news to the people of syria. however. if they do the same and withdraw from. afghanistan from iraq from other region that would always be good news but the thing is over the past twenty years the u.s. have been consistently destructive in our region. both in iraq and syria now in yemen and the role of the u.s. has never been positive who believe that the u.s. need to change their ways. and understand that. the way they've been interacting with the region is wrong. they've chosen the wrong path to work with us the actions of the americans world not bring anything good neither to themselves nor to the people of the region. you've seen what's been happening at the meeting in war so they haven't achieved anything the u.s. are. clueless they don't know how to proceed. both this administration and the previous administration are clueless about how to maintain and secure the interests of the region and so we believe that. the u.s. . change. policy towards the region i support turkey we know that believe that his concern

know that the kurds are part of syria. syria has one nation. not two nations. and the territorial integrity of syria should respected by everybody. so that this meeting emphasize up on the territorial integrity of syria. of course we all agree upon the fate that the security for the neighboring countries of syria should also be guaranteed and protected including the security are for turkey turkey should. feel security from syria we. want we demand brotherly and friendly relationships between the city and its neighbors. this can actually guarantee long term security for syria. we should pay attention to the territorial integrity of syria and at the same time we should pay attention to the. rights. of the shia population of syria and also we should bet the nation to annihilate the terrorists and also we should pay attention to the security of turkey. we all here agreed upon all these points. and so the illegal interference by design history genie in syria. this is a cause for concern by the syrian nation and other nations of the region. israelis. whenever they wa

the states leave syria completely. destroy will be. good news for the people of syria. and when the united states leaves iraq or afghanistan or other regional countries they decide to leave it will be good news. for the nations of these countries. but what is important is the fact that there are the states over the last twenty years. then i say has always had a destructive role whether in afghanistan or with it and iraq or syria or now and yemen. has not been positive role we believe that the us should change its stance. and should understand. their ways to be in the region is not the way they have chosen. and this is not correct and we have only seen that the measures taken by the us are neither and there is the interest of the us people nor and interest of the. people in the region and you can see that there was going to the meeting is taking place in warsaw it's an empty meeting nothing. the us. is confused and doesn't know what to do. what the u.s. is doing or whether the current administration or the previous administration doesn't ensure that enter this. region an

of syria could actually be which is a syria syria the secular democratic where all the different peoples whether they're kurds edis and arabs will all live together in one place so we just need to realize what's what's effective now we need to realize what the local people in the ground want which is peace now and they are working very effectively under the banner so long it continues as far as i'm concerned mr master do you agree that a decentralized syria is the key to a peaceful syria and what needs to happen now to make sure that you know the military defeat of the group will not be in vain. yeah i think a more decentralized. way of governance is very important for syria for the moment given the divisions inside the country from us external perspective but i think the first thing is to put kind off stability in the region to make some successful stories to tell to and to emulate on all the regions and i think this is the challenge for the moment is to make a minimum of stability in some areas now with with the as the f. we will wait and see if it's going to be a successful story and

. >> let's talk about syria. david? >> i wanted to ask the congresswoman, you brought a very interesting guest last night to the state of the union. >> yes. >> a prominent syrian politician who's part of the group we've been aligning with in syria that's been keeping the peace there, i'm wondering what you told the syrian politician about what's ahead for them as the american troops begin to pull out? are they at risk of being slaughtered in those areas and what should we do about it? >> i heard from her their concerns about turkey's threats, knowing that if there is a pullout of u.s. troops overnight and it's too heavieasty then th kurds will be left to turkey's slaughter. she referred to what has already happened in places in syria to know what would lie ahead if there is not an opportunity for the kurds in the northern part of syria to broker some form of security agreement that will allow them to, frankly, protect their homes and protect their families going forward. she also said we never expected the united states

