and lebanon being between syria and israel, and of course syria itself being on the border of israel, lebanon, iraq, south of turkey, you're not going to be -- you cannot be the switzerland over the middle east. are going to have outside influences which usually exacerbate the situation and lengthen the time of the civil war. >> and so let's talk a little bit now, shifting the perspective, to the personal connections that you have to the house of assad. i would love for you to give us a good feel for, who is this man who is the president and how did he change over the time that you've known him? seems like there was a definitive time around 2005-2006 that you say he shifted. please walk us through that. >> again, i first started meeting with president bashar in 2004. i found him to be very welcoming, very unpretentious, self-depricating even, and i never saw him in the mold of a moammar gadhafi or saddam hussein. that's the group he is associated with these days and not a very good group to be associated with. and many people who have met all three -- i did not immediate gadhafi or sa

because we are going to encounter iranians in syria if we go into syria one of the russian is not the time to be doing this show i did just to add that the russian point of view of course agrees with your sentiment that let this problem be sorted out by syria do you think perhaps judging by the way we're seeing the rebels seemingly making significant ground against the assad regime do you think perhaps they could succeed in deposing a sad as they stand at the moment. i think assad's days are numbered i don't know what those numbers are i didn't think that he would last through two thousand and twelve he apparently is going to do that he may hang on he's got several factions in syria who are powerful and still with him but i still think that the best resolution for syria is a resolution brought about by the majority of the syrian people if they can get their act together to the point where the opposition as a war to assad is solid enough and has enough good leadership to topple him then that's what should happen and there should be no outside assistance and that goes for iran to iran s

you know trying to the outcome of the crisis in syria to the advantage of the jihad is there and the and the armed opposition josh are you afraid that syria is just going to explode we had libya imploded but syria could explode and then again let's say with the sectarian issue well i've not sure i think that has been overblown the sort of first world war in the middle east because syria sectarian problems are just going to sweep over the rest of the region it is true that the sarah sectarian problems and particularly the outflow of refugees. is weighing down the neighboring countries and lebanon is fragile jordan we've seen demonstration. it's fragile iraq is still unsettled with a war going on between sunnis and shiites in iraq so and it has it has increased sectarian tensions in turkey shiites particularly amongst the heterodox communities the isle of eason the alawite different shiite inflected groups are very distressed where they are of this policy of supporting the muslim brotherhood in syria so it has increased tensions but i don't think the middle east is going to collapse al

the issue is in countries like syria. the money is much smaller, and the checks and balances that what is the media or the democratic process, and other civil society associations and power centers is absent, completely absent. so even though the pot is smaller, divided in an even much more an equitable way, leading to resentment that will push people to the streets as opposed to the more sort of, you know, democratic countries where these things happen but there is a threshold, economic, and some democrat mechanism kicks in at a certain point, so it's important to not think that these willfully occur and the federal. >> so professor haddad, what about the globalization of the syrian economy? if a marriott wants to open in damascus or something like this, is there, is it just purely private? or is there a state role? >> it's actually been quite close into the 1980s. after the 1990s, early 1990s you begin to see the centers open up. the issue with places like syria is that you can open up such centers and there are in exis

anomie within syria but that is opposed so far by the syrian national council that. includes the free syrian army and even within the kurdish community in syria there are some divisions yes and. neighboring iraqi kurds notably in the person of mr parts and he has tried to smooth over those divisions but for the moment peter we have to wait and see it would be rushing to a conclusion to say somehow kurds have won or are winning this if anybody you know in washington you think of the situation with the kurds i mean in historical perspective and they're doing pretty well considering what's been done to them since the end of the first world war well. i pretty much agree with the germans through a situation with what they were set. a it looks like you know the arab spring basically create some sort of a war it where kurdish people can take advantage of it but then. we have to look at each in an individual case you know kurds in syria kurds in iraq kurds in turkey a totally different story. but there are significant differences between these groups there are linguistic dif

i pray for the christians in syria i pray for the secularists in syria i pray for the liberals in syria for anybody who is not affiliated with the islam or fascists groups like the muslim brotherhood or the cell of the jihadists. whatever you want to name them. everybody is in danger in syria. at this at this moment if so the regime falls everybody who is not part of the islamist movement would be a great danger not only to christians. i want to thank you very much for joining us is. as a middle east analyst. well still ahead here on araa take on the seemingly endless and increasingly violent drug war mexico's police have more than a small criminal gang to deal with these cartels are well organized and armed to the gills i had a look at the tools of this of this trade and the seriousness of the problem. in a climate of american power continues. things are so bad might actually be time revolution. and it turns out that a particular drink of starbucks reza surprising ingredient. so . here's mitt romney trying to figure out the name of that thing that the americans call a dollar. i'm sorry

