it was in geneva in june 2012 that geneva i took place. in many ways it is supposed to be the basis of what's happening here. geneva 1, when kofi annan was the negotiator for the arab league and the united nations was a moment of agreement between the parties. and they agreed that the way forward was a come up with a transitional body they called it, not even a government, but said that would have full executive powers in syria, and that body should be comprised with members of the syrian opposition and government. key words - it said in that agreement that they had to come up with the transitional body. it's taken a long time since then, 18 months to get the parties around the table for the next stage trying to form the transitional body and rules of syria. i think the key words, the words by mutual concept. that's the difficulty. how are the two sides, when the battle has been brutal and bitter on the ground. how will they come up with a government that both sides agree with. it's worth questioning whether the syrian government is - beli

>> with the geneva talks looming, the diplomacy is intensified. the syrian foreign ministry and the iranen foreign pinster here to speak with the russian foreign minister. we have more from moscow. >> hello, and welcome to al jazeera in doha. the election campaign in india, but so far he stint named official candidate for prime minister. >>> mass killings and mass migration in the central african republic. the u.n. issues a stark warning. >> the elements are there. the seeds are there for genoci genocide. >> and uncertain future for thousands o deported from saudi arabia. >>> diplomatic activity is intensifying ahead of the so-called geneva 2 peace talks. hosting their syrian counterparts. meanwhile they'll decide whether they'll go to switzerland for the january 21st meeting. secretary of state john kerry has urged him to go, and he has told the assad regime that it remains a center aim of the talk. >> down kerry rejected syrian efforts to change the focus of geneva two from ending the civil war and installing an interim government to end terrori

the bottom line is we are going to geneva to implement geneva i. if assad doesn't do that, he will invite greater response in various ways from various people over at period of time so you know i am not particularly surprised that he is trying to divert this. he has did in doing this for months, trying to make himself the protector of syria against extremists. when he himself has even been funding some of those extremists even purposely seating territory to them in order to make a proper problem so that he can make the argument that he is somehow the protector against them. nobody's going to be fooled. we are not going to be fooled by this process so you know foreign minister lavrov has stated, they are supporting the geneva i communiquÉ and the government has to calm and negotiate around that communiquÉ. since rush is one of the primary benefactors of the assad regime, we believe the russians have a high stake in helping to make certain that assad understands exactly what the parameters of this negotiation are. >> you mentioned that you discusse

this is quite a complex diplomacy game about what happens in geneva and what happens after geneva. we have very tangled relationships. for itsds russia weapons and she political support. --america is trying to have at the same time iran is able to put on its own play on the u.s'' fear.u.s.'s ahead to that conference and comparing it to the last one, geneva one, it seems this time syria is in a far stronger position than last time. >> i think that is right. and if you look at the situation has developed over the last 18 months, it has been quite surprising. there were times when it looked absolutely inconceivable. as we go into this geneva, we see the regime putting some concessions on the table. we see a divided syrian opposition. i think you are right, i think comparedte surprising to going into geneva one. >> thank you very much indeed. syrian opposition is to meet later on in his temple to discuss his participation. talks will continue. we will cover that side of things and any developments regarding the participation or not of the syrian national council next week. war on theth

russia said the iranian delegation should be present in geneva. >> i'm always ready to go to geneva without pre-conditions. we're prepared to participate actively and positively in finding any peaceful resolution to the syrian crisis 37 but the u.s. said nothing will be accepted until iran accepts the june 21 talks. >> iran has yet to state whether it supports the geneva 1 communique which calls for nothing but mutual consent to the parties of a transitional governing process, to make peace. >> allies see this as a which to make assad step down. the dynamics of the u.s. and iranian talks are evolving. the six-month timeline of the implementation of the nuclear agreement. >> if iran is willing to walk through the door of opportunity that is presented to them, then i have no doubt that it can open up extraordinary opportunities for iran and their people. >> the agreement will open up iran's nuclear program to daily expects by international experts for exchange relief of economic sanctions. >> it means that the wall of sanctions are broken. the unfair sanctions were imposed on the peace-loving