why did they go to syria hold up to them to work to syria what happened there should be a real journalism none of this way of doing things do you think that people like shamima begum should be arrested and tried in a syrian court yeah i think if they were held and no incident parity they should be at us because they were an aid to the terrorists and they should be tried in a suit and coat of course but you have that if they were can you know what people do you have the death penalty that would mean that really looking at britain's citizenship and then could she be executed in syria if convicted of aiding isis well you know i don't like the onset hypothetical question but i would like to tell you about what britain and europe and they might have stayed did course that penalties to hundreds of thousands of students at dizon off innocent syrian citizens in many villages and in many thousands and this is what i thought i knew that they cared about life in utero or in the states but they don't care about life in syria that over they have the thousand people where needlessly killed in this absu

many are saying that because as we speak you know this talking about about syria you can chill syria without the russians have a huge political leverage ability to leverage in syria. about war in yemen without having iran as well a key player in the region so i think this summit started just today with this. whole issue of. this could be a great trip of should you just solve the problems of the middle east that devised continuance is there is hash in the whole bar in warsaw for us thank you hashem well iran's foreign minister says it's no coincidence that the warsaw conference opened on the same day as a major attack near its border with pakistan a car bomb kills at least twenty seven soldiers from the revolutionary guards on thursday president hassan rouhani said the bombing was a stain on the record of america's allies. let's bring you some breaking news now we're getting reports of multiple casualties in a roadside bomb explosion in indian administered kashmir police say at least fourteen security personnel have been killed but al jazeera sources on the ground say the number of ca

with his decision last december to disengage from syria of to withdraw from syria is very much a continuation of the obama policy when in two thousand and eleven he decided to also and. what matters in professional circles is not intentions but the results of that policy and it's quite clear that in terms of the results trunk the traumatization hasn't yet done as much damage to the region as the obama administration did willingly or not is it fair again to describe. the trump policies in such profound ways and be so civil and polite about the obama's result look i will disagree with you in terms of what obama has done personally i think he has not done enough that's my problem with obama has is that kill the left. i don't know i think in syria for example in two thousand and thirteen when there was a threat of and we knew that the assad regime was about to use chemical weapons on the white scale like he has done in. and already in two thousand and twelve obama has established a deadline in the senate about the use of chemical weapons i think in syria in two thousand and thirteen the obama adm

troops in syria and afghanistan. amendment, the pending amendment we're going to vote on in here in about 25 minutes and it is an amendment that says it is a mistake to proceed with withdrawal from syria in the pace and scale that is currently proposed or that the white house has announced that they're going to undertake. this is -- what i'll say here today is what i said initially about it, my position that i thought it was a bad idea. i said it then. i said it to the president in a subsequent meeting. and i thought it was important to restate it here as we begin to vote since i believe this issue is going to be covered in the press more as a political issue than it is a foreign policy one. and it's unfortunate that a lot of these issues are wrapped up as political decisions. these are not votes on political decisions. these are votes on the conduct of american foreign policy which oftentimes have no partisan lines but rather ideological in some cases or simply different ways to view an issue. i share the white hous

special forces in syria i suppose illegally you would say. i only know from the news that there were forces but it is forces supporting the americans but all of them out illegal in my country we did not invite them to come on the way consider any force that came to syria without the invitation of the government is in the that force. ok well reuters is claiming that the united states is trying to stop arab countries from reopening embassies in damascus who is going to reconstruct syria are you making deals with russia china india presumably north post brics of britain who is going to be building syria again the ones who will visiting i gain out of the syrian people you will be said of prize since the. fall was liberated since home so of liberated you would be said of drive them out of work that the syrian people did with their little means with their little money they have that of course a lot of friends would would be welcome but i shall would be welcomed china would do was come. it out and would be well come all the people who supported the

countries pledging to coordinate their work to deal with their islamic state fighters were captured in syria u.s. president threatening to allow eight hundred european geodes to infiltrate europe unless their home countries take them back and put them on trial also coming up ukraine marks five years since those deadly protests on the mind that toppled the country's government tonight we ask how much has the country changed since that fateful month. i'm burned off it's good to have you with us tonight there is once again new friction in the transit relationship this time it's over the fate of european nationals who were captured fighting for so-called islamic state in syria tonight germany you saying that it will work with france and britain in responding to demands from the united states to repatriate eight hundred european extremists but it's easier said than done britain says that the jihad is should be tried in the countries where they committed their alleged crimes u.s. president don trump is threatening to release those captured fighters unless europe takes them back and puts them on tr

