beyond syria and iraq.hink be i agree with steve, that right now, this administration is -- does not have that kind of comprehensive strategy in place and is not interested in developing one, does not have the time to develop one. i agree with him, it's going to be handing over the situation in the least bad shape possible to the next administration. for the next administration, it is a comprehensive strategy dealing with i.s.i.s, that requires not only fire power. it requires development assistance, intelligence, better communication, it requires getting at the root causes of this phenomenon called i.s.i.s. it used to be al qaeda, now it's i.s.i.s, if we don't deal with the root causes we will have a more virulent form of extremism if we were to get rid of i.s.i.s. so -- >> ambassador volker if we look forward and it takes to the next administration for them to come in, set a plan in place, a strategy to deal with i.s.i.s, given events we have seen in paris, in brussels dmm ankara and other cities in just

he also said he is not ruling out a more federal division of syria, it cannot be a partition of syriaerhaps more a federal way of governing syria and that depends on the people of syria and talks here for people to agree on a future patent of governance for syria. >> i leave you there because on the phone from kobani is an official in the foreign affairs directorate of kobani set up two years ago and thank you for your time, how official is this announcement? is this going to happen imminently? >> thank you for having me and federalism in north syria going to be very soon and now the representative of the component of the north of syria they are making meetings in the situation of this federalism. >> tell me how it will play out on the ground then or how you envision it will play out on the ground. >> actually already in north syria in kobani in the umbrella of the democratic administration and under the federalism more components are going to join and there will be more atonomous regions and the regions will track the privacy as according to the diversity of this region to be -- to s

the crisis in syria has put turkey at odds with russia, iran, syria as a state and other counties in the region, as well as non-state actors and terrorist organizations. they are all around the spectrum. with the p.k.k. on the one hand, and the islamic d.a.e.s.h. on the other. >> with fall out from the syrian civil war affecting the country, turkey is fighting two conflicts at the same time. one against the isil, and the other against the kurdistan workers party and p.k.k., a group designated as a terrorist organization by turkey and its allies. no recent attack highlighted how complicated the situation in turkey has become. more than the one in february. 29 people were killed. most of them members of turkey's military, when a convoy of buses were targeted. when a small group claimed responsibility, turkey's government blamed the bombing on a syrian force that works with the u.s. in the battle against i.s.i.l. turkish officials accused the group of being a syrian affiliate of the p.k.k. when the fragile truce between the p.k.k. and turkey's government fell apart, a conflict that bega

there's no way to unify syria, we talk about a strategy to unify syria with someone else leading syria, no chance. ishful thinking. and to talk about a federation, he controls 40% of his former territory, there's it. we have syria and kurdistan already. we know the turks are not happy with it. there's a kurdish a autonomy -- autonomy in syria and in iraq. syria, the about sunnis tarts with the and other followers. radical elements. so first of all, let's find a way to have a kind of federation or whatever and also agree to have this kind of federation. then fighting. the problem is, there are so many contradictory interests regarding the situation in syria, as an example, there are those who support, like iran, hezbollah, russia today, it's an intervention in siria. , en worse than politics believing iran should be a central part of the settlement, of the solution as i mentioned earlier. they demonstrated their campaignabilities when they were supported. why not support other moderates in syria, like sunni moderates, to fight for their cause. most of them were ignored. western parties

the syria of syria? iraq? of course not. the gulf? of course not. turkey? of course not. this is something to keep in mind when we go very quickly and simply. lee: that's great. jomana: i will ask you to wrap we go toor before questions and answers. to say it was very moving when you mentioned about your .riend being killed by isis a reviewu can give us of how the syrians are looking at it, the the seized syrian communities are perceived. what it looks like now and what it is likely to look like. jomana: i'm speaking in my own personal capacity of this. from the people that i talked to come i'm sure that you won't be shot that the syrians are he credibly disappointed by the way the things have unfolded. statesaith in the united is an understatement. they felt really not only abandoned but the trade by anyone who has -- in a country or any leader who has attempted or claims to have attempted to address the situation in. we don't have to go back to the goldberg article, the redline, and how that was the fi