ethnic and confessional sic their income position of syria is so complex that if. the chaos is established there it was a very great all over the region but coming back to the present situation if people who say no negotiations with us that if they believe that. he's departure in whatever form is number one priority then they must understand that for these geopolitical goal of theirs they would have to pay the price but the price in the lives of the serious of the syrian civilians our priority number one is not somebody who's head is the sation of violence and of the bloodshed. and if they say that they want to save syria and to save syrians then they should join us and should. leave the old those who are fighting inside syria to stop doing this and sit down to negotiate without any preconditions and the fate of must be decided by the syrian people not by the i would say they're. part of the syrian opposition. we speak your language. or music programs and documentaries and spanish matters to you breaking news i want to turn to angles kid stories like you hear. the

around syria. guess you could say some of the parties are directly involved in syria but that's not the russian federation thank you so so much. just. one last comment. there and. it will be. the conflict has been going on in syria. it is really indispensable that this conflict is finished in two thousand and thirteen and hopefully at the beginning of two thousand and thirteen at the end of two thousand and thirteen. again i think that. everybody recognizes that change is needed in syria but that change has to be really. profound and that the question is not have some cosmetic changes in the system. but as i think we all agree this is one of the syrian people. to make but this is people are not in a position to start this process along they need a lot of help from outside i think it is the duty of the international community to provide. and i would like to add in conclusion that i fully share this. wish of mr brahimi on the eve of the new year to see this conflict resolved peacefully. next year to

by these countries during creasing pressure on syria. the syrian government sure knows that if they use chemical weapons it would give nato and some of their arab neighbors who are itching to intervene in syria the green light to go ahead with their plans damascus itself says it would be suicidal for them to do so but with the fear and the hype building up over the use of chemical weapons against civilians in syria it seems the u.s. might be preparing grounds to jump the gun on this one the jumping the gun scenario is not new for the u.s. almost ten years ago the bush administration confidently presented false evidence to invade iraq we have and descriptions of biological weapons factories on wheels and on rails in beijing triggered a civil war that killed more than one hundred thousand innocent iraqis and years later all washington had to say about this was the president thought it was correct congress thought it was of course i regret that it turned out a lot of it was wrong in the run up to the iraq invasion the us media was instrumen

and be an ethnic and confessional sic their income position of syria is so complex that if. the chaos is established there it was very great all over the region but coming back to the present situation if people who say no negotiations with us that if they believe that. he's departure in whatever form is number one priority then they must understand that for this geopolitical goal of theirs they would have to pay the price but the price in the lives of the serious of the syrian civilians nato the claimant of patrick miss out on turkish syrian border is that part of solution and why they really targeted that we recognize the right for turkey to think about its own security and their right to use for this purpose the international arrangements which turkey has in that particular case nato membership . and we accepted this as a given. on the other hand the more military to be or you accumulate in one place. the more risk you have that this had to or one day would be used. as for the. purpose of this deployment yes i read here that some experts believe that if it is intended to

the groups inside syria. they're characterized as secular at the say and up higher and higher as but really line between is is quite secluded i mean that they are say it some of the secretary in israel is muslim brotherhood organization and very small amount of them are secular. you have of course the foreign element is for all the growth the middle east the caucasus region in russia . to syria not only because it ideological reasons but because they were promised a salary by the qatari government and society arabia which is also something that they said publicly so and these are the can groups i would like to call to why the u.s. has now are two years to live in one of these groups that has a new star as an on as an al qaeda terrorist group. i think because. this group has the coast road and in the media for it there is a suicide. terrorist activity but it actually not very different from other groups inside syria. who are fighting the syrian regime. that just recently there was a media article i think impor

i pray for the christians in syria i pray for the seculars in syria i pray for the liberals in syria praying for anybody who is not affiliated with the islam or fascists groups like the muslim brotherhood or the salivary jihadists etc you use whatever you want to name them. everybody is in danger in syria this at this at this moment if the assad regime falls then everybody who is not part of the islamist movements will be a great danger not only to christians are at a mad i want to thank you very much for joining us that was a mad. and middle east analyst. also ahead here on our table and the seemingly endless and increasingly violent drug war mexico's mexico's police have more than a small criminal gang to deal with these cartels are well organized and armed to the gills i had a look at the tools of the trade and the seriousness of this problem. it's part of american power continues. things in our country. might actually be time for a revolution. and it turns out that a procurer drug or starbucks has a surprising. here is mitt romney trying to figure out the name of that thing that