as russia iran and turkey meet on syria a b.b.c. producer in the country is challenging the mainstream narrative on an alleged chemical attack he claims video of the supposed aftermath of a toxic strike in the syrian city of duma was in fact staged it's a line russia in damascus have long maintained and the other third of accepted the video at face value touting it as evidence of the syrian government attacking its own people. as more. you do it here it's very often not even a doubt not a suspicion but a certainty that the hospital scenes of the alleged chemical attack in duma was staged this is coming from the b.b.c. syria producer after almost six months of investigations i can prove without a doubt that the duma hospital scene was staged no fatalities occurred in the hospital the incident in question occurred almost a year ago when the syrian military took on the army of islam in the town of duma. the white helmets working with islam missed the. least videos of an alleged chemical attack hospitals people in panic reaction was imm

of syria could actually be which is a syria syria the secular democratic where all the different peoples whether they're kurds edis and arabs will all live together in one place so we just need to realize what's what's effective now we need to realize what the local people in the ground want which is peace now and they are working very effectively under the banner so long it continues as far as i'm concerned mr master do you agree that a decentralized syria is the key to a peaceful syria and what needs to happen now to make sure that you know the military defeat of the group will not be in vain. yeah i think a more decentralized. way of governance is very important for syria for the moment given the divisions inside the country for almost six or in perspective but i think the first thing is to put this kind of ability in the region to make some successful stories to tell to and to emulate on all the regions and i think this is the challenge for the moment is to make a minimum of stability in some areas now with with as the f. we will wait and see if it's going to be a successful story an

hurts in syria no wonder about their state test the u.s. prepares for withdrawal from syria russia turkey and iran are talking about the kurds and about other shared interests in that country. in the last day in competition at the berlin film festival our correspondents have had a sneak peek of today's world premiere so long my song by chinese director wang josh why so anyone choose the second prize at this festival twice could this year be gold. i'm sumi so much god that's good to have you with us. u.s. vice president mike pence has a cold on europe to withdraw from the iran nuclear deal accusing washington's european allies of trying to evade u.s. sanctions on the country heads was speaking at a middle east security conference in the polish capital warsaw the talks are being led by the u.s. and israel who are aiming to push a more aggressive stance on iran delegates from more than sixty countries have been taking part including from a number of arab nations but several countries did not send high ranking delegations let's listen now to th

in iraq and syria that's where we are with the current fight. >> in syria cup i've heard it said i've taken back the 99% of taking back the territorial caliphate? >> that's right it's down to 20 square miles that they still control. >> i've heard estimates about 20,000 to 30,000 islamic state fighters remain, do they remain in the 1% of territory or is that only a fraction? >> no those fighters are geographically dispersed across syria and across the open areas of -- >> some are doug in in the defense and others are spread out conducting insurgency or guerrilla type attacks? >> there are probably 1000 to 1500 fighters left in the small area that we are fighting over. the remainder have dispersed and are disaggregated in different areas and for the most part have gone to ground. >> in iraq and we hope throughout syria as well as you talk about countering the insurgency or the guerrilla tactics, the back clearance. you give them a sense of what the troops are doing or is it more like the rangers that you once led kicking down doors and shooting bad guys or are we providing support. the

syria's territorial integrity can be presented. the why do you is not cleared from . east to be free to use them because. unfortunately the us government continue to legal action still supports terrorism during. music to its advantage or well i have to say that this is mr putin and mr edward guns nine make ten in the last year with all of them including today's one focusing on syria on the ways to bring the long awaited peace to this war torn country as you know the violence has been. happening there in the last almost eight years and speaking before their bilateral meeting both presidents have talked about significant progress due to close cooperation between russia and turkey agreeing that more effort should be done more efforts needed to defeat terrorists on the ground the biggest concern today is of course the province of libyan rushers in syria's north sorie a very vast area home to up to three million people more than ninety percent of which according to the russian side is today controlled by the jihad just from from former al-qaeda affiliated group this is ver

