all supported and backed by syria and syria is the only neighbor of israel besides lebanon which is a very different case altogether. there that hasn't signed the border agreement with with israelis they are in the sea effectively in a state of war and the situation changes in egypt and of course it's complicated who knows what's going to happen in egypt but i think that whether the americans like it or not there are forces at play in egypt will that will cause more pressure on the government to to support the people in gaza and i think that in general when you have a situation with the like with syria which is supporting these groups and then you have a new situation in gaza israelis will definitely be feeling more and more uncomfortable to say the least so aren't go ahead is really going on with the way ahead mind boggling. it's mind boggling that jonathan should say they've lived in peace for thirty two years the syrian israelis and syrians were sent out a couple of years ago they bombed illegally the syrian nuclear program and again as professor marandi in tehran said they've neve

well i i think that with regards to syria. the turks are also concerned because they are they have the form of islam that dominates and turkey is is not the islam and it's much more mild and there is a large population and a minority population into kids well as well as as well as a kurdish population so turkey too does not have an interest in syria falling if syria falls i think that as your previous case pointed out correctly. no one will really win even i think perhaps even the saudis would be the biggest lose. because if the salahi's in syria are much more hardcore than in. than in egypt and if if syria falls then jordan will i think definitely i think fall and saudi arabia will be more surrounded than before because right now the saudis have very poor relations with iraq with iran with back rein obviously. in yemen things are very unstable there is a weak central government the north of yemen but who these have poor relations with the saudis because of the bombing of their villages by the saudi regime last year and in the

iran is helping syria oppress protesters what's different about syria. protesters there in both cases we know for a fact. the united states government was supporting opposition groups and so it's only those two countries where washington has an interest in. t.v. and has been a longstanding alliance with syria in this strategically important region right next to iran's arch nemesis israel syria syria isn't the same as libya geopolitically we've always realized that syria is iran's springboard in its fight against israel this is why it will eventually make a powerful sunni jesica impact on iran's positions this brings us back to the question what country will follow syria if it ends in syria progress according to. the libyan scenario we will probably see a similar development in iran unfortunately that is iran will repeat the syrian scenario iranian ships have dropped anchor in syrian ports enormous proximity to tel aviv with damascus crippled by crisis iran we lose its footing in the region this is again a continuation of the idea that you use the interna

has minorities or kurds in turkey and syria if syria broke up that could destabilize two or so a lot of people within those in the high who don't necessarily want change the further away from syria you get america your you can then perhaps say that's how change must be for the better and it goes well it's a long way from us or certainly say there's a potential there for regional cooperation is not on with any professor in international relations from a university and certainly thank you thank you all right now to our libya where kind of kidnappings forces are reportedly bombed an oil storage facility in the rebel held city of misrata the insurgents want the nato led coalition to provide weapons saying they don't have enough to beat khadafi over two thousand coalition air strikes have so far failed to turn the civil war which began back in february one geo political analyst told r.t. that the foreign plan is to deliberately divide and conquer. their objective is not to save civilians it's to break up the country and to turn it into another somalia another afghanistan a failed state th

iran's arch nemesis israel syria syria isn't the same as libya geopolitically we've always realized that syria is iran's springboard in its fight against israel this is why it will eventually make a powerful sunni jet impact on iran's positions but this brings us back to the question what country will follow syria if it ends in syria progress according to the libyan scenario we will probably see a similar developments in iran unfortunately that is iran will repeat the syrian scenario iranian ships have dropped anchor in syrian ports in nervous proximity to tel aviv but the mask is crippled by a crisis iran may lose its footing in the region this is again a continuation of the idea that you use the international machinery to achieve your national objectives under the pretext that you are actually trying to protect human rights should the u.s. and its allies decide to go through with a habit of meddling in aiding revolutions. in the region the result may be catastrophic but if there is foreign intervention in syria yes iran's intervention in response is a definite and very real possibility