syria and around syria, not only syria because , this will affect everyone wherever?amar: as we discussed. i think if we don't do everything as the preventive measures i talked about or creating the ecosystem that i talked about, or addressing the injustices that have been committed on all sides, not just from the regime to the opposition, but on all sides and , you never address that, the anger is going to increase. we're going to see an increase in anger. we are going to see an increase in poverty. we are going to see an increase in a lack of trust. we're going to see an increase in a lack of cooperation across nation states. the world in which kofi annan highlighted for the reason of his resignation in the beginning of 2012 is going to magnify by 10 times as much, and i think by just what i just said, i think we can imagine where that will go and what will happen with that. but we shouldn't let that happen , because we have tools in our tool box to change that course and that's what i want to get , across today, and that is many people throw up their hands and say,

in iraq and syria have. so over time they will become and start sending those kind of people to western europe. the biggest flow of foreign fighters is now into libya, no longer into iraq and syria but libya. so the same problem we had in iraq and syria now playing out in europe, we're eventually going to see in libya. so that's important. that's the story on the safe haven and their territory and their movement, right? on terrorist attacks think about it this way -- in the last 4 and 4 1/2months since late october, they've brought down a russian airliner over the sinai, one of their groups. they directed an attack in paris, killing hundreds. san bernardino. >> rose: a connection. a connection, right. somebody who thought they were doing it in their name. now brussels, whether directed or not. so four attacks against the west in four and a half months, that's an unprecedented pace of attacks against the west. al quaida never achieved that. so in terms of them wanting to attack us and us wanting to stop those

we didn't go out to the streets to divide syria. we took to the streets for a free syria. it was a great feeling back then. we were saying what we wanted to say and we felt free. >> reporter: a partial ceasefire that reduced the violence allowed them to return to the streets. these demonstrations from rebel held areas were a reminder to the world of the popular uprising that began in 2011. this slow begans and the chants were messages that said there is still an opposition that still refuses to bend to the government. zeina khodr, al jazeera. >>> the i.s.i.l. group still has strongholds and can roam freely mostly in iraq but mostly northern syria. i.s.i.l. has held ground in many areas but it is important to note some of the areas are empty dessert. desert. >> most recent book i.s.i.s. a history scheduled for release in april. he joins us from london. fawaz always good to have you with us. one point you make arab spring following decades of failure in the arab world and the economic popularization of arab societies played a role in the rise of i.s.i.l. >> absolutely antoni

we didn't go out on the streets to divide syria. we took to the streets for a free syria. it was a great feeling back then. we were saying what we wanted to say and we felt free. >> a partial cease-fire that reduced the violence allowed them to return to the streets. these demonstrations in rebel-held areas were a reminder to the world of the popular up riding that began in 2011. the slogans and chants were messages that said that there is still an opposition that refuses to reconcile with the government. al jazeera. >> the attempts to find a solution to the syrian conflict began in late 2011. that's when the arab league first attempted to convince the government to negotiate with the opposition. let's take a closer look at the diplomatic efforts since then. in 2012 russia wanted to sponsor informal talks but it's overture was rejected. the fighting continued and that led to the holding of the geneva one talks, which failed to see ape progress. in 2014 president bashar al-assad held an election. he won a third eternal in office. war continued across much of the country. ea

syria could see cut -- could be a failed state.e got thatnot sure but he did prop up us -- assad. >> he did prop up a regime that looked less summer like it was falling. with the russian strikes you have seen them take some territory back. more over. is this from the beginning this was one of his stated goals. charlie: fighting the islamic state? >> exactly. you think thato putin in terms of how far he will go? >> i think we will see a withdrawal. we will see some of the 30 combat aircraft slowly going back to russia, but russia is not leaving syria militarily or diplomatically. it will be engaged and on the sidelines ready to pounce and save the day if it feels that he needs to do that. they will have their naval presence and their base that was part of the objective going in. >> what putin started with, he said we come was we went in for. if you except they went in to prevent the regime from falling, they have achieved that goal. charlie: and russia is a player? >> russia is a player. there were three reasons they went in. they d

i am talking not just about syria, i am talking about beyond syria. not to say that the reaction, and becoming a terrorist is ok. but it is to recognize that nobody is born a terrorist, ok? and it is not good for us to partassume -- it is not a of the solution for us to assume that everyone who is a terrorist was born that way and there is no hope for them. the only option that we have is just to crush them and fight them militarily. you have your short-term agenda and goals when countering violent extremism, countering terrorism. you also have your long-term. from the short-term aspect, yes, there are some lines where the only solution is force. but that is a minority. the majority is actually to identify patterns to radicalization. , ok?o intervene those patterns off. going back to that point of an ecosystem of alternative to extremism. it is important to recognize that community radicalization and because of interventions that are the most effective may dramatically from geographic location to geographic location. so radicalization efforts in count