rebels in syria come together under one military command meanwhile more global calls to prevent the government from using chemical weapons are increasingly seen as a pretext for intervention. and hamas valve's it to see the palestinians liberated as the militant group marks twenty five years in action while israel is losing allies through its plans to build more settlements. broadcasting live from central moscow recapping our week's top stories this is r.t. to have you with us the egyptian opposition has announced it will boycott of the referendum on the new constitution saying the document fails to represent the whole nation president morsi has ordered the military to maintain security until after saturday's vote on the disputed draft it is viewed by many as discriminatory journalist a bell true has more from cairo. the national salvation front which is the coalition of opposition forces how the press conference they express their complete rejection of the referendum of the constitution which they say enforces dictatorial tendencies and the key economic and social rights they've called for mo

a chemical attack in syria they should look to the rebels not the government. recently there have been some troubling videos that we have seen on you tube and some other reports of of the jihadist groups in northern syria assessing some chemical materials with the name of a turkish company on them and the background there was a music playing with this chance it's very worrying they were conducting some experiments on the rabbit said difficult to verify but if it is not a bluff then this is this is very very worrying because judging by the effect of this gas it is a convulsing so it's it's a it's a nerve agent and and this is a dangerous development perhaps if you look also at the fact that the united states has recently started listing parts of the syrian armed opposition all of the armed opposition in syria as terrorist organizations that say something that probably aware that their part of the of the armed opposition in syria and probably the the most powerful part of the armed opposition who are the nasr front probably aren't possession of said such material

temptations iran rather than syria well that's what that's what some people say.e configuration as it is being presented in the media it. really looks like it could be used against their own you know syria is not the only issue between america and russia first think obama did when he got reelected is that he signed the so-called magnitsky that would sanction russian citizens and some russian officials what does it tell you about the new state of the russian u.s. relations with britain about my health but i don't think this was the first thing about one of the first was reelected this was inevitable when. the senators saw the guardian and some other censored use this idea that it was clearly. to create catch twenty two for the administration because that ministration was moving the removal of jacksonville. amendment with the support of quite a number of people on the hill. and this was absolutely obvious that the ricans want it because it was rushed obsession to w. . keeping jackson very it would be depriving the american companies of the benefits of. membership of

started so the groups inside syria. they're characterized as secular at the say and up higher and higher as both really line between is is quiet saloon i mean that they are say it so it is a secretary in israel as muslim brotherhood organization and very small amount of them are secular. you have of course the foreign element these from all over the middle east in the caucasus region in russia. to syria not only because of that ideological reasons but because they were promised a salary by the qatar government and saudi arabia which is also something that they said publicly so all these other different groups i would like to call to why the us has an arch of two years to live in one of these groups that has a new struggle as an on as an al-qaeda terrorists school. i think because. this group is the coast media for its various suicide bombings and terrorist activity but actually not very different from other groups inside syria. or by the syrian regime. that just recently there was a media article i think of from the tel

indorsed the arab league observers to be sent to syria. very early was damascus to accept them unfortunately their mission was aborted for no good reason it was aboard that exactly at the time when december two thousand and eleven they submitted their first report to the security council which was rather on the objective site and which was not putting all the blame on the government only but also describing the atrocities and mis wrongdoings by the by the opposition groups then the arab league aborted the mission and then the un observers were deployed and as the relative calm started to be to be seen. not sustainable but still some signs of stabilization were brought to be as the un observers then there was an upsurge of provocations in the areas where the un the service were working and the purpose was very obvious to us the purpose was to create a situation which would be unbearable for for them to continue and that was. achieved so they left as well and then of course in june last year in june this year. in june two thousand and twelve

autonomy within syria but that is opposed so far by the syrian national council that. includes the free syrian army and even within the kurdish community in syria there are some divisions yes and.

one taking syria and syria is the country that needs protection from turkey because we all know now as. a lover of those leads turkey is hosting rubles are training supporting them and sending with vital syria so syria is the one that needs protection. is all this the talk from the u.s. at the moment also the deployment of these patriot missiles is it perhaps a signal that a no fly zone over syria could be established although it's been denied by nato do you think the alliance is actually being honest about is this the main intention behind all of this. it's going to be it could easily be i don't think the alliance is being honest because the best group of them to be lying to the public would be totally including just politically because they you would have just this. sort of as a terrorist organization while it's still supporting at the top of the regime they have to be like the public and they are likely going to get yeah. but so many civilians are dying now this is got to end somehow hasn't it isn't it right now that there should be official intervention after all many would argu