1 would be the basis for geneva 2. in other words the point of a transitional government is certainly a starting point that all of the security council countries are coming to these talks with. the united nations also is expressing that view. the secretary general spokesperson wouldn't comment on the specifics of its correspondence with syria. >> kristin, thank you very much indeed for giving the position from the united nations on events inside syria. >>> italy has named the port that it has volunteered as the site for the transfer of syria's chemical weapons. the first ship will be taken to the area. let's go to rome now. the people who live in that town and around it, they don't seem very happy about this idea. >> yes, david they are not just particularly happy about the award. they said it was imposed on them. they said they just chose the port without really asking them at all, and they said that was very undemocratic, and puts them in a very difficult position. there were two mayors surrounding the port, and one

in order to try to bring the parties to geneva and forge forward. for all of the reasons i decided we are in full agreement. that we have to do all we can in order to. begin the process of duty. a process that we all understand will be difficult and will take some time. so we must begin we must begin now. in the days leading up to the dialogue that will begin in march for switzerland. the united states will continue to consult or a closely with our international partners including ambassador bridge amy and our russian counterparts. then we will also keep in very close contact with the syrian coalition. i will be meeting later today. with presents are bought. and with other ministers here and there is interest. well the united states believes that the only precondition for participating in geneva to conference. should be support of the geneva one communique it is hard to see how the regime the terror. it does not have within it and see the ability to improve the situation on the ground improve the climate. that could give. participate in this sense w

. >> we're not going to talk about after geneva on think first day that geneva starts. geneva today is the opening statements, and the beginning of the negotiation is on friday. i expect that there will be a first round, maybe second round. look, negotiations to end wars particularly complicated difficult confrontations and conflicts like this, sometimes take a long time. you can go back and look at bosnia, kosovo. you can look at other open conflicts. you can look at -- go back as far as vietnam, and think of all of the hours spent just deciding the shape of the table. i think a wholele year, before they even began to talk. so talk takes a while. none of us are satisfied with leaving syria to the kind of horrendous acts that have engaged in, which is why i said there will be parallel efforts being made while the talks are going on in order to try to find different pressure points and different ways of finding a solution, but my sense is that -- this is already one of the worst catastrophes of humanitarian crises in the world today. you have upwards of 9 million people

they have signed a geneva one communique. it has publicly pledged it will consider a transitional government that will remove assad. russia is trying to play it both ways right now. what kerry is trying to do very diplomatically with the russians and especially with the russian foreign minister is to ease russia toward that point that we talked about, ease russia to the point that it can't support assad any more. it doesn't have the diplomatic leverage and assad doesn't have the support of russia to show their financial and military support to the government. there was more military weapons going into russia than ever before, that's another challenge for the u.s. and u.n. and for kerry trying to convince russia that assad is truly isolated and needs to be discarded, and we have to move on to a syria that has no future of assad. >> al jazeera's nick schifrin reporting from montreux, switzerland. a quick break now and when we come back we'll have more guests to talk with, including the director of the syrian american government

in this room today or not is to do everything within their power to help them achieve discords but geneva communique sets out a number of key steps for a city in that transition starting with the establishment of a transitional governing body with the fool egypt the powers formed by consent including over the military forces and secret and intelligence services. to communicate communicate also states that the public services must be preserved and restored and or poured shmendrik cendant they more step leaders who inspire public confidence under the control of the transitional governing body. i urge all doors gathered here today to impress upon porthos eyes the list cysteine and in a bid to ability over pretty to go solution i count on you to encourage the syrian sites and their delegations to reach a comprehensive settlement based on the geneva communiqué as the parties see a political solution so marched they respect international humanitarian law which has been appalling the violated joining this country. the pyros must be ended attacks against the civilians must a cease or parties mus

one into geneva two. there are a lot of new brigades has been formed in syria like the islamic state in iraq and the eleventh and also the islam it front this law make front is made by saudi arabia so when the united states and other parties are asking iran to abide by geneva one they would also have to ask saudi arabia to also accept geneva one which says to stop any kind of funding and sending terrorists into syria right political analyst can work on a sound thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with us here on out to international. now reports from germany say the talks with the united states to get a no spy agreement looks set to fail lang say discussions have been ongoing since america's annus a was exposed snooping on its ally at the highest levels leaving germany fiore s. and comparing it to the notorious east german secret police one veteran of the organisation spoke to peter oliver about whether the two organisations really do have anything in common. on finding out that the united states atte

in between the genial on and the geneva to. it's a it's a positive seeing dead cat or of anyone to even if he will have to be followed by jihadist me and dad and lps. is happening now. first there is to hope that there would be here the perspective of cease fire may be local cease fire is a new beginning. maybe anna and more general ceasefire and that i'm not certain. then blows his words are those who are gaining on the ground. otherwise they will just be tempted to use me in on the conference and as a possibility to game time you know that response on the grass and tell me how much coal as moscow packed with tehran. well it is. it is a lot for our common interests hysterically. it implements or lakes. its economic it says city's strategic consideration will after all they are here on the neighboring country to russia and its wide. russian should be much more sensible to maybe some other countries which are long distance from iran and in others. well i would sit in the very thing that russia is one of the co organizers of the

