down the as add regime. -- bashar al-assad regime. the u.s. trying to do four or five things at once with the factor of russia, russia playing its own game and iran playing yet another game >> this is more complex. again to make an analogy with the bosnian situation in the 1990s, many more external regional players as well as great players on the outside. it is very hard to do. the united states is not going to be putting a lot of force into syria, whether it's this administration or the next administration >>> no matter who wins? >> no matter who wins. this is because syria is not a close high strategic priority for the u.s. >>> the next-door neighbor israeli >> arming the rebels is one step it can take. even the democratic president might do that, but for the united states it is important to try to find a political solution in part because it's not going to put a lot of force in the situation. the united states is aware, as my colleague pointed out in the wall street journal this morning, two-thirds of the insurgency since world war

president bashar al-assad 3000 to take syria, dealing a blow to a cease-fire deal to the civil war a few hours old. also, pope francis meets the head of the russian orthodox church in cuba, seeking to overcome a 1000-year-old rift between the churches. movie screenings start in earnest on the first full day of her lens international film festival. science fiction, family dramas, tunisian love stories, the latest from the berlin film festival. ♪ >> it is good to have you with us. tonight, syria's president intends to take the whole country from rebel forces. this possibly deals a blow to a cease-fire deal announced earlier today by the u.s. secreary of state john kerry. the deal was reached in munich between the u.s., russia, and more than a dozen other countries. let's go through what it calls for. it calls for a cessation of hostilities to begin in one week. the break in fighting should allow humanitarian aid into areas where it is needed. diplomats also discussed ways of restarting peace talks between the syrian government and the opposition. the future of those talks remains unc

remember, recently russia essentially had to tell bashar al-assad it shut up when bashar al-assad said he'd carry on fighting and retake the whole of syria. basically that they should take the russian leadership on this and it should be the benefit of brokering a russian deal. now it seems that the bashar al-assad government has been cowed in a sense, and bashar al-assad in the phone call girls that they are ready to assist in the establishment of the ceasefire. vladimir putin and bashar al-assad claim they'll carry on the fight against terrorist groups like i.s.i.l. and nusra. it's a game of both of them. they maintained that that is the case. >> along with that conversation that vladimir putin had, it seems that he's spoken with the saudi king on the syrian ceasefire. what do we know about that? >> yes, well that is true. there has been - i think a number of international phone calls over the last few hours or so. and the kremlin saying there are more, and we don't know much about what was discussed with the saudi king, other than talking about syria, and the syrian king has said tha

russia essentially had to tell president bashar al-assad to shut up when bashar al-assad said that he was going to carry on fighting and retake the whole of syria. russia said "no, that's not on the agenda, bashar al-assad should take russian leadership on this. and all the sides here should be agreed on the benefits of this brokered u.s. russian deal for a ceasefire. now it seems that the bashar al-assad government has been cowed, in a sense, and as you say, bashar al-assad in the phone call confirms that damascus is ready to assist in the establishment of the ceasefire. of course, vladimir putin and bashar al-assad claim that they are going to be carrying on the fight against the various so-called terrorist groups like i.s.i.l. and others. they maintain that that is the case. >> that is rory challands in moscow >>> voters in bolivia rejecting a controversial amendment allowing e.v.o. morales to run for a fourth time. he's been praised for boosting the economy. administration was plagued by scandals leading up to the referendum, including allegations that he may have been involved in

pro-bashar al-assad. iran and a syrian businessman and cousin of bashar al-assad. others are sympathetic to iran. out of south beirut and into syria. bashar al-assad does few television interviews. he did one with al-manar last year >>> on the olympics side. a group was made up of activists. it's in the u.s., and relies on konts. it had more than 2 million followers on facebook. and was founded by chir u. a political access turn war report. now operating out of southern turkey. syrian news broadcast into the rebel held areas of the north. two months ago it made headlines when it was reported from areas of aleppo. they disputed claims their bombs were only hit areas in i.s.i.l. >> reporter: then on the outskirts of damascus. before it was shut down by government forces, it moved to subturkey and claims to have a print run of papers. it is distributed inside syria. in aleppo, latakia and idlib. >> it's five years to go since the first demonstrations would took place in damascus. syrian journalists documented what any call the revolution. the effect of the fighting on