set of bans on syria just over a week since the u.s. imposed sanctions now similar actions taken against libya some time ago are we about to see a libyan scenario being repeated in syria. well if you're referring to actual intervention in the installing of a no fly zone i don't believe we're anywhere near that yet i believe that this is essentially the best that even the us can do at present i really can do a lot more it does have a lot more leverage than the americans in the sense that it is syria's largest trade partner responsible for some twenty percent of syria's trade worth over five billion euros before this current crisis so there is more that europeans can do whereas the americans of course that have sanctions on syria at varying levels for decades in the country's proven rather sanctioned group so i think at the moment we're far away from a libya scenario and instead we'll see whether the sanctions that the americans and the e.u. have imposed will have any leverage after all i only want a sense do you think a foreign interfere

on syria would result in the. so much disastrous. consequences i mean. the straits of hormuz is a palestinian groups of people in egypt will probably rise up against it because syria is such a linchpin of. everything that is against us have generally power now in in the middle east france fears it's a leading role in nato the libyan campaign makes it vulnerable to attacks on its soil in response new security measures including certain emails without permission and putting soldiers on the streets have been introduced but critics say france is being turned into a police state. soldiers on the streets with machine guns this is crossing the jeep here at fifty of your most expensive anti terror programs to forward what it calls the growing terrorist threats the government claims troops make the public feel safer but that's not what people think they're like little bit dangerous they can. use the force and the other way if it's a bit frighted with a gun. to the. premier francois feels his troops are required because fra

and syria is also under attack from the outside so it's going to be a close run thing. pressures that give us a lot of pressure. well the biggest most obvious pressure is that. a religious minority that allawi probably no more than between eight and thirty percent of. have ruled syria ever since he came to power because they moved into the military and the police and the majority of the country about eighty percent sunni muslims have launch a for against this and resent that this there was a huge explosion had to be there in one thousand nine hundred eighty two when the city of hama rose up and there were very very heavy killings by the syrian army there's great bitterness and resentment and there's a fear that there could be another explosion in syria there are other ethnic groups who are arrested and but people are afraid of is that if syria goes blow it could possibly turn into another iraq so. many western governments quite keen to see a collapse of the regime in syria because if what you say could happen would be really what the west what the u.s. israel other coun

jeremy bowen, "bbc news," on lebanon's border with syria. >> we will remain with syria. one of the focal points of anti-government protests with human rights activists reporting that three more people were killed during demonstrations there on friday. can you describe what happened on friday? where were the demonstrations and what was the reaction of the authorities? >> actually, today they were demonstrations all over syria. six people died in syria today. three of them here. thousands of people went to the street, women also. the army. they start shooting on people. in spite of yesterday, the government said bashar al-assad has ordered not shoot and still they shoot us. they are arresting people. they are killing people. i have two of my friends arrested. they weren't protesting, and people are missing. they are killing us. i think the government is lying to us. they don't allow us to demonstrate or to protest. and every neighborhood, you have between 5,000 to 10,000 demonstrations. they weren't allowed to join together. they separate each neighborhood from the other.

cause and of course russia has a base in live tartarus in syria and if you just look at syria's allies of the chavez of venezuela. the has been a movement in lebanon we know the united states wants to destabilize syria just as the european union does but the idea that the arab spring if that's what it turns out to be was a spring against those who were against us had you will it is absurd the arab spring if it is one is against us back pocket think pages and you all can say the brush or else is a us puppet dictator and when you say when you talk about the u.s. wanting to destabilize the region there and they say by syria the u.s. is also assad's regime to be declared declared illegitimate what does that have to do with washington what gives d.c. the right to make such a declaration. it's interesting i mean i've been in syria quite a lot over the last couple of years or so washington certainly must have looked at the shootings by israeli soldiers on the golan heights with element of glee one person who knows that there are problems in syria we mustn't say that their own tyranny a lot of

program to syria i think the situation is much different because not only syria is in a very sensitive environments as there is of course the creating difficult situation the war situation the war of usual situation in israel which is this topic that is very sensitive but you also have all these connections that syria has with iran we believe and use hezbollah as well with that i just didn't have mass which with me make it very dangerous for the so-called international community to come we are minutes early intervention in syria we have no answer to your president bashar assad's regime and that is why i think that all these bases are engaged in the get out don't want president bashar assad to mediate to have turnitin. at a very dangerous you creation of the region in the way and with that instead the center is that everything that we see or basically saying would be a little too hot to handle. well i think. that's according to you all the or most of the country that have the convenient starts in the united states i mean they made it clear the u.s. is itself that there have been facing