and that's when russia announced they were sending more forces to syria. they have changed the picture on the battlefield. certainly when they first intervened, president assad was on the back foot, losing ground, now certainly he has gained territory since then. what's not clear is with whether the idea is to pull out the forces now and lock in the gains at these diplomatic talks or whether there's a bigger change, whether perhaps russia for the first time is contemplating ditching president assad. >> obviously potentially a huge development and comes as talks are underway in geneva, that's why you're there, the other talks had clatchessed, how are these talks going and have we had any reaction from the syrian regime? >> no reaction from the syrian government delegation coming out here. the only reaction we have is from the syrian national news agencies in damascus which says, it probably would say this anyway that this was a joint decision between the syrians and the russians. we do have some reaction from the opposition delegation, an opposition spokesm

they won't just be about syria, but i think for the obama administration syria is the central thing. they know that to fight i.s.i.l. and brussels shows the problems of i.s.i.l. and how far the problems of syria have spread, you can't really do it until you have the end of the rest of the war in syria and then you can go into those areas, particularly, raqqa, where i.s.i.l. has its that headquarters. so i think syria is at the center of all this, but russia will be bringing up a lot of other issues >>> thanks. plenty more ground to cover for you here on the news hour. including the people of sudan. >> reporter: i'm adrian brown on a disputed island in the south china sea where this time it's taiwan making waes in these trouble waters-- waves in these troubled waters. >> i feel sorry if in any way i hurt my female cleepg ten players. >> reporter: coming up in the sports new, novak djokovic is forced to back pedal after a tennis sexism row >>> a cessation in hostilities in yemen. there have been several failed attempts to end the conflict that has triggered a big humanitarian crisis in

syria is about three kill opinionsters away. there are refugees until syria.an see little silvery lines. syria hosting thousands of people keep tracking further left. you will see back inside turkey, town of kilis, 90,000. hosting 127,000 syrians so ebb a microcosm here, the effect of separating out syrians from all over the place. it isn't safe frankly here just over the border here isil territory, twice in the last week. caught a mother and her 4-year-old. it plays to the argument from human rights organizations in europe which say the current plan to try to move people as illegal my grant back here in areas which, for example, the european union might deem to be safespots either here or inside syria is difficult to argue for because particular now in the event of the russians leaving, the front lines will ebb and flo. what will happen? 100 kilometers south of here. what areas are going to be safe for roughege ease to be in, in the median term, let alone the long-term. >> most likely everyone, lawrence, said in the past couple of years that those camps in tu

he once described getting peace in syria as almost mission impossible.t does he think the chances are now? >> higher. certainly higher than ever before. for three reasons. the first one we do have a momentum, and we can see it in the syrian people are detecting it themselves. you can ask them and they will tell you that. both on the human side, not enough, but momentum, and then on the cessation of hostilities a reduction in violence. not enough, but moving in that direction. think about what it used to be three weeks ago. the second reason is we do have something that both cofee annan, and his predecessor did not have, some unity at the security council. and three, we have the so-called vienna group. 18 countries from saudi arabia to iran, from qatar to turkey, from u.s. to russia, sitting in the same room and in theory and so far quite a lot in practice, discussing how to get a political solution, not a military solution in syria. all of that is potentially good news. doesn't mean solution, but potentially it is in the right direction. >> reporter: in

the chemical weapons were used in syria. >> reporter: syria's civil aisation has been described as one of the most ancient in the world, full of treasures that have survived for two thousand years. parts of it completely destroyed. entire communities forced to leave not just their homes but their country. nobody wants to be a refugees and there is little international appetite to find a home for the constant flow of syrians fleeing from this war. their future is vulnerable and uncertain. they long to go home but no-one knows when that day will come and what syria will look like when it finally does >>> more makeshift shelters in the french refuse gee camp known as the jungle have been cleared. only a few structures remain in the southern parts of the camp related in the french port of calais. dozen $have been on hunger strike for two weeks over the site's demolition >> we don't have any other option. nobody can hear us, nobody can do anything for us. so we decided living this way, our rules, our voice can be heard >>> police in belgium are still hunting two suspects following tuesday's