i'm not sure probably russia has some influence on president bashar al-assad. however, i don't think they have influence on the shia militias or the allies of president bashar al-assad who are fighting on the ground. you have hezbollah, you have iraqi shia militias, also pakistani and afghan militias. so it is very complicated. when it comes to the opposition side. the same applies for national and international powers. they will try to influence the opposition groups who adhere to their cause, however the more extreme or the more international community designate as terrorist, they will not adhere to the cause of truce or peace. not everybody is interested in a political process. it is interesting to see what now is complicates that ask what president bashar al-assad has also called for a new election in april regardless of what's happening. you have also the syrian appear was dor to the u.n. describing the-- ambassador-- staffan de mistura not doing his job. all of that is complicating the situation >>> thanks very much. two students accused of sedition in in

bashar al-assad is talking tough. he doesn't sound like someone willing to negotiate the end of a regime, which is what the coalition wants. >> the difference is in bashar al-assad's tone in july, when the army was reeling, retreating, when the regime appeared on the verge of defeat. fast-forward several months to now. and he sounds trium fanned, saying that we will not negotiate with a terrorist. and really, it's because the russians escalated dramatically and there's no response from the friends of the syrian opposition. >> is there a hope of a solution to deleting i.s.i.l. if the coalition doesn't bite the bullet. >> i don't think bashar al-assad has enough soldiers to occupy the eastern half of syria. bashar al-assad is short of soldiers, which is why he's bringing in shia fighters from places like iraq and afghan refugee camps. it's not - lining up would be hooking ourselves up to a patient in intensive care >>> angela merkel argued in favour of a no-fly zone in the nearby parts of syria, something the turks call

that the vast people believe can never be achieved with president bashar al-assad at its helm. you cannot stop the war that way. yesterday we made progress advancing to of the main issues. now, immediately, stopping the violence. ceasefire. in the we hours of friday morning we agreed that the sustained delivery of humanitarian aid will begin this weekend. first to the areas where it is most urgently needed and then to all the people throughout the country, particularly in the besieged hard to reach areas and the u.n. has now said that the trucks are loaded ready to go and we also established a task force which has met already for the first time in geneva and we will report regularly on the progress to be able to guarantee the delivery of this aid. the i.s.s. g also agreed to implement a nationwide cessation of hostilities to begin in one week's time. why in a week? why not yesterday? for the simple reason that the modalities have to be worked out and people have to be communicated to in order not to have it start with failure. this will apply to any and all parties in syria wit

first of all he spoke to president bashar al-assad. now remember a few days ago assad said he wanted to carry on fighting in syria to retake the whole country. russia essentially was forced to tell him to shut up and it does seem now like bashar al-assad at least on paper is pledging commitments to the u.s. russian brokered ceasefire plan for syria. after that, putin spoke to the saudi arabian king, also to rouhani and to benjamin netanyahu. you duet a real sense of cautious optimism coming out of the kremlin right now. i think they believe they are on the cusp of achieving two of their main goals. the first one was of course shore up president bashar al-assad, prevent him from some sort of chaotic collapse. but the second goal was to convince the united states that russia is essentially an equal partner and needs to be treated with due respect in the middle east. >> rory challands reporting from moscow. president obama says he does not want to set high expectations for truce. the president met with jordan's king abdalla in the white h

it wants to be sure the bashar al-assad regime captures aleppo. russia would like to be a major factor in whatever international political solution is developed for syria, wants to be a major player, but in terms of the cessation of hostilities, it is not a particular russian goal right now >>> but they just went through weeks of high-level diplomacy.