geneva is just a diplomatic vehicle. and he talks into that room or the syrian delegation walks into the room and there they see the russians. they know the iranians are there. and hezbollah is in the country fighting for them. so he feels to pressure whatsoever. >> has division among the opposition been an asset for bashar al-assad? >> well, before i answer your question, i would like to clarify one thing for your viewers. agree with both of your guests. he will continue, you know, with the mass slaughtering of civilians in syria. however, i would just like to clarify if you take a close look at what is happening on the ground right now, you would realize an al-qaeda-affiliated group has used more than 25 car bombs against opposition groups. so what is happening now, these -- these groups are fighting against the opposition. a few days ago there was a woman trying to blow herself up at the border crossing with turkey. so the opposition is in a tough position because they are fighting against al-qaeda, against iranians,

so we have to keep watching carefully the geneva 2 outcome. >> we're watching geneva very closely indeed. thanks for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >>> the new interim president of the central african republic has asked the international community to help stabilize our country. he has pledged to end the religious violence that threatens to tear the country apart. and the fear of violence is spreading as barnaby phillips found out on a recent road trip through the country. >> reporter: the road through a lawless countryside. our first stop is a roadblock by men who say they are the thagsal army defending the countries against the muslim-lead selica rebels. >> translator: we have no problems with muslims. they are our brothers. we have lived with them for a long time. we only have a problem with [ inaudible ] and its mercenaries. >> reporter: next to a village where we are surrounded by an agitated crowd. we're meeting a great variety of armed groups along the road. but these people are essentially vigilantes. they say that they are guarding their community against selica soldiers

surrounding the key tool in geneva. opel ag day from some fifty five thousand to which they can start a second from the city government. i think shows were told him that it is the mother and child and bear the pain. there were many people think that day the report was commissioned by how the for me because i like it tough to pull that they were huge rebel. we made for digital marketing publishing in two thousand and four from the heat of the people cheering me up his widow in tribute to her it is already two people fell into it. i can't the good things to get to go. prejean best in the air in geneva thank you. access to medical care has been a huge challenge for those injured in serious a walk on monday night at least sixteen people were killed and dozens injured in a double car bombing and bob holland that's assuming and war to post new tricky the hospital unable to cope with the wounded many have to be transferred across the border for emergency treatment. our correspondent heel caught before he visited a turkish hosp

geneva communicate the coalition cannot accept that the geneva accord in uk. the city and the regime and the bucks at the geneva communicate what we ask only the onion to do it when most of the blog the overall budget. and essendon. and i am going on now in santa ana nonsense long line that says that ninety nine has to be the house to pass that sounds and participates in. and that he needed to stock because obesity are on insanity is in this answers a lie and it's been fun to design they have been meditating on the counter parts of the problem and they would not expect an announcement by the fact however that that we should then we should ask ourselves why did banking send an invite to a year on and knowing that when it was one of the key conditions of the it's a national accounts of months. they will not and fifty nine is going to like it happened why why did they send them an invite just sad to spend a half that i knew i would your answer to that and i have no idea we really wish we can see it's an hour in an hour to find balance in the air i got two awesome

secretary of state says syria is a magnet for terrorists and head of the peace conference in geneva as moscow brings together rand and syria's foreign ministers to try to help with the groundwork for the talk. and see eye to eye on this spice hoax fade from germany and the u.s. in a deal to stop snooping on each other as the route of a bugging the pearly leadership rumbles on. this is r.t. international my name is kevin zero in a very warm welcome so if you just joined us this morning our top story afghanistan's president hamid karzai is no order of inquiry into the u.s. airstrike that killed eight civilians seven of them children the night raid targeted a residential area north of kabul despite the government's pleas for american forces to stop hitting villages he had seen from r.t. the arabic channel reports from the region. as a result of american barman's in afghanistan there have been a lot of civilian casualties one women worst was killed and seven children along with one civilian is injured according to the statements by. her as a's office they have asked the americans to give a

geneva switzerland our diplomats try to thrash out their differences in geneva syria itself are still succumbing to more lives being lost by the hour even amid the rapid pace of the killing though there is hope for some parties very often ocean as we just heard is reporting for us from damascus she visited a children's hospital there and filed this report. even in this dangerously divided country one place the differences don't to matter is this children's hospital in damascus. a tiny relative of a government minister chose a room here whose babies belonging to fighters of the free syrian army out of the other. hundred patients from all over syria including areas held by the rebels because this is the only hospital of its kind in the country where babies born see can be treated and between them all the same they are all syrian children after all we all belong to one country and have to learn how to live together again. in three years of conflict neither men or women or children were spared the according to the un more than one hundred thousand people have died all in fact the number i