the syria is the cloud, right? syria is the dark cloud that hangs over this administration, and the differences between the noninterventionist obama and the intervention mist in the foreign policy establishment and the middle east and europe is profound. i mean, he really beliefs and he has reason to believe this, this is not coming out of the air, that one of his primary tasks is to keep america from intervening, from following its impulses and intervening in middle eastern civil war that can't be won. and he believes, i think, that ten, 20 years from now, we will all look back and say, wow, thank god barack obama was there to stand up, thwart, you know, history and say, we are not going. >> rose: this time we are not going to do it. >> this time it is not our -- and there are two other quick observations about that. the first is that he doesn't believe that the middle east is important as it used to be for the united states. the obviously reason is energy independence, right? and the second thing even if it were

in northern syria. they are certainly an important part of the big picture of syria even staffan de mistura has said that the issue will be one that will come at a later stage. he is trying to deal with the two main sides, the high negotiations committee, the main opposition block and of course the syrian government, ambassador joffrey who is meeting with staffan de mistura later on today. you can see perhaps why they don't want to bring in the added complication of the kurdish issue. if you listen to the comments when he spoke to reporters, he took some questions in english but is strongest when he spoke in arabic. he was asked about the high negotiations committee that main opposition block, and in his answer, he referred to the h.n.c. and also to one of their key members. listen to what he had to say. >> it's not an honor at all to sit with a terrorist in direct talks. the chief delegation of saudi is a terrorist. he belongs to a terrorist faction that's hit embassies and killed citizens at the facul

thanks for joining us from turkey near the syria border.three refugees drown as they tried to cross a river on the greek border hoping to reach macedonia and hundreds made the attempt and many of them are now being held by police on the macedonia side, refugees abandon a makeshift camp in greece where they were stranded after the border crossing was closed and mohamed reports. >> reporter: desperate to continue with their journey north word hundreds of refugees make a dramatic corrosioning over the river at the border of greece and macedonia and young men formed a human chain helping the women, children and elderly cross the fast-moving river, hundreds were successful with many of them holding children and their belongings on their head as they waded across. >> translator: we have no option but to go on. we have children and we don't have much basic of services, no toilets. >> reporter: they are holding 400 refugees who reached the border with greece and 1,000 migrants including children left the supporting camp in the greek village and wal

in syria. american special force he are helping the iraqi government and cusht kurdish informs rolling i.s.i.l. back. and syrian troops are fighting both i.s.i.l. and the u.s. backed rebels. either way, i.s.i.l. is on the defensive now in both syria and iraq butter the group is very much on the offensive everywhere else. the i.s.i.l. ideology is morphed into a franchise that's being taken up by the likes of boko haram in nigeria and grille la guerilla groups. the same story in libya. the new local i.s.i.l. franchise announced itself last year when it murder twuf 21 egyptian christians in front of cameras. but as i.s.i.l.' i.s.i.l.'s fore started to turn, regrouping, in february, i.s.i.l. launched strikes against a border in tunisia, the base was hit, 49 people died in the raid and six were wounded. the defense secretary, u.s. secretary ashton carter says u.s. needs to confront i.s.i.l. everywhere. he said "we are going to protect ourselves in libya as in anywhere else." i'm joined by douglas ol

is they have got to try to deal with the problems of syria which are spreading well beyond syria's borderse are clearly isil which is a threat to other parts of the middle east and exists in other parts of the id l east, for example in libya, and may well be involved in planning attacks in other parts of the world, particularly in europe, and the other way that the crisis in syria is spreading to europe is that mass migration, all of the refugees spreading through turkey and then on to europe. i think the big idea is try to solve the fundamental problem in damascus, solve the political problem, and the new syrian government that represents elements of the current government and elements of the opposition, and then you stop the war, and then you can deal with those problems that are going well beyond syria east territorial borders. the new syrian government if you get there, and we're a long way off, could be help by the international community to fight isil and the refugees could start to return. that's the event yule plan. >> did you detect a slight shift in the tone from this kerry, and