first of all, he spoke to president bashar al-assad. now remember a few days ago, assad said he wanted to carry on fighting in syria to retake the whole country. russia essentially was forced to tell him to shut up, and it does seem now like bashar al-assad at least on paper is pledging commitment to the u.s.-russian brokered ceasefire plan for syria. after that, putin spoke to the saudi arabiian king, and spoke to raw dhani of rooirn -- iran, and to benjamin netenyahu. all of this seems to be suggesting that russia is a power broker and a force to be reckoned with. you get a sense of cautious optimism coming out of russia now. they are on the cusp of maintaining two of their goals. the first was to shore up bashar al-assad, but the second goal, was to convince the united states that russia is an equal partner and needs to be treated with due respect in the middle east. ♪ >>> campaigning is continuing in iran where people will go to the polls on friday. there are two elections, one por the parliament, and another for the body that cho

al-assad. under the agreement hashed out between russian form minister sphrofsergey lavrov and secretaf state john kerry. >> to that end we have also established a task force under the auspices of the u.n. and co-chaired by russia and the united states. over the coming week, this group will work to develop the modalities for a long term comprehensive and durable cessation of violence and hostilities. >> reporter: both sides have already gra agreed that i.s.i.l. and the el nusra front are legitimate targets, the pentagon says any eventual assess fire. >> there is no fire for us to assess. wcease. we continue to operate against i.s.i.l, those will continue because those are not groups did that are party to the ceasefire. >> the u.s. says focused on rebel groups that are opposed to be assad regime. aleppo where i.s.i.l. isn't operating. so a lot rides on who is labeled a terrorist. >> translator: well, if liberation of the city that has been taken by legal armed groups can be qualified as aggressi

they came in, provided air support for bashar al-assad. he's now on the verge of retaking aleppo. and what does that say about the russians and what does that say about assad and what does that say about the future of the conflict if assad is much stronger than he was before the russians came in. >> certainly what it says about the russians is they didn't come in to syria to fight i.s.i.l as they said they were going to do. that's not what they have been doing. they have been supporting assad, as you indicate, and thereby fueling the civil war. remember, it's a civil war that on the syrian side gave birth to extremism -- i.s.i.l, al-nusra, and so forth. so the russians are headed in just exactly the wrong direction from the point of view of fighting i.s.i.l and protecting their own interests because they're threatened by i.s.i.l. from a humanitarian point of view, they're being very clumsy here because their actions also have the effect of displacing a lot of people which is one of the reasons why secretary kerry has been so intent on getting humanitarian aid and the flow of human

julie: bashar al-assad taking syria back would be taking it back from isis. you have got on one hand these horrible savages, isis who would use chemical weapons. bashar al-assad used chemical weapons on his own people. going back to his father's generation. so the question here is, who are the good guys here? the answer, there are no good guys. harris: right. julie: obama was crazy to make that red line comment. but had, let's say he would enforced it. say he would have started bombing the heck out of syria and let's say he would have deposed bashar al-assad. i'm not convinced what would have come afterwards. and -- andrea: on libya. julie: everybody here knows i'm not a vladmir putin fan by any stretch of the imagination. i think he is grave threat to the world and our national security because of everybody he isp proking up but in this case, i can't tell you that he is wrong to be propping up assad who is mass murderer, genocidal freak, because the alternative i'm not convinced is any bertha. is difficult and tragedy we're seeing day, definitely worse now t

bashar al-assad there. now, a lot have criticized diplomatic efforts. i want to point out very clearly, they have not offered a realistic alternative that degreases and ends the conflict. nobody would like to see the diplomatic efforts move more quickly than i would. but the truth is we are, in fact, making progress even as i stand here today. there is aid now getting through. the modalties for cessation hostilities are now being - in fact, we are closer to a ceasefire today than we have been. and i take nothing for granted about this. a cessation of hostilities is possible over the course of these next hours. and i know we can't say if everyone is going to meet their commitments. i can't vouch for that. the united states can make certain of that. what we do know, what we can be certain of is this - peace is better than more war. a political solution is better than the futile attempt to try to find the result in more refugees and jihadize, so much more destruction and in the complete destruction of syria it