at the geneva talks. you know, in a best - our an outcome would be that now that iran is at the table we can separate its interest. with the regime, it's been effective and sustaining it. the facts on the ground do not support military end to the regime. they are probably strong. the opposition doesn't have the card to play at the moment. the cards that the opposition has - that isn't been enough to push the regime out of power. >> let's talk about the fact of why this is so complicated. it's not just two sides fighting a war. there's a lot of different groups at stake. syria is a fragmented nation. up to 1,000 armed groups fighting for control, including an al qaeda affiliated group that would like to split off from its own country. on this map, the dark blue is rebel held areas. red is what they are fighting for. battles raging near some of the major cities in syria. with so many groups, rebel groups, and not even rebel groups have agreed to attend the peace talks. if they even do reach peace with these

we are fighting for a dialogue based on a geneva communique on june 2012. it's up to the syrians to define the future of their country. >> the syrian regime is being accused of committing war crimes. the report funded by qatar is based on the testimony of a former military policemen who captured 50,000 images of it 11,000 detainees. the lawyer says there's evidence of prisoners being strangled, electrocuted. forensic experts showed many were initiated. the fighting rages inside syria. >> more than a dozen people died at the crossing between syria and turkey on monday. two explosions kill six fighters. the rest of the dead were civilians. in aleppo two car bombs exploded at the headquarters of an opposition group. the attack was launched by a rival rebel group. infighting among rebels killed more than 1,000 fighters in the past two weeks. in other world news the united states and the e.u. started easing economic sanctions on iran as part of an international deal on the tehran nuclear program. iran plugle centrifuges. a 6-month nuclear deal was reached with w

dubbed geneva 2 kerry calling on an end to the ongoing crisis in syria. a place he is describing as a magnet for terrorism. >> the united states for these reasons urges a positive vote. we do so knowing the geneva peace conference is not the end but rather the beginning, the launch of a process, a process that is the best opportunity for the opposition to achieve the goals of the syrian people and the revolution, and a political solution to this terrible conflict that has taken many, many, many too many lives. >>> al jazeera has obtained a letter from the syrian foreign minister to ban ki moon accepting the invitation to at ten the talks, but says . . . bays has more. >> this letter is i think important. it shows the syrian government saying yes, we're coming to geneva, here is a list of our delegations, but -- and it's a big but -- we have reservations about some of the details of the whole process. the idea is for both sides to sit around the table to come up with a transitional governing body to take control of the syrian government. it seems now syria

is on the talks in geneva. today for the first time they will be talking about a transitional government. do you think there is any way this happened? >> i think there is a way they would have talks, yes, but the question is will there be tangible results to build confidence particularly with the opposition. i think that is what is critical. they are going to have to show their people that by coming to the talks, they delivered some , suchf value added event as humanitarian relief. if they can show that they have a tangible result, then i think you might have that type of confidence boost that is required to get into a real discussion. out ofere just hearing geneva that the talks are already deadlocked. not much of a surprise in opening remarks. our position again said they did not want any transitional government with shauna sat in it . the regime is not even mentioning the transitional government. what is the way out of this infamous deadlock? >> the negotiator -- negotiators, mediators, united states, europe

of the run in the middle seats on the way he ran in the european union have been sealed the talks in geneva on into nineteen in that month deal at ten minus six month highs reached last november anna today told state than on thursday evening between the lines took me many ngos say that abbas iraq. she and to help us meet a devotee of the eu foreign policy chief catherine ashton on the two sides discussed the remaining he sees to that the implementation of the deal on the preschool level. a u s undersecretary of state school principal f as wind the showman also arrived in geneva on thursday morning. the us state department confirmed in a seminar with me too with those on iraq tea and sweets but did not see whether there would be a three way income tax. it identified prominent members of the un security council passed an eight pack of goodies in the land that many around the whole pot to the snake and programs for six months in exchange for limited to sentence review more on this muscle and joint buyout respondent and the machine in geneva had a sheen at the new round of talks between iran an

when region guessing here in geneva thank you richard for that report. egypt's interior minister said the bomb exploded near a police academy in east in cairo today wounding at least one person. the blast took place nearly saturday morning in the busy to stick up in shelves. but it is only the institute for walls. this was just one day after two bombs targeting police claimed at least six lives and wounded many others the attacks come as egypt marks the third anniversary of the two thousand eleven protest that toppled former leader almost immobile. sebi of allah must be a cyanide based al qaeda inspired group has claimed responsibility for all of the bombing attacks that hit the country on friday and saturday. more balanced inspected on saturday when rival political factions gathered to mark the anniversary of the bar its downfall. no need to choose our marking the third anniversary of the start of the protests against the longtime out of crap because the mubarak and for more on this course by the alarm when he joins us live from cairo. i will alway able

