21/09/2016 World News Today

I'm Lyse Doucet at the United Nations in New York.

The US Secretary of State calls for all planes to be grounded

in key areas of Syria to try to save the truce there.

There's been dozens more air raids around the city of Aleppo

and amid continued recriminations against Russia

over the destruction of an aid convoy on Monday.

He said the damage to the convoy was as a direct result

Trucks of food and medicine, just spontaneously combusting.

We report on how Kurdish Peshmerga forces are getting close

to pushing so-called Islamic State out of Iraq once and for all.

And I'll also be talking to the Iraqi Prime Minister

about the Iraqi armies battle to retake Mosul from IS.

I hope we can do it, and we are intending on doing it.

I'm not giving any information - I want to surprise Daesh on this.

The outside the headquarters of the United Nations. Again, Syria is

dominating the headlines with them not just that, retention and

recrimination after Monday's attack on the UN, Terry and convoy heading

towards the besieged city of Aleppo. Today, more reports of an attack on

a clinic that has left 20 civilians dead.

John Kerry said that the peace in Syria was hanging by a thread, and

they were tense moments with Sergey Lavrov over who is responsible for

the attacks on the aid convoy in how to move Syria forward.

Monday night's attack on the aid convoy was a shocking part of the

violent end to the Syrian ceasefire. American led accusations that a

Russian air strike was responsible for this, and Russian denials of any

involvement now threaten to derail the entire search for a Syria peace.

At the United Nations, the Security Council met to see if any sort of

peace process can be saved. Passions were running extraordinarily high,

but Russia's Foreign Minister said nobody should drum to conclusions.

-- jump to conclusions. TRANSLATION: Many said it could have

been a rocket or artillery shelling, that was what the initial reports

were, then helicopters or warplanes were mentioned. I think we need to

refrain from emotional reactions and make comments immediately, but first

we must investigate and be professional. That appeal to avoid

feelings and Russian denials were simply too much for the Americans. I

listened to my colleague from Russia, and I sort of felt a little

bit like we were in a parallel universe here. Then a John Kerry let

rip in a sustained assault on their credibility, dismissing their

accounts, including one that it might have been a simple fire on the

ground. They just spontaneously combusted. Anybody here believe

that? I mean, this is not a joke. So what do we know about the attack on

the aid convoy? It took place on Monday night. The convoy was

intending to head on to rebel held areas in Aleppo province. Russia has

admitted tracking the convoy with a drone. They showed their footage

shows it was accompanied by a rebel convoy. Those at the scene insisted

was struck from the air. TRANSLATION: They dropped barrel

bombs and then Russian jets bombed us, there was lots of strafing. The

United states so they were jets above the convoy at the moment it

was hit. Russia denies involvement. It says there are no craters at the

scene, and suggests that somehow the cargo caught fire. The Foreign

Secretary, Boris Johnson, does not buy that. He is convinced the attack

was from the air, and that only the Russians had the capability. There

are only two possible culprits, only two forces capable of powering

carried out that strike, flying in that area. They are the Syrians and

the Russians. We have our doubts about the Syrian capability to fly

at night. So you're left with a pretty strong conclusion, as you

will have been hearing. The destruction of the convoy and

killing of aid workers has sparked the worst crisis so far in

international efforts to end Syria's agony.

At the moment here at the United Nations, where the international

committee had been looking to end the violence, their argument about

who reignited it. You must be disappointed. Is there

any hope of moving beyond this now? We cannot give up. There is no

alternative. What is the alternative? Going back to a war

which will be ongoing without limit. We almost had a ceasefire. We almost

had he Medmerry and eight. Foremost is not good enough in Syria. --

almost had humanitarian aid. There are some who do not want it. Today

was a tense meeting. But I have a strong feeling that both Russia and

America, who have been putting a lot of capital into it, will not give up

before Friday. Then we perhaps might get something moving. You know who

carried out the attack on the convoy? The United States say it was

Russian planes. It was a UN convoy. It was. It was full of food, and

fully authorised. Everyone knew where they were going. There was no

east is forcing them, there were 31 tracks. I cannot tell you at this

stage who did it, but I can tell you one thing, you need a highly

sophisticated machine to kill 18 trunks out of 31, and there was no

excuse. You have a -- you have relied on Russia and America to move

on. If there is hostility between them, how can you move on? In

fairness to both of them, they both work hard. I work with both of them,

and they worked overnight. They got quite a good deal. I want to believe

that over what -- those who are trying to spoil this... Who are

those? You have two identify them to stop them. We have identified them.

Are they the main parties? They are not. They are people on both sides,

and the Government and opposition who do not feel that this is

actually fitting into their picture. They have been spoiling both the

American and Russian tactics. Russia and America have responsibilities,

they have two brain in and convince their own partners that this is

serious. The alternative is chaos, it is war. I am still optimistic.

You will have heard of John Kerry calling for the grading of all

planes. They have been trying to achieve that for so long. Any sense

that that is possible? It is possible and doable. It was part of

the original plan. Which did not work. It did not reach that point.