except for syria. syria, they were fine with it, because russia was their best friend.st friendship has survived the cold war. russia and syria have had a sort of de facto exchange program over the last few decades. syrian military officers go to russia to study. and then they return to syria with their education and with russian wives. there are a lot of russian women who are married to syrian men who are living in syria. the two countries have had their share of disagreements over the years, but honestly, they have stuck together. at times when syria has not had a friend in the whole world they have had russia. and vice versa. this is a scud missile. scud missiles are of russian design. they're basically entry-level ballistic missiles, in the words of a bbc story about them today. ballistic missiles 101, if you will. scuds are not that accurate, but they are easy to move around. they're not that big. they're not that complicated. you can put all sorts of different warheads on them. eke. and as ballistic missiles go, skud scud missiles are fairly ubiquitous in the worl

people in syria they are they friends of already they want syria they want to see the government to act outside this boulder but i'm sure this is going to say one favorite sign the height of us about a member of the assyrian social club thanks for making a point so clear it's pretty shady thank you. online fear droning on america reveals a futuristic you weapon in the fight against terror a u.s. manufacturer fails the next generation of unmanned drones fitted with the so-called death ray laser admitting they never run out of ammunition to find out more about see dot com also on our web site so the real cost of studying in the u.k. skyrocketing prices for higher education may soon rise to one hundred thousand talk about. mixed news for jailed human rights activist in bahrain leading campaign enough jobs had his prison term cut from three to two years on appeal that been widespread calls for his release following his conviction in august for organizing illegal gatherings and inciting violence international pressure is mounting on the monarchy to stop persecuting political activists sa

we have to look at each in an individual case you know kurds in syria kurds in iraq kurds in turkey a totally different story. but there are significant differences between these groups there are linguistic differences there are cultural differences. and. there are economic differences but they all have been interests because already selected for you oppressed haven't they and that's what brings them together in their identity well that that may be the case when you look at from outside but i'm not sure to what extent kurdish people rally around that concept all together so and i think i think they tend to think within their nation state their future within that particular nation state you know in syria in iraq in turkey rather than building a larger union or so there are it'll take for example it is a great example of syria collapses where if side goes to syria collapses what's the fate of the kurds there what do you think the. well. now the. kurds are kind of like on the sidelines in the syrian conflict and you know basically they are divided into two one is you know the kurdish nat

as fears mounted on western nations that syria may on leash its chemical weapons to the rebels many wonder if it's all just a pretext for iraqi style invasion. israel has drawn the wrath of the international community this week with major powers and the u.n. ambassador in the country's illegal decision to extend settlement building on palestinian lands. this is a weekly news review and the latest developments on kerry. egypt's president has scrapped the decree that had given him sweeping new powers and effectively put him above the law of the land but the opposition says that's not enough as a referendum on the controversial draft constitution is to shut you off for next week when the military has stepped in to act as a buffer between the warring sides it's beefing up barricades around the presidential palace just come under attack from protesters dentist all these developments his journey true. it does come as a bit of a surprise at the moment as people really think you know the president wouldn't move on his stance against the opposition forces demands yesterday and today they had a meet

i have a question to mr president here in syria we see we see that in syria thousands of people have lost their lives in there many refugees have fled from syria russia has voted against this engine begins the syrian regime in russia has opposed. the placement of patriot missiles along the syrian border. do you think that there were guarantees that president assad will not use nuclear weapons against turkey. syria have nuclear weapon nothing of the sort i have no idea but that looks i was one of them so. there's guarantee this year is not going to use nuclear weapon i is saying iran's lation earlier question syria is not in your corner copy countries you know and you're quite a power and not even close to producing or possibly producing the weapons of mass destruction that's firstly and let me repeat even if that was the correct translation of your question as for the pleasure system it's not the best system in the world that's the ration system and secondly i would just separate the turgid is concerned related to the events of the border when are stand the feelings of the church aut

rebels in syria come together under one military command now meantime more global calls to prevent the government from using chemical weapons are increasingly seen as a pretext for intervention. and how massive vows to see palestinians liberated as the militant group marks twenty five years in action while israel faces global pressure to stop building more settlements. close kevin owen here at r.t. tonight with the big news stories of the past seven days and first egypt's opposition is calling for more protests after president morsi insisted on planning ahead with a referendum on the new constitution which is viewed by many as discriminatory even his decision to scrap the decree which had granted him almost absolute power was dismissed as a play on words journalist trues in cairo for us she says his unexpected u. turn has failed to east tension. it does come as a bit of a surprise at the moment as people who are really thinking of the president wouldn't move on his stance against the opposition forces demands yesterday and today they had a meeting which was dubbed the national dialogue