first time to hold face to face talks off to separate meetings with the united nations mediator at the geneva two peace conference. and a fourth bomb goes off bringing the day's death toll to at least six with dozens more injured ahead of the anniversary of the two thousand and eleven uprising. this is an international live from austria center here in moscow which just midnight and ten pm in ukraine where protests are raging throughout the west of the country and in several central provinces that's despite the government's offer of further concessions to calm the unrest with president which pledging to free those detained during riots in the capital kiev earlier this week now these are live pictures coming to you here at the moment and we cannot get more now from peter all of a who is in kiev where tensions clearly are high but it is peaceful compared to what we're seeing throughout other parts of the country tell us what's happening in those regions at the moment. well what we're seeing now is violent unrest in around half of the regions in ukraine thirteen in total we've seen demonstrators

the question hangs over the geneva peace talks for syria. the decision to invite iran has angered western traditions. president of the troubled central african republic is urging christian and muslim militias to lay down their arms. coming up in the program, a busy update for you. why economic growth has ground to a 14 year low. the un's nuclear watchdog has said that iran has started to dismantle some of its nuclear power plants. the united states and the european union will lift sanctions for six months. >> officials from the atomic energy association says they toe suspect -- suspended nuclear sites. they have taken measures according to commitments made in the geneva agreement. up enriched uranium fills their side in november. in return, partial trade sanctions had been lifted. western powers accuse iran of developing nuclear energy for military courses -- purposes. israel is not convinced. agreement,s supposedly to go into effect with iran leaves with iran the option to develop nuclear capabilities at will. dangerous.ly >> the deal said

they will not send a delegation to geneva. even if they were to sit around the table with the assad regime the prospects of getting a deal seem quite distant. that's because of key points, the key sticking point which is whether assad and those heading his security services could be part of a new transitional government in syria. for his part the president of syria has been given an interview in damascus saying these talks should be mainly about counterterrorism. >> the geneva conference should produce clear results with regard to the fight against terrorism and syria. it needs to put pressure on countries b that send money to terrorist and western countries that provide political cover for these terrorist organizations. >> in the spotlight right now the u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon who made that invitation to iran, ban ki-moon normally doesn't do anything regarding syria without first consulting with the permanent five members of the security council and particularly consulting with the russians and americans because in

we have not heard of iranians being present in geneva. and once the minimal and temporary agenda of not to fix the war, but to amend it toward genuine peace talks and problem solving, once we have set the agenda, it is a matter of the strategy of the mediator. it must be a strategy of pluralism. -- >> before we get to that strategy, let's talk about today's hitch. the opposition is saying they want agreement on the geneva one communiquÉ, the calls for a transitional government with full executive powers. therer in a communiquÉ, is no mention about the president, or lack thereof of president bashar al-assad. that is where this whole agreement hinges postop -- hinges. where does this go from now? >> it is detrimental for anyone to set preconditions or red lines. this is not how you open the mind of clear adversaries. that is -- otherwise they would not be there. it is to come to a clear understanding of the other side requests. what you should be interested in is the other yonder own site. you know your own site. -- beyond your own side.

the next item of geneva one is to put an end to violence. put an end to terrorism, with all due respect to this official or the other, this is their own point of view. the most important thing is that what the syrians agree on within the dialogue that has not started yet. the implementation will cover all the items of geneva one. explanations are--have to do with each official, but once again this is part of the process that will be discussed next friday. we cannot be proactive, and we cannot mix cause or be selecti selective. as t as. as for the government, ten states from added to the conference and that statements were provocative. first question is there are no syria conventions to solve the syrian crisis, and to put an end to the killing of civilians by terrorists. that's the first point. second point which is a hypothetical question. suppose the coalition and delegation and the government agree on geneva two, how influential would the opposition be as they they have no control over the jihadists and the armed forces? >> yes, i refer to

and we have participation of the envoy and the discussion to prepare geneva two. and general secretary sent out the invitations. >> we seem to have lost the translation there with the russian foreign minister segae who was speaking after the u.s. secretary of state john kerry. do we have the translation back? no, not yet. we don't have translation. let me sum up quickly what we heard from john kerry before we bring in the next guest and john kerry said the process in switzerland to end the process in syria had to start right away and would be a difficult process but should begin right away. he also said during his discussions with the foreign minister to discuss the possibility of trying to encourage a cease fire between the syria opposition and the syrian government notably in aleppo where there has been intense fighting in the last couple weeks and kerry agrees to a cease fire if the government also accepted it and also they discussed the possibility of exchanging prisoners. so both leaders and both lavroff at the beginning and john kerry said this was a positiv