between israel and syria. but if a country acts against the peace or stability in our region, of course we react. and if iran (inaudible) we react them awell. our policy is a policy of stability, prosperity and political dialogue. >> rose: so what would you do if iran was providing weapons to hamas which were using those in a counrproductive way? would u oppose tha would you urge iran not to support hamas in that way? >> we have been urging iran for... on many issues including (inaudible) issue or including even middle eastern peace process and other issues. but important, what is the constitution? the solution is a peace in the region and of occupation in palestine. israel should accept (inaudible) middle eastern peace process based on 1967 borders and there should be sustainle peace in the gion. >> rose: and you believe it's a positive step that the palestinians have begun to find some way for fatah and hamas to be togethering? >> yes. this is very positive they will open dialogue in cairo to be with egyptia

an air force in syria but i. you know it's the same chain of events that brought to war with libya and now on full doing its whole first syrian leader bashar al assad was invited for talks in paris as was colonel gadhafi but at the same time france reportedly was funding opposition groups in both states now nicolas sarkozy's government is slapping damascus with sanctions the precursor to the invasion of libya humanitarian aide says one also will again be their excuse to go in the logic of them going to need is that they shouldn't have been in syria. syria was once under french occupation but certainly say france behaves as if it's still in control france they've had their spies there for decades now and the religious have had their people there for breaking it so they're going to do whatever they can to use their influence to change the regime in a way that they see fit intervention would leave france fighting in four walls that hasn't happened since it was a colonial power the french defense ministry hasn't been

on syria would result in. so much disastrous consequences i mean. the straits of hormuz is palestinian groups of people in egypt would all probably rise up against it because syria is such a linchpin of. everything that is against us how do you want to power down in the middle east. website r.t. dot com where after your opinion as to why mater was bombing libya not syria well and hard to believe it's the amount of oil that is directing the willingness to intervene around thirty percent you can you assure that nato strikes in syria just a matter of time not just one percent difference that's. ok as an aside a log on to play will say. france has taken the most active role isn't intervening in the uprisings you know raging in africa in the arab world apart from libya it also sends troops to its former colony ivory coast resulting style bushell reports and signs showing that the eyes of the french government are now turning to syria. sahlins cousin was shot by troops during syria's protests his parents there now l

on syria would result in . so much disastrous. consequences i mean. the straits of hormuz is palestinian groups of people in egypt would all probably rise up against it because syria is such a linchpin of. everything that is against us said you want to power now in the middle east on our web site r.t. dot com where after your opinions as tonight nato is bombing libya but not syria the moment i think it's the amount of oil that is directing the willingness. around ninety percent of the russian all that nato strikes in syria just a matter of time just four percent difference and that's you can start also in present problems a lot of dot com and have your say. france has taken one of the most active roles in intervening in the uprisings raging in africa and the arab world apart from libya it also sends troops to its former colony ivory coast. reports all signs of french government now turning to syria. stalin's cousin was shot by troops during syria's protests his parents there now live in hiding but he fears fran

to match what our agencies are saying as to what's happening in syria of course illegal with syria would result. in so much disastrous. consequences i mean the straits of hormuz palestinian groups of people in egypt would probably rise up against it because syria is such a linchpin of. everything that is against us at your money even in the middle east . website r.t. dot com after your opinion as to why nato is bombing libya not syria. it's the amount of oil that has direct willingness to intervene around forty percent are sure that nato strikes in syria are just a matter of time just four percent difference styles and there's. not a lot of that plan and have your say. france has taken one of the most active roles in intervening in uprisings raging in africa and the arab world apart from libya it also sends troops to its former colony ivory coast and results in reports all signs show that the eyes of paris now forty one syria. stalin's cousin was shot by troops during syria's protests his parents there now live in hiding but he fears france will make things even worse for me his country