al-assad. they deserve our wholehearted support which regrettably was not reflected in this resolution. >> reporter: everyone knows there are bound to be violations of this cessation of hostilities. diplomats tell me the best they can hope for is a lull in the violence and then, perhaps, they can persuade the warring parties to resume those talks in geneva. a new date has been set, 7 march. james bays >>> our correspondent joins us from near the syrian border. what does it look like on the battle front. is peace still holding? >> reporter: largely it is. mainly from the air. we haven't heard or seen any footage that indicates there is any air strike either from the russians nor from the syrian government. activists reported that the mayhem military base, which is used by the russians in the province of latakia, was unusually quiet this morning and even at night when the truce started. however, we do have reports of a nourm of minor violations, some artill refreshings ery and mortar attacks, but

he sees the bashar al-assad regime reflective of his own. if bashar al-assad goes, it could raise questions by him whether he has to go. >> thank you for sharing your views with us: joining us live from washington d.c. . >> with oil prices low, world in the global energy industry are in texas to discuss ways of rebalancing the market. it's not known if they'll decide on a short or long-term fix. and in july 2008 a barrel of oil cost more than $147. in 2015 it dropped to over 80. it had further to pull. it sank to $28 a barrel. prices impose slightly in the past month. john hendren reports on how a worldwide glut is news for some but disastrous for others. >> reporter: low prices for petrol and gas in u.s. is considered heaven. prices have not been considered this low since 2009. people are driving further, filling up and enjoying cheaper plane travel. why are prices so low? >> check the global economy. for the countries of china and brazil, and there's a glut of oil on the market. rang wages in tanks like these. producers are trying to fix t

>>> >>> syrian president bashar al-assad vows to fight on determined to retake the entire country despite proposals to pause the fighting >>> hello. welcome to al jazeera. also coming up in the program. pope francis receives a warm women come in mexico soon after an historic meeting in cuba. we will find out which country will force companies to reveal the gap between men and women's pay. the science behind one of the world's most daring sports. both inside and outside syria there are growing doubts that a proposed pause in fighting will actually happen. government forces supported by russian air raids are trying to encircle rebels in aleppo and cut off their supply routes to turkey. government forces have made another key gain in that offensive. these are pictures from syrian state tv showing soldiers closing in on rebel ground in the altam oura valley. they have taken a hill close to ram adan and other towns. earlier bashar al-assad said he would defeat his enemies right across the country. >> translation: we have fully believed in negotiations and in political actions since the beginni

bashar al-assad has vowed to retake the entire country. comments come as world leaders agree to aim for a temporary halt of hostility in syria within seven days. >>> violence in athens between police and thousands of farmers during an anti-austerity protest. >>> and in an historic meeting pope francis and the orthodox patriarch meet together, the first time in almost 1,000 years. >>> thousands of egyptian doctors have been protesting against alleged abuse by the police. they say certificates who attack their colleagues have not been held accountable. the doctors are now threatening to go on strike. >> this is a rare scene on the streets of kay row. thousands of doctors say there has been abuse by the police. their accusations come after two doctors were reportedly beaten by police. at the headquarters of the doctors' union, doctors threaten to begin a gradual strike if the police are not held accountable. >> the protest is to defend emergency doctors across egyptian hospitals because what is happening now we can't tolerate. we're not only

syrian president bashar al-assad says his forces are ready to respect a pause in fighting. and the vast majority of syrian rebel groups said they will take part. but the opposition says the government mustn't exploit the agreement to attack them. let's speak now to jamal live in the turkish town close to the syrian border. jamal it sounds very fragile indeed. we know the al-nusra front, for example, they are not taking part in this pause in fighting. >> reporter: they are not at least according to the comments made by their leader earlier today, where he spoke of this planned cessation of hostilities as amounts to nothing less than a conspiracy against the syrian revolution, as he put it. he said that the syrians had finally found their voice to try to secure their freedom after four decades of dictatorship under assads father, and now bashar al-assad, and that they should not give up on this struggle for freedom. now why is al-nusra front significant? and why is the opposition different than isil? >> because nusra front, albeit, yes, bay that connected and linked to al-qae