recruits heading for syria. the government says it's doing its part in shutting down that route >>> securing turkey's 900 kilometer border with syria is not easy. the government wants to seal it off completely with concrete walls, watch towers and more guards. the construction started about two years ago. some residents here say it's already made a difference. >> reporter: they were passing from here, terrorists, man, woman, smugglers. they were all passing from here. >> reporter: turkey says it fears i.s.i.l. fighters are crossing into its territory with the intent of carrying out attacks. this is the closest we can get to the border with syria. you can see behind me the concrete wall. that wall was built about a month ago by the government authorities. they want to prevent all smuggling activities and prevent people entering illegally. western powers have accused turkey of turning a blind eye to the flow of foreign fighters in and out of syria. more than 30,000 foreigns from 100 countries are fighting in syria

squeezing them in iraq and syria.you have in libya right now are largely focused on gaining territory, possibly conducting attacks. over time they will develop the same external focus on europe and the united states that isis and iraq and syria have. over time they will start sending those people to western europe. the biggest flow of foreign fighters is into libya. no longer into iraq and syria, but into libya. the same problem we had in iraq and syria now playing out in libya. that is the story on the safe haven and their territory and their movement. on terrorist attacks, think about it this way, in the last 4.5 months, since late october, they have brought down a russian airliner over the sinai one of , their groups. they directed an attack in paris. san bernardino, a connection. somebody who thought they were doing it in their name. against -- four attacks against the west and 4.5 months. al qaeda never achieved that. charlie: so isis is the greatest national security threat to the united states? mike: right now,

president assad's chief negotiator said he wants to keep syria together, not break it apart. >> the syriaurds are an important component of the syrian people. we are proud of them. they are proud of us. we have established our -- our state together for centuries. so betting on creating any kind of divisions among the syrians will end -- will be a total failure. >> an official in the foreign affairs director rate of kobani, one of three autonomous regions set up in syria two years ago says federalism could work across the country. >> now the [ inaudible ] north of syria, they are under the declaration of this federalism. in north syria [ inaudible ] kobani and [ inaudible ] umbrella of the [ inaudible ] administration, and under the federalism, more components are going to join, and there will be more autonomous regions, and it's not just for the north syria or the kurdish regions, it must to be for syria in general, because under this federalism,sy and the economy is going to be guaranteed. >> lawrence lee has more from the boarder. >> reporter: well, it's only day three of geneva and the

these are hezbollah fighters in syria. the shia group says its fight is to prevent rebels from moving into lebanon to launch attacks there. the gulf cooperation council and the arab league have recently labelled hezbollah a terrorist organization accusing the group of killing civilians in syria. a decision hezbollah leader says won't deter his group from sending fighters to syria. >> reporter: we are not ashamed and we do not need to justify our fight in syria. no-one gave us orders to send troops, not even iran. or the iotolah. going to ser i can't was our decision-- syria, it was our decision. >> reporter: this is one of the largest fighting opposition groups. based on the outskirts of the capital of damascus, it is backed by saudi arabia. it's one of the many rebel factions trained and financed by rich gulf countries and turkey who is studently anti bashar al-assad >> in syria we are working to bring about political change if possible to what is happening in syria in order to remove the man who is responsible for the mu

in iraq and syria. the only way that we can live in the kind of federation there is no way to unify syria. talking about strategy to unify syria to someone else leaving syria no chance. wishful thinking. and to talk about a kind of federation, we stand led by bashal, it's 30% of his former territory, that's it. we know the turks are not happy with it. >> we might think about in syria. . the problem is with the -- we have diish, al qaeda follow us survival elements. so, first of all let's find a way to every kind of federation or whatever is also agreed to have this kind of federation and then fighting the other or whatev whatever. the problem is that so many contradictory regarding the situation and syria is an example. like aran, isbala, russia today is an intervention in syria. and even western, it should be a simple part settlement of the solution as they mentioned earlier. so they'll demonstrate the capability to fight. they'll go support it. why not support as moderates in syria. . most will be ign

or the kurds in syria ambitions about syria start to evolve in a different direction. so if syrian kurds wish to declare and keep a federal system, we can expect that syrian kurds will not diverse substantially from the position taken by the regime in damascus, iran and iraq on the future of syria at the regional level, but when it comes to the international level we should expect pyd to keep a balances position between them >>> a balanced position, that's something that turkey would disagree with. it you are key would be unhappy with any potential announcement, don't you think? >> for sure. the prime minister paid a visit to iran where he jointly made a statement that turkey is in favor of the syrian territory unit. so on the other hand, we know the turkey strict positions against any sort of autonomy on turkey-syrian borders by kurdish y.p.g. pyd is less interested in turkey as a terrorist organization and it is regarded as a serious threat to the national security. any declaration by the syrian kurds for a federal system will not be welcome by ankara >>> the opposit