ahead the face-to-face meeting at last, syria's government and the opposition grow come together in geneva. ukraine's president makes an offer has protests that the opposition says is too late. and trouble for turkey's currency, we'll look at why it's at a record low against the dollar. ♪ ♪ >>> we begin in egypt where there have been two explores in the capital. the entire area ministry says a device went off next to a police institute in the eastern part of cairo and a second bomb followed also in the east of the city. saturday marks the third anniversary of the up rising that removed president mubarak from office. four explosions, at six feels killed armed 80 injured the biggest blast hit outside cairo's main police headquarters. well, our correspondent and producers have been detained in egypt for nearly a month so we are unable to report from there, but we do have mike hannah who has reported extensively from cairo and he is monitoring events for us. so it is the anniversary today, mike, and they have already been two explosions, again, in cairo. >> yes, it's very interesting that

go to geneva, would be a betrayal of the syrian people. they do not feel with a lack of undertaking made by the international community and concessions that any party that purports to represent the syrian people can go there to begin negotiations with representatives of the ram eem. for that reason they have taken themselves out of the coalition process and refuse to be party to any group that, in their eyes, in their view expressed to us is railroading the syrian political opposition, whether it wants to or not into a geneva process. they talk of outside pressures, they won't name them. we think they mean saudi arabia and the united states, who are determined that geneva ii will happen and are pushed by the countries into taking part. this, they say, they refuse to cooperate with. so what is left now, a rump, if you like, of the syrian national coalition. the group that is resigning takes away a third of the coalition, the national council is another third. earlier on they said they would not be going. they have two-thirds declared alread

right washington is also urging the syrian opposition to attend the geneva two summit but the top u.s. diplomat has come out with a sharp condemnation of extremist activity in syria secretary of state john kerry says the country has become a hotbed for terrorist groups seeking to capitalize on the strife of the syrian people world needs no reminder that syria has become the magnet for jihadists and extremists it is the strongest magnet for terror of anyplace today so it defies logic to imagine that those who bruges whose brutality created this magnet how they could ever leave syria away from extremism and towards a better future is beyond any current of logic or common search france is among the countries that will be attending the geneva two conference the country has voiced concern over hundreds of its nationals fighting alongside the rebels in syria amid fears still return home radicalized a former french prime minister told us that the talks in switzerland must take place without preconditions. i believe we have two problems one is we need of cause the opposition to take part in t

so i think they can bluster, protest, put out disportions, the bottom line is we are going to geneva to implement geneva 1 and if assad doesn't do that, he will invite greater response from various people in various ways over a greater period of time. so i'm not particularly surprised that he is trying to divert this. he has been doing this for months, trying to make himself the protector of syria against extremists, when he himself has even been funding some of those extremists, and purposefully seeding territory to them to make them more of a problem so he can make the argument that he is somehow the protector of them. nobody is going to be fooled by this process the foreign minister has stated, they are supporting the geneva 1 communique, and the government has toment a negotiate around that communique, and since russia is one of the primary benefactors of the assad regime, we believe the russians have a high stake in helping make certain that assad understands what the parameters of this negotiation are. >> second question is for [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: you mentioned that you

check check >> looking for a solid win at the syria peace talks in geneva. the focus is on getting aid into homs. >> this is al jazeera live from doha. >> ahead - digging in their heels in ukraine. protesters reject concessions from the president. we are live in kiev. >> dozens dead, 1,000 in gaol as egypt marks three years since the downfall of hosni mubarak. >> and in china - an anticorruption activist gets a 4-year imprisonment sentence. >> hello, the establishment of a humanitarian corridor to homs is the talk of the day. lakhdar brahimi, the delegation leader, said a convoy ready to go into the city as soon as the bashar al-assad government gives the approval. prisoner exchanges and ceasefires will be discussed. a deal on any issues will be the first tangible win, which the opposition says could set the tone for the rest of the negotiations. >> we need to open the humanitarian corridors so people can survive. our main purpose to negotiate is to enter into transition with the regime, from dictatorship to democracy. >> protesters in homs were among the fi

are gathering just outside geneva for the most serious effort yet to end the bloodshed in syria. regime -- the syrian regime and opposition meeting for the first time since the start of the civil war. the opposition went into the conference with one aim, toppling bashar al-assad but his regime says any talk of removing the president from office is a redline him on the cross. that lowered expectations going into the conference but many top leaders are saying just ringing the two sides together does show some progress is being made. today, u.s.emarks secretary of state john kerry underlines the fact it was no way syrian president bashar al-assad could be part of any transition government. saying his excessive use of violence against his people made him illegitimate. in his speech, the syrian foreign minister pointedly said no one but the syrians would decide if their president was legitimate or not. >> no one in the world has the right to give legitimacy or withdraw legitimacy from a , a government, constitution, a law or anything in syria but syrians. this is the constitutional ri