has hit back at those comments from bashar al-assad. this is what the state department spokesman had to say. >> look i mean he's deluded if he thinks that there's a military solution to the conflict in syria. we've seen this wax and wane over now five years. but all we're looking at, if the syrian regime continues the fighting, is more bloodshed. more hardship. and frankly, a greater hardening of positions on either side. >> pope francis has landed in mexico at the start of a five day visit. the pontiff was welcomed by huge crowds in mexico city. mexico has the second biggest catholic population after brazil. he has a busy schedule where he will celebrate mass in the mexican capital. adam rainey has the story. >> reporter: after he landed here he's coming from those talks that he held in cuba with the head of the russian orthodox church. he'll start by getting a key to the city of mexico city. the heart of the capital, talks with president enrique pena nieto. then on the more controversial part of his trip. a sprawling gritty and violen

air cover for forces loyal to yrntosyrian president bashar al-assad. air strikes will continue but some groups will no longer be targeted. >> to that end we have also established a task force under the auspices of the u.n. and co-chaired by russia and the united states. over the coming week this group will work to develop the modalities for a long term comprehensive and durable cessation of violence. of hostilities. >> reporter: both sides have already agreed that i.s.i.l. and the el nusra front are legitimate targets, both having been designated as terrorist groups by the u.n. no effect on the war. >> there is no operations to cease. those will continue because those are not groups that are party to the ceasefire. >> the u.s. says russia rarely strikes i.s.i.l. targets and instead has been primarily focused on groups opposed to the assad regime. russia insists it's battling bag terrorism, a lot rides on who is labeled a terrorist. >> if this can be qualified as aggression, then yeah, probably. >> are pentagon continues to queues russia of bombing reck

first of all, he spoke with president bashar al-assad. remember a few days ago assad said that he wanted to carry on fighting in syria to retake the whole country. russia was forced to tell him to shut up. it does seem now that bashar al-assad, at least on paper, is pledging commit to the u.s.-russian brokered cease-fire. after that they spoke with the saudi arabian king, president rouhani, this all seems to be to the united states and the middle east region that russia is a power broker and a force to be reckoned with. you get a real sense of cautious optimism coming out of the kremlin right now. i think they believe that they're on the cusp of achieving two of their main goals. the first one, of course, is to shore up president bashar al-assad and prevent him from some chaotic collapse. but the second goal was to convince the united states that russia is essentially an equal partner and needs to be treated with due respect in the middle east. >> well, as we mentioned there have been claims that the wpg, the syrian kurdish fighters have

they're saying the ceasefire is not realistic because we will continue fighting until bashar al-assad leaves power, until the shia militias leave the country. they say it's the armed groups on the ground who will decide on whether to accept a pause on the fighting. what rebel commanders have told us how can they accept a pause in the fighting when russian air strikes are allowed to continue because the two groups, i.s.i.l. and the al-qaeda, al-nusra front, doesn't make it as terrorist negotiations are not included in this deal. russia can carry out air strikes saying that what they're targeting al-nusra positions on the ground. they can use that as an excuse to target all rebel factions. so much defiance from the commanders. they say that they will not surrender because at the end of the day the government can tap tour ground but-- capture the ground, but can they hold it? they can launch a warfare and counter-attacks the government. defiance from the rebel command saying that this deal is unrealistic >>> thank you very much for that. going to dominic who is at the conference where th

bashar al-assad has vowed to retake the entire country. the comments come as they agree to aim temporary halts within syria within seven days. >>> there have been riots against austerity protest. head of the russian orthodox and pope francis will meet. >> the efforts to stop the fighting, we look at how the munich deal might translate on the ground. >> the deal greed to in munich have two main aims. they also want to reach areas blockaded by opposition groups. isil has besieged government-controlled neighborhoods where 200,000 people live. the only way to drop aid there from the air. it's worth noting that access to these besieged areas should have been granted a long time ago as it's been repeatedly demanded by the u.n. security council in five resolutions. the first one 2139 was pasted two years ago. the second focus of the munich meeting was to stop the bloodshed and another has been set up with that aim. during the munich talks russia argued it wanted a cease-fire to start on the first of hear. but the u.s. said that would allow three