can stay in northern syria because of this pose. that is the problem. >> just moving on to the other line of the story in ankara, tell me how the plans will affect people having an immunity or built in clause of immunity stripped away from them. >> you know, the issue is that supporting, openly supporting terrorism, the issue is not that somebody talking in the parliament. they talk everything in the parliament. that's not the problem. problem is if you actively support the underground and collaborate with terrorists and using the immunity, this is not democracy. democracy, you can use democracy against democracy. the issue is now that in keeping the immunity, actually it is the request coming from court because this is of course the decision. prime minister said that we have no fear of stripping out the other m.p.'s who are already, you know this ordered by the court that 506 at the moment that court orders for different m.p.'s other than h.d.p., so lets strip all of them immunity and let the court decide what to do. >> good to tal

they want to see a free syria, democratic syria without assad, without terrorism, without these militias or terrorists that he really recruited from outside. i believe it's about times to no to this regime, to say no to these crimes in syria. we are here to really see a negotiation about transition, a political transition in syria, we are here to really see some serious work. we want to see a serious partner, and also, we want to see action by our friends. >> 8.4 million syrian children are affected by the conflict which began five years ago. this is according to a new unicef report. 3.7 million children have been born since then. nearly 7 million children are living in poverty. half of all syrian refugees are children. many of those fleeing the fighting in syria have taken refuge in jordan. we went to one of the camps housing them. >> when the first syrian refugees arrived in jordan, they never dreamed they would be here this long. five years later, a new generation has been born here. in february, rima became the 5,000th baby delivered in the u.n. hospital in jordan's biggest refugee c

semiautonomous jones in syria. the broader question ask, as i said, really this is something that needs to be discussed and agreed upon by the relevant parties in geneva >>> the u.s. secretary of state has told his russian counterpart that the need for a political transition in syria is urgent. john kerry spoke to lavrov on the phone and emphasised the importance of maintaining the limited truce. their latest call took place as representatives of the syrian government and main opposition attend talks in geneva. our diplomatic james bays to join us. set the scene and tell us what's expected later on thursday? >> reporter: we're continuing these proximity talks. so it was the government side that was here 24 hours ago, although there were in the afternoon here some other invite ees from the opposition who are not part of the main opposition block, but in the main hours it is the main opposition block who are back here for the talks. it's not just that meeting that is important, because if you remember some of the key

five years since the start of the uprising in syria. neither bashar al-assad nor the rebels seem to have the upper hand. what started as an art cry against-- out cry against oppression turned into a full blow conflict. these are hezbollah fighters. they say they prevent rebels running into lebanon. hezbollah has been labelled a terrorist organization, a group accused of killing groups in syria. the hezbollah leader says it won't deter his group from sending fighters to syria >> translation: we are not ashamed. we don't have to justify our fight in syria. no-one gave us orders to send troops, not even iran. going there was our decision. it was our will. >> reporter: the army of islam is one of the opposition's largest fighting groups. based on the outskirts of the capital, it is backed mainly by saudi arabia. it is one of the many rebel factions trained and financed by rich gulf countries and turkey. >> in syria we are working to bring about change, political change, if possible, to what is happening in syria in order to remove a man who

this is no longer the syria that we once knew. yes, we love syria.i am saying this because this is what i have heard so many times from syrians who left syria. we cannot take the barbarism that we are witnessing. keeping that in mind, how human rights and good governance help prevent terrorism and extremism, the conditions that make individuals or communities vulnerable to violent extremism recruitment, often called "push factors," are often physical insecurity or the inability to provide for one's family. i think we can all agree that many syrian people feel that these are the conditions they are currently living in, and if we do not have a sustainable peace process that supports them in a realistic way, this is only going to continue. two, even where people's low-level needs are not met, social and political marginalization can impact higher-order human needs such as a valued role or a higher purpose. again, do you think that a valued role or higher purpose is being served right now for the syrians who are currently living in syria? or for the syri