troop withdrawal from syria and afghanistan. iran's influence in the strategy for combating isis and other extremist groups. this hearing is just under 2 1/2 hours. >>> good morning the committee today received testimony from the united states central command. at like to welcome our witness general joseph votel. commander of the united states central command. welcome. general votel will hand over central command at the end of march and i want to thank him for his outstanding service to our countries over his 38 year career. general you've had a tough job and with the rise of isis and the spread of proxies and the return of russia to the middle east, you and the president have grappled with some of the very hard decisions. thank you, for all you have done to keep america safe. the senate armed services committee priority is to confirm the national defense strategy which identifies competition with china and russia as quote the central challenge to the united states prosperity and security. clearly we don't want to be the world's

syria producer after almost six months of investigations i can. proved without a doubt that the duma hospital scene was staged no fatalities occurred in the hospital the incident in question occurred almost a year ago when the syrian military took on the army of islam in the town of duma. the white helmets working with islamist released videos of an alleged chemical attack hospitals people in panic reaction was immediate and violent trump launched more than one hundred cruise missiles that syria france and britain chipped in the un security council in uproar few can he time to think for years duma had been held by the army of islam hardcore islam ists the same guys that caged woman and elders and roofs to protect themselves against airstrikes i can tell you that jaish al islam rules dumont with an iron fist very co-opted activists doctors and humanitarians with fear and intimidation you may also remember in the lead up to this incident russia warned that this could happen and that rebels might stage a chemical attack to invite foreign intervention

the same is true for syria. and the syrians don't overcome the jihadists at home they will enter iraq and then our country. and spread throughout the region that. we get the bad one of their own. that is why the security of the muslim world and that of iran depends on the security of syria. we have the. so to defend its borders iran openly sent soldiers from its cooks force an elite units of the republican guard to both syria and iraq. you know i think it runs influence and commitment in iraq was present well before mozilla in the summer of twenty fourteen really go all the way back to the us intervention in two thousand and three. powerman the shia majority government. role that arena and militias played. ever since then the iranian presence was both opportunistic to expand its power expand its influence in the region but also defensive because it first of all didn't want to return to power of this party and sunni arab domination secondly it didn't want the united states to use iraq as a platform to launch eith

of syria could actually be which is a syria syria the secular democratic where all the different peoples whether they're kurds edis and arabs will all live together in one place so we just need to realize what's what's effective now we need to realize what the local people in the ground want which is peace now and they are working very effectively under the banner so long it continues as far as i'm concerned mr master do you agree that a decentralized syria is the key to a peaceful syria and what needs to happen now to make sure that you know the military defeat of the group will not be in vain. yeah i think a more decentralized. way of governance is very important for syria for the moment given the divisions inside the country for almost six or in perspective but i think the first thing is to put this kind of off stability in the region to make some successful stories to tell true and to emulate on all the regions and i think this is the challenge for the moment is to make a minimum of stability in some areas now with with as the f. we will wait and see if it's going to be a successful

vice president mike pence calls on european allies to send resources and personnel to syria as washington readies to pull out all russia's foreign minister says the idea will only exacerbate the syrian clients. and moscow under mask has agreed to open to humanitarian corridor or spoke refugees stuck in a tent camp in the us controlled syrian territory. a very warm welcome to you watching r.t. international with nikki airing our top story there's been an rest of the latest yellow vest protests in paris where hundreds gathered for the fourteenth consecutive we can divide action against president look songs government's police used tear gas and some protesters have been detained. of course. you might just be able to see in the distance that we've got protesters who are throwing what appeared to be rocks towards if you just turn the camera around towards this line of security forces over here this is being a pretty much a cat and game cats and mouse game going on between the two with the police responding then with tear gas you might just see a couple more of those rocks landing towards the p