german foreign minister says geneva two is useless without iran. a statement supported by some quarters of the syrian opposition. >> if you are about the problem, you must be about the solution. involved in these discussions to be a part of the decisions and to respect the results. >> washington applauded un's decision. it means syrians main opposition group will now attend the talks. its biggest block, the syrian national council, has withdrawn. on the battlefield, there's little support for the conference. rebel factions continue to fight against government troops and between each other. of analysts and even policymakers are not absolutely certain the talks are going to really lead to a resolution a very bloody conflict, the two sides are pretty well entrenched. and really fighting for the respective existence. >> even the syrian opposition coalition says it is skeptical geneva 2 will benefit the country, but says it wants to show it is serious about finding a solution. the international community is keen to put in place a roadmap which would mov

i heard about this in april the talk of geneva 2. it's taken all this time to get thee delegates to -- these delegations to come to the same place. they are not though going to have face-to-face direct talks initially. what we understand is a special envoy, laktar brahimi, this is a huge challenge for him. he is going to speak to both sides in the same room. he's going to explain to them what the rules are, really, what his rules are for his talks. he is going to tell them what is at stake for all this and why they must be very patient and try to come to some sort of agreement in a process that may well be a very drawn-out process. he's then we believe going to send the two delegations off to separate rooms. they are not at this stage and this is key prepared to talk to each other. he's actually going to go to one room and speak to one side, shuttle back to the other relay what they said and try to get some sort of agreement i think on local issues initially. i think in the beginning, possibly prisoner exchanges, and what many want,

the geneva one communica. the opposition insisted they be the guidelines for negotiations. >> whether there is a transitional government or not . >> neither side budged today. i think the only thing that can come out of the talks at this point is some assessment of whether the framework deserves a continued investment from international actors. >> how about the exchange of prisoners? both sides have prisoners they want to see freed. is that an area where they could reach some agreement? >> i think it will be just as difficult to agree on prisoners as it has proven to be on humanitarian aid. on the opposition side, there are so many different groups on the battlefield. getting those armed groups to agree to release prisoners would be an incredibly complicated negotiation. >> the best we can say is no one has left switzerland yet. >> no one has walked out. no one is willing to take the blame for scuttling the talks. but that is not much to talk to by way of accomplishments. >> thank you for joining us. >> in oth

the syrian groups have officially confirmed participation in the upcoming peace talks in geneva one of the main certain opposition groups is again refusing to take part in the long delayed conference should do in a week moscow is hosting and iranian and syrian foreign ministers are trying to pave the way to the elusive negotiations paul scott's full of a fresh round of diplomacy the syrian national coordination committee has decided that they won't attend the talks on syria in geneva starting next wednesday now they're not one of the most influential factions in the opposition movement but there are hopes that there isn't a domino effect with other opposition groups deciding not to attend and the make up of the two delegations is still unclear but one side who does want to attend the might not be that is the arraignment government russia believes that their influence in the region should give them a right to attend along with another influential regional player in saudi arabia but the foreign ministers of both iran and syria have been in moscow on thursday they met with russian preside

so whether they boycotted the geneva or not it will have zero difference because geneva two it will be an argument it will be an international accord that will divide the participants and the states that will participate in geneva two like to stop the funds and arming the syrian opposition and the terrorists in syria and also to look at the borders because we know that from geneva one input in iraq to. there are a lot of new brigades has been formed in syria like the islamic state in iraq and the eleventh and also this law make front this law make front is made by saudi arabia so when the united states and other parties are asking iran to abide by geneva one day we also have to ask saudi arabia to also accept geneva one which says to stop any kind of funding and sending terrorists into syria next tonight reports from germany say the talks with the united states to get a no spy agreement looks set to fail lengthy discussions have been ongoing since america's n.s.a. was exposed new playing on its allies at the highest levels leaving germany few areas a good pairing at the notorious ea

but as of late according to geneva to the mulch to anticipate the pistol. what or where sarah and the possibility of them attending or not attending. what's happening on the ground and syria what's the situation there as faust the latest developments in the conflict. our concern will was a very important christian because many believe that the meetings were taking place in istanbul y'know. our listening very closely to the so if watching on the ground. y'know what's making headlines as to not let go of the thing the government forces with renault for me the rebels and difficult to come to such to the fourteenth of november both auction itself the islamic faction the islamic wrong the most thoughtful approach to both our daughters both parties' lawyers fight as the islamic sydney ruckman shaun of the road to full cargo over control of areas in northern syria. at this point it seems the thought of finances losing groans in search of their typical for all the awful considerable local sources told most of the audience prize is one of the strongest the organizat