can you confirm this was in syria, the death of the latest leader was in syria and more broadly, cana lot of al qaeda senior leaders killed repeatedly over the years. the number three was killed every six months or so. what do you think this actual death suggestios in terms of plots, particularly those involving the west. does it mean anything or do they just replace them? >> i'll turn it over to joe after this. >> the marines that the secretary -- >> let us take your first question first. on the question of leadership, striking leadership is necessary, but as you note, it's far from sufficient. leaders can be replaced, however, these leaders have been around for a long time. th they are senior and experienced. eliminating them is an important objective, and it achieves an important result. they will be replaced and we'll continue to go after their leadership and other aspects of their organization. >> the marines this week in their support of the iraqi offensive operation, is this something we will see more of, do you think, as time goes on in the fight to get to mosul, and is -- ca

in geneva, diplomates are hoping to build on a fragile truce which reduced the level of violence in syria it came into effect at the end of february but not all sides have been invited to the talks and the syrian government agreed to attend but foreign minister says it will not discuss the presidency and main opposition representative will there be but only will accept a govern body within six months and the high negotiation community represents the coalition and the free syrian army. russian wants ethnic kurdz in the talks but not invited and i.s.i.l. and the front el nusra front have also been excluded and we are joined on set by senior political analyst and we are expected aren't we to hear from the envoy sef -- staffan de mistura and he is collar of his agenda but the other sides are not so much so. >> after the destructive civil war we are all just happy they can be in the same building, right, but there are conflicting interests and not just conflicting positions if you will. there are more now forces that are effecting the negotiations in geneva as everyone in the world knows the r

russia's withdrawal from syria should not be seen as a victory. bashar al-assad's position was strengthened, not to the point of victory. it ads vladimir putin succeeded in ending the situation in ukraine. "the japan times" asked the question now that russia pulled its forces out of syria, where will vladimir putin focus attention next. it's like loi it will turn towards europe. it warns the rest should be ready because vladimir putin's mission to return russia to great power is nothing less. president obama's refusal to stand up to russia opened the door for russia to attack with impunity. the paper says comment will likely embolden not only the kremlin, but dictators around the world. >> the west african giraffe roamed throughout the region's havana. there is an effort there to rebuild the giraffe population, we have this report. on the look out for the last giraffe. this is 50km south. the african t.v.annas stretched out. soon it shows up at a distance, grazing on the favourite abbing asia trees. there was a time they roamed across the region.

raid in syria on thursday. joining us here on the news hour is our correspondent from washington, d.c., an iraq analyst and government relations manager. when you were listening to ash carter, do you think they got it right, or do you think they got it wrong? they certainly seemed to believe they managed to degrade a major part of the command structure of isil here. >> i think that analysis is overblown, and exaggerated. we have seen hundreds of these announcements in the last decade or so, where the u.s. claims that it has assassinated or killed a senior member of al-qaeda or now with isis, and these announcements were never followed by any change on the ground. i think the u.s. feels that there is a crisis of showing any results for u.s. military action that has been failing over and over, and they try to use these incidents as -- as an opportunity to claim victories. i don't think there will be any actual effects on the ground, though. >> if you are right when you say it is failing over and over, why are we

on the ground and beyond syria's borders. three and a half years ago the man who first threed to resolve the conflict resigned and had this to say. >> at the time when we need, when the syrian people desperately need action, there continues to be finger pointing and name calling in the security council. >> reporter: that hasn't changed. no-one seems to be able to find common ground on how to end this war. everyone has their own interests. so-called red lines were crossed. >> first hand accounts from humanitarian organizations on the ground. these all strongly indicate that everything these images are already screaming at us is real, that chemical weapons were used in syria. >> reporter: syria's civilization has been described as one of the most ancient in the world. full of treasures, some that have survived for almost 2000 years. parts of it are now completely destroyed. entire communities forced to leave not just their homes, but their country. nobody wants to be a refugee and there is little international appetite to find

that chemical weapons were used in syria. >> reporter: syria's civilization is described as one of the most ancient in the world, full of archaeological treasures, some that survived for almost 2,000 years. parts of it are now completely destroyed. entire communities forced to leave not just their homes but their country. nobody wants to be a refugee, and there is little international appetite to find a home for the constant flow of syrians fleeing from this war. their future is vulnerable and uncertainly. they all say they long to go home, but no one knows when that day will come and what syria will look like when it finally does. stephanie dekker, al jazeera. >>> morocco has decided not to withdraw its troops from u.n. peacekeeping missions. it has threatened to pull out after it was angered by comments from the bank ki-moon when he said morocco was occupying the contested region of western saha sahara. morocco has asked 84 u.n. international staff there to leave within three days. this was the reaction of bank ki-moon's spokesman. >> this is a unilateral action, which i think is in