of syria could actually be which is a syria syria the secular democratic where all the different peoples whether they're kurds edis and arabs will all live together in one place so we just need to realize what's what's effective now we need to realize what the local people in the ground want which is peace now and they are working very effectively under the banner so long it continues as far as i'm concerned mr master do you agree that a decentralized syria is the key to a peaceful syria and what needs to happen now to make sure that you know the military defeat of the group will not be in vain. yeah i think a more decentralized. way of governance is very important for syria for the moment given the divisions inside the country for almost six or in perspective but i think the first thing is to put this kind off ability in the region to make some successful stories to tell true and to emulate on all the regions and i think this is the challenge for the moment is to make a minimum of stability in some areas now with with as the f. we will wait and see if it's going to be a successful story

in syria are you doing that? >> in the southern euphrates valley, up against the border with iraq, right now and that fight is progressing as we envisioned it and as mentioned in my opening comments, it has led to a relatively small area that is very dense urban terrain. certainly, there is a lot of pressure on isis in there and the area is laden with extreme explosive hazards that pose significant threats to our partners on the ground. they have to proceed very carefully. i would add, senator, there is a civilian component with families of fighters and civilians left in the town and refugees attempting to part this area. what we have seen, as we close into this last area, is our syrian democratic force partners with coalition assistants moving very deliberately, fully recognizes the situation on the ground and making sure they don't exacerbate this anymore than it is. we remain confident that we will finish this aspect of it. when we get done with this, we should expect that we will do what you would remember as

report now from the kurdish city of karbala syria's border with turkey. lady who visits this grave in karbala every thursday to pray and honor the memory of her only son rody he died fighting the so-called islamic state in twenty thirteen as did thousands more kurds leila hopes her sons commitment to freedom wasn't in vain it's a hope that unites many mothers who have lost their sons in this region. people home will never forget them and it is truly a tremendous loss that we're keeping our composure by remembering our sons in our hometown god forbid that blood has been shed in vain them unless i have a high level. but many kurds in northern syria have misgivings this is where the kurdish militia the y.p. ji forced the i asked to retreat in a major offensive in late two thousand and fourteen the price of freedom was high a heavy death toll and enormous destruction. today another danger lives from the turkish side. across the border nearby president type of the one views the wife p.g. as an offshoot of the outlawed kurdish workers' party the p.k. k. he's th

let me go to syria. i will tell you that i us think the administration sent mixed messages about the terms of u.s. withdrawal from syria and whether there is protection for the syrian kurds. whether there's the total defeat of isis or the establishment of the safe zone with turkey and what's a prerecollection wit prerequisite. we recently sent a letter pertaining to the kurds because nashville has the largest kurdish population in the u.s. and it is for this reason in addition to their partnership in the global coalition to defeat isis that protection of the kurds is very important to me and to a lot of tennesseans. and i believe any withdrawal from syria must be conditions based and clearly there has to be a plan to protect the kurds. and any plan to protect the kurds must clearly outline our expectations of turkey. so i'd like to just hear from you the withdrawal from syria. is it calendar based? is it conditions based? if it is conditions based, what are those conditions going to be there on the groun

syria from syria to lebanon by militia. when his militia and they put him in the car and moved from syria to lebanon. across the broad board. when i know it he was later released by that militia group but the state authorities in lebanon put him in jail and he's been behind bars for more than three years now what exactly he's being accused of at this point. actually i saw him before two months he's not a very good condition to be honest but actually he he i don't know why he's staying in the jail because he doesn't have anything to do in this issue of. his campaigns they are disappearing libya and nine hundred seventy six. nine hundred seventy eight story honeywell and this and this he was two years old only he doesn't have the information about. the issue he doesn't nothing he doesn't know anything so i'm really surprised why they are still keep. know he has like for years and the prison. he doesn't have anyone he doesn't see his wife he doesn't see his children like for almost four years now he couldn't talk to the media