they should not have been invited to the geneva conference. they were. now who is in geneva? we are engaging the opposition. we are trying to engage them in the course of the conflict to bring the two parties together. >> you are the russian ambassador to the united nations. your secretary-general said you are inviting iranians. they took back the invitation. what happened? >> the secretary-general was misled by some people and they were not necessarily -- he was not very happy with the iranians. they were not really people who may have misled him. those who are putting pressure on the secretary general -- >> is it the u.s.? >> i think this is behind us. it is not such a big deal frankly. things happen. i would not exaggerate the importance of this episode. what is important -- it was a cleverly written statement. it said the secretary general does not expect iran to participate in the one-day montrÉal event. it means that the secretary general kept open the door for iran's participation in the process. >> did he had to meet certain expectations? >> it was completely artific

it will attend peace talks are the one that we trunk's an invitation to iran just a day before the geneva summit starts a move has called a mistake. on russian diplomats urged those attending the peace talks to focus on the terrorism plague in syria i mean reports of al qaeda training camps across the country. live from moscow this is our scene to national with me. and everyone welcome to the program radical opposition supporters in the ukrainian capital continued assault on police barricades for a second night of anti-government protests they want to force country's entire leadership out the rioters say they're not leaving and warned that recently published new laws aimed at preventing them from holding rallies will only boost the violence to education was announced last week and quickly passed as the crisis escalated and. isn't here for us right now alex a nice to see you so is there any room for compromise. well it doesn't seem this way the tension is very far from settling down at this moment the barricade and the standoff at the school street at the governmental quarters still contin

must according to the terms of geneva was. and every one of the re iterations of that being the heart and soul of geneva to. those names must be agreed to by both the opposition and the regime that is the very definition of mutual consent. this means that any figure that is deemed unacceptable by either side. whether president massoud are a member of the opposition. cannot be a part of the future. united nations the united states russia and all the countries attending know what this conference is about. after all that was the basis of the you an invitation sent individually to each country a restatement of the purpose of implementing geneva one and attendance by both sides of the parties can come only with their acceptance of the goals of the conference are we too are deeply concerned about the rise of extremism. the world needs no reminder that syria has become a magnet for gi tests of extremists. it is the strongest magnet for terror of any place today. so it defies logic to imagine that those two rooms and whose brutality.

geneva switzerland. let's get some more perspective on this from middle east expert power phony joining us live so this agreement in geneva seems like it could be the start of some kind of breakthrough but do the opposition delegates have the authority to make sure civilians are given a safe passage out of the city. and this is a very new question because as we well know the opposition in syria at least for many. is not at all sure that those who have been can be in iraq but these talks will be able to transform decisions into action on the ground it is clear that the c.p.s. should look at me rather as being a step forward in the sense that the conference you collapse but on the other hand . experts all agree to find your role and sustainable solution in syria it is necessary to start a dialogue other tool parties which is iran and saudi arabia which are in fact influencing the facts on the ground. do you think anybody has the ability to make the jihadi fighters the hard core fighters among the oppositio

first began in march two thousand london geneva two carries great significance as it will be the first time representatives of the sa government will face the opposition at the negotiation table however many divisions remain regarding the conference's goals on friday syrian foreign minister and then propose negotiating a cease fire agreement in the city of aleppo and discussing a possible prisoner exchange yet the opposition accepted this as an insult their spokesperson stating quote the assad government is not taking the conference seriously on well. the things he needed to conference is a good effort for peace in syria many challenges remain the main issue being the acceptance by all parties on the formation of a transitional ruling body in syria. the syrian national coalition continues to insist that the assad government along with any other ally considering attendance for example iraq. accept the terms set forth in the geneva one accord that called for a transitional lean body for syria and rules out any role for president bush are all aside. we've asked for some political matters

over the long awaited geneva two peace talks on syria just a few days away r.t. is beginning its special coverage of the diplomatic build up to a meeting which aims to find a way to end the bloody conflict. the presence of syria's main opposition group in geneva is in question again the western backed body issued an ultimatum threatening not to show up after the u.n. invited iran the syrian national council is demanding that either iran proves its commitment to setting up an interim government in syria or the un withdraw its invitation but russia's foreign minister said this cast doubts over the opposition's willingness to find a solution. caught up with anyone doubting the necessity of all influential players taking part in geneva two is not seeking an end to the syrian crisis these are just whims the syrian government imposes no preconditions and is even willing to sit with countries directly arm the rebels and not just the moderates so does that mean damascus demands their exclusion the goal of any talks is to bring to the negotiating table not just the partie