. >> i wan to k yo about syria cause moreeople have been lledn the uisin in syria than were killed in libya fore nato began i air strike. y libya and not syria? what is the rationale? >>irst of all, i strongly condemned the brutality of securityorcein syria. the onlyay forwards t accommate e legitime dends the syrian pele. hang sd that the difference beeenibyand syrias that th u.n. secury cocil has requestedus to take action to protect civilians in liby we have a clear mdate. in addition tohat,e he support from countries in the reion. this is the reason why we a in lia. >> thank you vry much f joining us. >> y areelcome. >> in syria the government shows no sn ofacking down i the face of protests. the syrian army had shelled sidential areas in theity of homs. this bruta crackdown evokes comparisons to the draconian le of the current prident's ther. urnasts are banned from reporting from insideyria m ha st us this report fr ighbing lebanon. >> a fre-up in homs. several days ito aarsh crkdow on serrie's third biggest city. scor ofeople haveen arsted uthoties say they have kled orounded a

builds pressure on syria as the state department slams the violent crackdown on protests there and promises washington will hold president assad's government accountable for the bloodshed. in libya fresh nato airstrikes hit the capital tripoli reportedly damaging the north korean embassy and gadhafi his compound and leading to more civilian their. crime with no expiring date a german court finds a ninety one year old former nazi death camp guard guilty of accessory to murder and sentences him to five years in jail. and commodities are finally reversed post games this hour after massive declines in the previous session for that and other business news join me and many of us. watching r.t. live from moscow it's ten pm here now my name's kevin now in another top story the u.s. is running up the pressure on syria but secretary of state hillary clinton valiantly sheryll assad's government will be held accountable for the violence this comes on top of economic sanctions from the european union many say the situation is narrowing now the build up to the military intervention in libya out is going

syria could be the next in line. limbs cousin and was shot by troops during syria's protests his parents there now live in hiding but he fears france will make things even worse by all mean his country on the pretext of stopping the violence i don't wish to have. and therefore since in syria but i but i. you know it's the same chain of events that brought to war with libya and now on full doing its whole first syrian leader bashar al assad was invited for talks in paris as was colonel gadhafi but at the same time france reportedly was funding opposition groups in both states now nicolas sarkozy's government is slipping damascus with sanctions the precursor to the version of libya humanitarian aide says one also will again be their excuse to go in and not think of their own government in the media is that they should intervene in syria. syria was once on the french occupation list say france behaves as if it's still in control of france they've had their spies there for decades and religious movements have had their p

in the arab unrest will just fuel new civil wars says russia as it blocks you in condemnation of syria's government and listen now asking who is next in line. from springs a new security measures to counter possible revenge terror attacks for the bombing of libya but with soldiers on the streets and legal wiretapping critics said the public's more scared than safe. also this week for the twenty fifth anniversary of the chernobyl disaster the site of the worst nuclear catastrophe may still pose a danger again raising doubts over the safety of atomic energy a report coming up for you. on the fine line between artistic protest and vandalism a controversial russian article who wins the highest state of war with a work that many dismissed as upset it's. hello it's nine pm sunday night here in moscow you're watching the weekly roundup of the top stories of the past seven days here on our t.v. which make have you know it's a night and first revolutionary fever in syria shows no sign of letting up around seventy people have reportedly been killed since friday in military crackdowns against anti-

syria's a big player in the middle east. disliked by many, but a crucial element in every regional equation. better, some think, to keep what they know. syria has provided a base for the leader of the islammist palestinian movement hamas that's regarded as a terror group in the west. but it's also helped maintain a fragile stability in the syrian territory occupied by israel since 1967. in lebanon, it sponsors the militant anti-israeli organization hezbollah. but it's withdrawn its own forces from lebanon after years of direct meddling in the country's affairs. to the north, it's built close relations with turkey. both states keen to contain kurdish nationalism. but it's been accused by its eastern neighbor iraq, a facilitating terror attack there, and crucially, it's allied with iran. the partnership is regarded with horror by america and arab gulf states. as the regime attempts to crush the protesters, it claims they would plunge the country into chaos, including religious conflict between so many muslims and the minority