well of course the west's interest in the conflict in syria isn't guided by democracy all of lore. it's guided by west by geo strategic objectives if it was if it was if it was concerned by shimon rights and democracy and the west would not have such a close relationship ship to saudi arabia which arguably has the most repressive rigid system in the world but i think yes we should be on guard it could be a pretext that but the west issues in concert believe america to intervene in syria i still think western military intervention is only is probably not going to happen but we should be on guard of course they did it in kosovo where they claimed one hundred thousand cars and airplanes being diverted by certain forces that never happens they claimed in the run up to the invasion of iraq the reasons for going in iraq had weapons of mass destruction nothing was found intervene in libya colonel gadhafi forces we were told were going to slaughter. thousands and thousands of libyan civilians there was never any evidence for that so yes it could be a pretext but i think which is they'll be

together to solve the syrian conflict president putin visits istanbul as tensions flare on the turkey syria border. today with. the usual young unemployed in the u.k. despair of ever finding a job with a government billion pound flagship scheme seemingly making matters worse. broadcasting live from moscow twenty four hours a day you're watching r.t. the u.k. and france have summoned israel's ambassador to israel plans to build three thousand more secular homes on disputed land in east jerusalem and in the west bank in an unprecedented move the two nations are also reportedly considering recalling their envoys from tel aviv. reports. in the immediate run up to that you wouldn't vote we did see the rhetoric from the israeli government in terms of the threat of sanctions being turned down the what we're hearing now is that for the first time ever britain and france are considering recording their ambassadors from tel aviv over israel's expansionist policies in the settlements now this comes after an announcement by the israeli prime minister netanyahu that he was approving the construction of

referendum on the new islamist base constitution you've got the latest tonight on mount one also rebels in syria come together under one military command now this is a more global call to prevent the government from using chemical weapons are increasingly seen as a pretext for intervention and how mass opposed to see palestinians liberated is that militant group mark twenty five years in action while israel faces global pressure to stop building more settlements. hello and welcome if you're just joining us this is r.t. it's ten pm now here in moscow my name's kevin oh in first egypt's opposition is calling for more protests tonight after president morsi insisted on plowing ahead with a referendum on the new constitution which is viewed by many as discriminatory even its decision to scrap the decree which had granted him almost absolute power was dismissed as a play on words. in cairo for a she says his unexpected u. turn has failed to ease the tensions. it does come as a bit of a surprise at the moment as people were really thinking the president wouldn't move on his stance against the oppositio

in syria then. a part. of these twenty in fact for one another at the end of the day is going to be the syrians who are going to decide. from. now currently items such as body armor and night vision goggles of course up in that arms embargo and say the amendment would allow items like that to be supplied of course throughout the conflict in syria we've seen an increasingly fragmented opposition and say there is a lot of concern that the supply of any weaponry kidwell end up in the wrong hands nonetheless person will be pushing ahead this week seeking that amendment. still ahead here in all t. tens of thousands of palestinians welcome their heroes the leader in exile of hamas is in gaza and calls on his supporters to keep up the resistance we also what this means for the region and the world. plus the russian city of sochi is gearing up to host the next winter olympics with preparations now in full swing that's coming up after a short break. a forty nine year old southern california man was brought in presid

the rebels in syria claim they are making gains in their push towards damascus while the u.s. is giving the opposition by granting it official approval. defiance north korea blasts off its latest rocket despite global condemnation saying it managed to place a weather satellite into orbit. live from. the studios here in moscow this is the with me wrong and welcome to the program. now rights groups in egypt calling for saturday's first stage of a constitutional referendum to be held again after claiming widespread violations meanwhile unofficial tallies released by the islamist show a narrow majority backing the charter of the opposition which has been urging a no vote to what it calls a discriminatory draft also accepted their opponents who are leading with a slim advantage a journalist a bell trues been following the vote in cairo. it's been a tense night here in the capital in cairo as people have been waiting for these key results on the referendum of the constitution to limit the results of course the official ones will come out of the second round which indicates that it w

syria because that's the no likelihood that syria is going to attack turkey and in any case those missiles to be directed against planes or ballistic missiles not against the shells almost as that of informing the the turkish border accidentally so the office christmas-y. those patriots there and the speculation is based on the fact that perhaps they're there as the first step to declaring a no fly zone and direct measurement of intervention sometime next year and one has to ask the question who did the germans who did the british who did the americans who think it's appalling in syria they're not supporting groups who committed to democracy you know supporting groups that committed to political transition the not supporting groups that are committed to in any way this will mission over an open transparent state. north korea defied the world wednesday with a launched a long range rocket that it says successfully placed a weather satellite into orbit but the claims were met with skepticism by the u.s. south korea and japan who suspect it was in fact testing a long range ballistic missile te