and turkey in syria with the americans gone. well it looks like russia is trying to be the most influential player in the middle east right now especially now that the americans always drawing from syria right now it seems to the cards are in president putin's favor the question is how much is he willing to risk for his geopolitical games and can he sell them to russian citizens support for russian intervention in syria has waned as of late and if you all six most russians on the street if they were concerned about is the situation in syria as it would probably tell you know. our idea of a shadow reporting from such a many thanks indeed well the situation in syria is also on the agenda at a u.s. sponsored middle east security conference in the polish capital warsaw the event was originally conceived by the u.s. to president's allies to take a more aggressive stance on iran but the agenda was then broadened to include issues such as the israeli palestinian conflict and the fight against the so-called islamic state u.s. vice presi

syria producer challenges the mainstream narrative by claiming a video purportedly showing the aftermath of an alleged chemical attack. staged. also the head of the us senate intelligence committee which has been hunting for proof of. collusion admits there's no direct evidence proving any links. valentine's day we've been to the city of love to ask people who they think donald trump secretly admires. can't wait for you to pay for it he says you should really get along with tourism me. see could do with. midnight here in moscow this is art. the brig's it blows continue to rain down on british pm theresa may and peace have rejected a key motion of support for much maligned e.u. divorce steal a number of other amendments to the divorce plan were also voted on in westminster where the prime minister was blasted for not even turning up. to the right two hundred fifty eight the news of the left three hundred three. a. yes it gave the government has been defeated. the government cannot keep on ignoring parliament all plowing on towards the twenty ninth of march without a coherent. way it is su

charlie d'agata, cbs news, near baghuz fawqani, syria.rls from east london who travelled to syria to join the islamic state group has been speaking of her experiences. shamima begum told the times newspaper that she didn't regret joining is but that she was now nine months pregnant and wanted to return to the uk so that her baby could receive better care. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. pictured for the first time in almost four years in a camp in northern syria, shamima begum, one of the three schoolgirls from bethnal green who left to join the islamic state group, which by then already had a murderous reputation. just 15 when they went, she told the times about their arrival in is territory. she told the times reporter, anthony loyd, her friend kadiza sultana was killed in an airstrike, but she said the third bethnal green girl, amira abase, was still alive two weeks ago. shamima begum doesn't accept they made a mistake injoining the islamic state group. but she says that while she was with is she lost two childr

it is time to give our brave warriors in syria. a warm welcome home bring our troops home u.s. troops will be withdrawn from syria we have won against isis isis has been defeated the fight against isis and violent extremists is not over our goals are the same and we will maintain forces yet the generals who are openly grumbling about their commander in chief's order seem to be missing the point syria has become a whole potato in a game being played out in the highest echelons of power in the us and the new united states will begin to hand off the fight to our partners in the region no glory and no media friendly war victory potential just a burden so why not let others do the dirty work and tweet others mean europe of course europeans in turn say a they're not janitors to clean up after washington there is no prospect of british troops go in and to replace the american troops living and therefore be this is no way the us should be leaving a possible power vacuum is the stanwood is it a good idea of the americans to pull out of sea

well i said again seizing control of territory in syria and twenty fourteen when it captured the case that he of iraq or and declared it the capital of itself proclaimed caliphate a year later the group's control expanded to include most of it as all parts of aleppo homs and the province of idlib also areas south of the capital damascus a vast stretch of desert and oil fields but in twenty seventeen u.s. backed mainly kurdish fighters read talk the city of raka and the syrian army with help from russian estrada's regained full control of their hours or the fall of these two key strongholds weakened eisel and they began to lose more and more ground more than four years after the group's rise in syria has left is a tiny patch in burgos near the iraqi border. well it's introduce our panel now joining us from morocco is muhammad basta is director of the moroccan institute for policy analysis and ankara via skype is use of a freelance security analyst at set at the foundation for political economic and social research and in london is mesa gifted a human rights activist and anti eisel camp