we neared kerry say there cannot be a government if bashar al-assad remains in power and we know how divisive that issue is. will his allies believe he step aside for a political agreement to be reached >>> we saw him talking with one voice. they're talking about multi million dollar sums of money when it comes to the aid package, military and humanitarian. what are your sources telling you as to the timeline of that? how long until that kicks in because jordan has born the brunt of this along with turkey for so long >> reporter: yes. there was a meeting, a donors conference in london, brejing millions of dollars. jordan, turkey, lebanon, they can no longer cope. there are now tensions within the society, lebanese community, jordanian communities, turkish communities, they're explaining that they're losing jobs to the syrian community. we heard john kerry say more aid, with you this is why the international community is trying very hard to find a political settlement to this conflict. right now across the border there are tens of thousands of people who are living in tents, people wh

al-assad and russia. rescue workers pulling people out of the rubble in aleppo. iranians will head to the polls in two elections >>> u.s. republican hopeful dment says he-- donald trump says he is growing more confident after an easy victory in the nevada caucus. some see it as a seal of approval from the party's base. it follows previous wins for donald trump in the new hampshire and south carolina primaries. >> reporter: even donald trump seemed surprised by the scale of his victory >> we love nevada. >> reporter: he won almost half of the latino vote despite his votes on mexican immigrants being criminals and rapists. >> we won. we kon with highlied indicated. we won with poorlied indicated. i love the poorlied indicated. i'm really happy about 46% for the hispanics, 46%. >> reporter: early indications are that marco rubio came second, but it's still not clear if he will now become the anti trump candidate. the person the party establishment will back >> i suspect that the momentum of the last week rea

. ♪ but first the syrian president bashar al-assad questioned how any kind of truce can be achieved in his war-torn country as hopes are continuing to fade and they wanted a cessation of hostilities to begin by this week but the situation on the

we saw president bashar al-assad saying he's going to retake all of syria. we saw the saudis coming out and saying that he absolutely must go. perversely, i think this may be a sign that this deal is real, that everyone is now -- feels it necessary to make some kind of rhetorical statement about the deal and what it means. >> the expectations, i mean, are the expectations too great that this is the answer? >> i think the expectations are pretty low. again, none of us really thought we were going to get here and we're all excited. at the same time, i don't think anyone is betting the farm on this really working and really coming about. that said, this seems to be only game in town, the only alternative that let syria fight it out, bleed, everything we don't want. we are very vested in what is a very long shot. >> they often say about war that there's only a solution when both sides or all sides have had enough, enough death, enough destruction. are we to that point yet? >> we may be. but it's just too early to tell. certainly, the rebels have had a bad couple

one of those elephants is bashar al-assad. we cannot defeat daesh in syria unless we bring about change in bashar al-assad. he is the man who helped create it. by releasing radicals from his jails. but allowing daesh to operate without attacking them. by even trading with them. he is the man that allowed them to become what they are, and unless and until there is a change in syria, daesh will not be defeated in syria, period. we have an international coalition of which my country was a founding member that has been bombing daesh in syria for 15 months, and it's still around. so when assad goes, the fertile environment in which daesh operates in syria will be removed and we can deal with them. the second elephant in the room, is the implementing the reforms that were agreed to in iraq in 2014 that would bring the sunni community into the fold, that would create an equitable system to sunni, kurd, shiite, caledonians or iraqis. that also will -- will pull the routh -- out from under daesh in iraq, and allow the country and its a