in syria. and a new president for myanmar. parliament has elected a civilian leader after more than f half a century of military rule. >>> and five states are picking their choice for the presidential nominee in the united states. >>> i'm in austin, texas. we'll take a look at just how hard it is to make a living as a musician here. ♪ >>> we do start with breaking news out of belgium where a major operation is underway. we with hearing that police investigating the november attacks in paris were hunting a gunman after shops -- shots were fired during a raid on a house in brussels. that's all we know at this stage. we are waiting on our correspondent jacky rowland to give us more details on this breaking news story. >>> to other news, russia has begin pulling forces out of syria. the defense ministry says the first group of war planes has already left. around a thousand troops are expected to stay in the country. the russian military began its air complain in september. the decision to pull out,

we didn't go out on the streets to divide syria. we took to the streets for a free syria.t was a great feeling back then. we were saying what we wanted to say, and we felt free. >> a partial cease fire that reduced the violence allowed them to return to the streets. these demonstrations ain rebel-held areas were a reminder to the world of a popular up rise that began in 2011. the slogans and chants were negligence that said there is still an opposition that refuse to see reconcile with the government. zeina hodr, al jazeera. the iraqi military says 22 of its soldiers have been killed in an attack by isil. this happened at a military barracks northwest of ramadi. dozens more were injured. >>> iran's foreign minister will meet with his australian counterpart on tuesday. it's part of a tour aimed at nurturing relationships and building trade links with asian countries. australia is trying to push an agreement for iran to take back around 9,000 failed refugees. andrew thomas reports. >> these protesters see it as a case of love denied. needing iran in 20s 12 after she says she

and some of it is just this perfect storm of the fact that these syria crisis, the syria several war been happening within the distance that they can reach, and that they're able to come back again, and the fact that there is access to weapons and access to the materials to make explosives. >> keir simmons reporting on the scene in brussels. thank you, sir. again, we have been watching the active pictures coming to us out of the schaerbeek neighborhood where a raid is taking place. we saw police unloading privacy barricades, screens to give a proper work space. they loaded one back into the truck. and on the top of your screen, we're waiting for ash carter from the pentagon to give an updated briefing on what we know about what's taking place, the terrorist attacks that happened in brussels as well as the reports of the second in command from isis, killed yesterday during a strike. back with much more in a moment. ght, at&t helps keep everyone connected. right now at at&t, buy the new samsung galaxy s7 and get one free. no matter how you hang out, share every minute of it. buy one wa

>> bashar al-assad is not - would not be a ruler of syria any more. this is not acceptable [indistinct] the russians are having the discussion. what they are saying [indistinct] i believe they will be there. they will wait because this is the will of russia and other countri countries >>> we appreciate your time. thank you for joining us on al jazeera. meanwhile on the ground syrian government forces have attacked a city while trying to advance in opposition controlled areas. there have been heavy clashed between the army and syria armed opposition. turning our attention to yemen where government forces have recaptured parts of the city of taiz. the city has been under siege for houthi rebels for nearly a year. key areas were taken in the west an south of the city. >> reporter: troops loyal to the president broke through houthi lines in taiz, breaking a seeming on yemen's third largest city. they can now send humanitarian aid and weapons to the southern port city of aden. for the government the latest game is a major development in the push to capture

. >>> inside syria, the fighting largely goes on.ernational aid agencies are warning the u.n. security council are adding what they call fuel to the fire of syria's war. human rights organizations have put out a report which shows that 2015 was the worst of the five-year conflict. they accuse russia, france, the u.s., and britain, of supporting rival sides or direct military action. they say at least 50,000 people have been killed since april of 2014. and an extra 1.5 million people are in need of humanitarian aid. last year they delivered assistance to fewer than 4% of those living in besieged communities. and even less food. the author of the report says recent progress in syria is encouraging but is taking too long. >> the last couple of weeks has shown with the cessation of hostilities, and the delivery of assistance, that when the international community put their mind to it, they can make progress on the ground inside syria. i think the question is why it has taken them so long to do this, and why over the course of the past ye