in syria and also some some other factions some of which they call themselves the free syrian army and some of them. like regular fighters under the leadership of some extremist leaders and in qatar and saudi arabia and there is we are in need of a political decision to stop this just briefly do you think there is a chance sad could survive this and if he doesn't what would be the implications if he does go for syria but your own. i think as the president assad still has a lot of. legitimacy within syria he still has. probably fifty two even more percent of the population supporting him for many reasons not because because these people don't want a form of course they do that one thing is clear what's happening in syria is becoming extremely sectarian. you know like massacres being conducted against the pro assad regime and sometimes

to pressure on the regime yes the government saudi arabia turkey among other countries and the need to members have been waging a war in syria for the last fifteen months and it's at a company out of terror or ism and subversion there's this continued documented links to with the states to the mercenaries only growing these people are playing with fire there is no doubt about it at the minute i would say it's a sign up to operation around and the pressure on the. government but it could it could precipitate it a war we really want and i fancy here. more analysis and reaction to developments in syria just log on to our website dots he told com also don't forget to check out our correspondence twits for the latest on this ongoing conflict. live from moscow this is julian assange will remain the ecuadorian embassy in london until a decision on his asylum bed is made he said he's staying put off the defying a british police demond to tun himself in to face extradition procedures trying to escape being handed over to sweden claiming the u.s. will get its hands on him one sees that. retir

she drove and she put on youtube and saudi arabia did not allow her to leave. she also, i invited her last spring to our event and she couldn't come for similar reasons and this time they threatened her son. i'm going to the dark place right now which is syria, the news out of russia, putin, this is a marvelous and drl is a wonderful thing, but have we come very far? what have we done wrong? is there anything you would ask either congress or the public, what can be done differently when we face what we're facing today. the news is quite grim with the news around the world. go ahead, mike. >> it's your turn. >> what do i say? >> i take a more optimistic view. i've worked in this field for a lot of years and so i think that sort of makes me a chronic optimist and i do believe what lorne said, not only is the public our friend, the media is our friend and the ngo community, so many here, represent the true heart of the american people. these are issues that matter to americans. they matter deeply and there is a bipartisan

regime the government of saudi arabia turkey among other countries are the two members we were war in syria for the last fifteen months and it's a company of terror there is a man subversion there's there's going to be documented links to the streets to the mercenaries on the ground these people are playing with fire there is no doubt about it at the minute i would say it's a sign of operation and pressure on the government but it could it could precipitate a war we really want and i hear. the chief negotiator in the syrian conflict says he's confident an upcoming meeting in geneva will bear fruit kofi annan has called the gathering of the world's most influential states to find common ground on how to end hostilities there in syria russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov and u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton however have had a chance to discuss the issue before the main talks artie's lucy covenant has more now from st petersburg where they were meeting. i just walked out of the hotel behind me where the secretary of state hillary clinton and sergei lavrov have walked in literal

we said how come we're not seeing progress or gay rights advocates to countries like uganda or saudi arabia. you know i would say i'm not sure that's entirely fair question i think you know per people's personal views are necessarily how they're going to serve in an office you know i would hope that you know the global consensus i think the one that strikes the right balance between respecting human beings who are you know whether they're coming from and respecting a core civil institution like marriage would be complete on the side of affirming gay and lesbian people's rights as human beings while also affirming the course of the institution of marriage as you know husband wife and i think that makes sense as a good global policy and i think it answers a lot of the questions because that one on the one hand removes what i see as bigotry on either hand affirms or i see is the right of a people no matter where their country to stand for saying it is good and i believe that for the for the future for our children for civil society they're bringing men and women together to make and love and r