that is what bashar al-assad said. his demands were we cannot have the turks or anyone else resupplying the rebels across the border. they want the border towns in their hands so they can be assured that if there is a respite, the rebels will not gain more arms. bashar al-assad is on the march, they were unlikely to want a ceasefire. >> today to take to you. joshua landers joining us from northern oklahoma. >> pleasure >>> 32 people in yemen have been killed in fighting between houthi rebels, and forces loyal to president abd-rabbu mansour hadi. it happened around the city of tiaz. 19 houthis were killed, 13 pro-abd-rabbu mansour hadi fighters died. >>> turkish police detained suspects in relation to a suicide attack in ankara. the turkish based kurdistan freedom hawks claimed it was behind the bombing. turkey blamed the y.p.g. for the attack. the y.p.g. denies responsibility >>> a vote in bolivia where a vote is deciding whether president eva morales can vote for a third campaign, his yes campaign saw the lead in the

bashar al-assad says any troops wop come with conditions. he singled out turkey for criticism for not exploiting any potential break in hostilities. from the opposition high, it says it is ready for a ceasefire but troops must come with guarantees from the syrian regime's allies, russian and iran to hold fire. on the ground syrian forces are pushing forward on to aleppo backed by russian air strikes. they have taken a control of a power plant. live to the border and our correspondent. it is the ceasefire and laying down a line in the sand, the interview with bashar al-assad, talking about preconditions. >> reporter: yes. a very different statement from a statement he made a few days ago when he said there cannot be a ceasefire until all terrorist groups lay down their arms. he also mentioned that the syrian government's aim is to go to the whole country. russia said it was not in line with russia's policy of pushing forward a diplomatic process because syria and russian have been accused of trying to find a military solution to this conflict

bashar al-assad said his army will fight on until all rebels are defeated and talks continuing between russia and the u.s. and other countries on how to implement a ceasefire. britain's prime minister david cameron meeting other eu leaders in brussels for a second day of talks to keep the uk in the eu and a deal is yet to be reached but will do his best to push through an agreement on eu reform. the u.n. says fighting in one of its camps for displaced people in south sudan may constitute a war crime and 18 people were killed including two members of the aid group doctors without borders and the camp is sheltering people escaping unrest in the town and alexander now reports. >> reporter: this is one of eight u.n. bases in south sudan meant to provide a safe haven for displaced people. since the conflict began in 2013. but and outbreak of violence between rival groups have left at least 18 people dead and more than 40 people injured including two staff members of doctors without borders. it started between the youths who started fighting each other. immediately we had the u.n. police who

russia has raekd to comments-- reacted to commence of bashar al-assad that his army will continue fighting until all the rebels are defeated. they're warning a difficult situation could arise if bashar al-assad does not follow russia's lead. 200,000 people have been cut off by i.s.i.l. are in desperate need of food and medicine. >> reporter: convoys of badly needed food and medicine began rolling into five besieged towns in syria this week. aid trucks were allowed into government and rebel-controlled areas. officials say there will be deliveries by road to others soon. ground access is not possible to some areas. the only way this is by air >> we will also hope then to have progress in reaching the poor people inside of der assor which is inteejd by islamic state. -- besieged by islamic state. that can only be done by air drops and welfare program has a concrete plan of doing so. it is a complicated operation and would be in many ways first of its kind ever. >> reporter: in south sudan the world food program has dropped supplies from air. they are difficult and hard to organise but sometim

top story this hour, the syrian president bashar al-assad has vowed to defeat the rebels and retake control of the entire country. his comments were made public less than a day from announcing a meeting for syrian ceasefire. >> we have any believed in political negotiations since the beginning of this crisis. however if we negotiate it doesn't mean we stop fighting terrorism. the two are inevitable in syria.

john kerry are accusing the bashar al-assad regime of using food as a weapon in this war which would amount to war crimes. people will be hopeful that this ceasefire does come into effect sooner rather than later, that it is not another shallow promise, as we've seen in the past few weeks and months, but only the coming hours and day will be able to tell us whether this will be the case or not >>> in an interview with a spanish newspaper, al-assad said national leaders cannot be removed from power through force. >> if you want to change the president or prime minister or any assistant in any country, you only have the political process to move through, not - you cannot use argument as an excuse to say you want to change the system. it wouldn't happen through the armament >>> thousands of troops have been deployed in india to calm protests by the jaat community. at least people have died in the unrest. the protesters have also cut off water supplies leading to a crisis in the capital. >> reporter: these protesters are trying to cause as much disruption as possible. strategically place