and syria have in common both regimes cracked down on the protesters in syria we're getting reports that government tanks are shelling protesters in the country's third biggest city that's about it one of the big differences though is colonel gadhafi didn't have many friends in the region with syria it's much more complex syria is iran's closest ally in the region some say it's very unlikely that iran is going to just stand by and watch regime change in the neighboring syria this could trigger and major conflict we're standing here in libya a coalition for forces now are dealing with a stalemate there is little progress bill little sign of progress for either side in the conflict with the aerial bombardment of leave years which they bear and now they're talking about a mandate for ground troops to be sent into alleviating the meantime the number of civilian casualties there is growing support from a humanitarian point of view it's been a disaster and many analysts say again from a humanitarian point of view nothing suggest that syria could be in a better situation with a leader style int

the culture that they used about syria, this was a reasonable way to send a message to syria. the ambassador has been lectured by the prime minister's about what we think about their policy. the rest of this is that this is dismissive to the syrians. >> that is all for this week. from all of us, could buy. -- goodbye. >> hello, and welcome. >> get the top stories from across the globe. go to bbc.com/news to see the reporting of bbc world news online. >> funding is made possibley the freeman foundation of stowe vermont. the newman's own foundation. the mccarthur foundation and union bank. ♪ >> union bank has put its financial strength to a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> bbc newsnight presented by >> bbc newsnight presented by kcet, los

syria as well.nfortunately, we ended up here, especially the issues in hamariggered the situation. >> rose: you do not want to see another hama. >> we said that very clearly. we said we don want to see a new hama happening. >> rose: can he survive? should he survive? do you tell him it's te to go? it's early to make a decision today because final decision will be made by the pele of syria, of course. and i wish sya is not damaged by that. the unity and integrity of syria should remain-- they should act in unity and integrity, and that's how we want to see our neighbor and we want to prepare to-- together the decades and century ahead. >> rose: when you look at turkey's role here, they-- and kind of country it is, some suggest that it might be a model for where some of these revolutions and rebellions might take these countries. >> well, as said before, societies are different. the countries are different. tradition and customs are different. and with all-- they have to be evaluated in their differen

in syria no in libya military intervention in syria no no in libya yes where it happened in libya is that this they sorry do you carry on what we're talking about libya now in libya. in libya what happened is that the state is divided between two coalitions of. one coalition is the coalition and the other one is those who all who oppose him and this country we never be able to be united country because if that we've really united one coalition we slaughter will be the other coalition this is if the world will be in some kind of solution plebian this is will divide libya according to some line which will leave qaddafi and his coalition to one side and those who oppose him on the other side. the oil will have to find its way out with this vision because if you milledge them together again they really fight each other until one side doesn't exist anymore. with which the world will be responsible for is it was in nigeria they are doing the ninety's so in order to prevent this the world has to divide libya to two states because the situation today can be it can continue to be anywhere as

these two went for it round of sanctions against syria just know but after the u.s. imposed. reports maybe that the u.s. is considering calling for president assad to go is getting closer to the situation we're seeing playing out in libya do you think. respective of whether one trusts or questions the motives and intentions of international actors i think we've seen the model in libya for intervention has only complicated things. intervention has not held settle the problem in libya and i don't think it will help settle the problem in syria and we've seen sanctions there's a history of adopting sanctions in various places including iraq for many many years and only the ordinary people suffered throughout the time the sanctions were imposed. so where is this going to go in syria do you think over the foreign policy chief catherine ashton and the unions to open an office in benghazi many going to call that a step too far tonight isn't it just adding fuel to the flames. i think it is i think it's not helping in any way were in syria it is different from the needy and scenario it

analysts say foreign involvement in syria could trigger a much worse conflict syria's in the heart of the arab world and if it explodes or implodes it will affect all its neighboring countries iraq saudi arabia jordan israel lebannon. and they're all likely to get involved in a collapsing or awards or in serious serious partnership with iran has long been irritating washington yet another recent say some to go after are silent relying on iran as your best friend and your only strategic ally is not a viable way forward critics say the us takes on the role of world policeman not on its inherent alferez mcquire out of self interest and the bigger question is whether those interests have made the wall safer or have to stabilize the more i'm going to check our reporting from washington. the unrest is already spreading beyond syria with casualties reported at the lebanese and israeli borders as people are trying to escape the violence the director of the institute of islamic political thought. says that sanctions and military intervention are able to resolve the conflict and only end up hur