bashar al-assad said any efforts to episode the violence should be about creating stability in syria. >> translation: the ceasefire within a week, who is capable of bringing together these conditions within a week? no-one. who will speak to the terrorist organization if they refuse to adhere to the ceasefire. who will make them accountable. the cessation should be improved >>> going to our correspondent in surgeon turkey on the syrian border. we have president bashar al-assad there doubting whether any cessation of hostilities can actually be implemented. >> reporter: yes. doubting, calling it unrealistic and really sticking it the government's positions since the start of the up rising calling everyone who carries weapons and arms against the states a terrorist. clearly a much emboldened and strengthened president since russia's intervention and political support it has been receiving from musts. the syrian government has been allowed to have the upper hand on the ground. we heard bashar al-assad call on the different groups to accept what he called national reconciliation agreements

al assad. so you in effect have forces that are backed, trained, armed, supported by the u.s. on the other side of the conflict. can you confirm that's happening on the ground? >> no. i've seen those reports, jim. can't confirm that. one of the reasons why this agreement is so important is we'll know when we can get to a cessation of hostilities. and we hope within a week's time we can actually put it in place. you'll know shortly thereafter who's going to be a party to that and who isn't, who's going to be on the side of terrorism and who isn't. if you're on the side of terrorism, then the pressure is going to be continued to be applied to you. >> i want you to respond a criticism that i know you're familiar with here in washington, that is with the russians on the ground here, the u.s. has creeded a lot of influence. that russian air force has helped assad gain ground. how do you answer that skriccrim that the russians now have the upper hand in terms of influence in this? >> well, first of a

they have been there to prop the regime of bashar al-assad. let's be clear. >> what about the cold war with russia? >> kind of early to call it a cold war with russia. >> it has its presence in eastern ukraine which is objected to, it has said if turkey goes into syria it would regard that as an invasion. can't be far off. to say it's too early, you must think about it already. >> we think about everything, that's what we're paid to did. what we don't want to do is start ramping up rhetoric that is a little too soon for situation. >> you have seen they have muddied the waters, hugely. >> the russians have muddied the water, no question about that. >> to what end? >> their action he have prolonged bashar al-assad's rule. this guy is the problem. he has according the many reports been responsible to half a million deaths of his own people. this is a bad guy. there is no future that we can see in syria that includes bashar al-assad. >> what do you reckon the russian motives are? >> certainly, they want to be players in the region, they have some

al-assad. thank you. >> translation: don't you think the u.n. is to be blamed because of the situation in the middle east and the arab world because it was not serious to apply the resolutions of the security council for the sake of the ash world. >> translation: thank you. i think the u.n., a lot of the u.n. has been implemented at all whether there is resolution to 142 regarding the palestinian issue or the situation regarding lebanon, regarding syria 2216, regarding yemen, 22, 54 regarding syria, i feel sorry to say that the united nations used to issue resolutions that represented the viewpoints of the member states, but when it comes to how to apply these resolutions we cannot find countries who are quite committed to the resolutions and we have no mechanism in the united nations to force countries to apply resolutions. i think the resolutions that have never been implemented, it's not only in the islamic world, this is the general impression of the whole word. so many resolutions when it

what do you make of that speech from bashar al-assad? >> reporter: his statements are really different to the ones he made a few days ago. he said there can be no ceasefire until "all terrorists lay council their arms". he was criticized by his backer for not being in step with russia's diplomatic efforts. at the end russia and the syrian government have been accused of pursuing a military solution to this conflict and not the political settlement. now we're hearing the syrian president say a ceasefire is possible. the terrorist groups to not exploit, they don't get more weapons from turkey. his statement coming hours after the opposition saying they would be ready for a temporary truce that could be renewable, but, of course, the two attached conditions, saying that russia should stop its bombing campaigns, sieges on communities should be lifted. these are among their demands. we understand the modalities to start a ceasefire have not been started. it is a complex operation simply because there is no international agreement on who is a