It undermined the second chained of three points. A reduction of our

studies is phase one. He manner Terry and aid is phase two. Phase

three is around grabbing the Syrian air force. -- humanitarian aid is

phase one. Isn't this the brunt of the problem, that those on the

ground believe in the military solution? Yes, but they should know

by now that there is no military solution. One week, one believes

they can bring. The second week, the other one. This is still the best

chance. We must wish good luck and energy and responsibility to the

Russians and the Americans. They told us publicly that they had a

deal. They must make it work. We understand that the suspension of

aid deliveries has been lifted. Are they now rolling? They are.

Humanitarian aid must always prevail. You are not losing hope?

Losing hope would be betraying all of the Syrians that had been waiting

for some good things. You have seen the mood inside the Security

Council, it is hard to see how it can be picked up, despite the

necessity of it. I have seen the difficult meetings. It was not the

most difficult one. I could detect that both the Russians and American,

while they were being quite tense towards each other, they were still

saying that when they looked at each other, they had a chance. They need

both of them to make it work. Thank you.

Still chance, he says, to try to save this embattled truce across

Syria. has been causing growing

despair here at the UN, in Iraq, the army is pushing up

from the south towards Mosul, the Islamic State group's last major

stonghold in the country. At the same time,

Kurdish Peshmerga forces are closing in on IS

from the East. Our correspondent, Orla Guerin,

joined them on the frontline, On the front line, a tense moment

for Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. They spot a car in the

territory controlled They think could be

carrying explosives. The commander tells me

that IS just a comment ahead. They've tried to attack us 30 or 40

times, says the general. They've tried to attack us 30 or 40

times, says the general. And we will defeat them

in Mosul, God willing. We drive over rough terrain,

along the front line, which stretches

for 1,000 kilometres. a fighter who has been

here on the mountain for 18 months. But his uniform

separates him from the rest. He's a former British soldier,

turned volunteer sniper. He says he has no hesitation

pulling the trigger on IS. It's like putting

your foot on an ant. For you, personally,

what was it that This isn't your country,

many would say. For people to say this

isn't the West's war, you've got your head

stuck in the sand. here, then the next step

for them would be Europe. Nice, Paris would be nothing

compared to what we would see. The fact of the matter

is that the Peshmerga held the line, This mortar landed

soon after we arrived. IS were responding to our

presence, the Kurds said. Their horizon stretches

beyond defeating the insurgents. The Peshmerga have been

expanding their territory, They want independence

for their autonomous region. But, for now, the focus

is on freeing Mosul. This IS defector surrendered

to the Kurds, and claims that the extremists have

dug in for a long fight. We're not revealing his identity

as he has relatives They are trying to convert a cannon

to fire mustard gas so that, when the army comes,

people use it against them. They have underground

tunnels around Mosul, They have bunkers equipped

with bathrooms, Back of the front line,

a distant glimpse of Mosul, the captive city, where

IS proclaimed its caliphate. The UN is warning

that if the militants they may want Mosul

to die with them. A difficult and dangerous battle for

ice lies ahead. -- for Mosul lies ahead.

The decision is a political one to be taken by Iraq's Prime Minister. I

sat down with him here in New York to ask whether he believed the

battle will be next month. Well, yes, I hope we can do it,

and we are intending on doing it. I'm not going to give

any information, I want to surprise

Daesh on this. Usually, we give many messages,

and one of the messages is that we start our offensive today

to liberate all of the villages on the River Tigris so that Daesh

will not be able to threaten any supply routes

to and from Baghdad, to Mosul, I want to make sure

that the international coalition is ready to provide help

for us when we need it. it is going to be ready

in the next couple of days. But most of the things

are settled at the moment. And we hope that it will be ready

sometime in the next few weeks. What do you fear about the attack

on so-called Islamic State, where it is most entrenched

amongst civilians? We've been told before that Falluja

was more difficult than Mosul. Some advised us at the time to leave

Falluja until the end. it took us only three weeks

to liberate the city. It was quite a huge

casualty for Daesh. President Obama said the battle

for Mosul will be hard, challenging, Well, I mean, this is

a psychological war. So you're pretending

it's going to be easy where, in fact,

in your heart hearts, you know this could be the biggest

battle, the bloodiest battle but, in preparation, I have

to assume it is very difficult. So I'm preparing things

for a very difficult fight in Mosul. But, in actual fact,

from the messages we are getting from inside the city, from people

who are cooperating with us, people are ready to

do things in there. So I think people are ready,

Daesh morale is very low. There are many foreign

fighters in Mosul. It's not just a military battle

for your forces, it is a very political,

sectarian battle. As you know, the arguments

are very public about whether the Shia militia will go in,

where will the Kurdish forces go? Are you worried

that you will not be able to get everyone moving

in the same direction? The plan which I have authorised

in probably the last two weeks is... I mean, it's very much explained

the role of everyone. There will be Sunnis,

there will be Kurds, there will be Shia, there will be

the other minor Christians, I cannot stop them or prevent

them from taking part in liberating their own

homes, their own cities. My role is to enable them to do that

in a very established way so that their efforts are added up

rather than negating each other. At the moment, it looks like it's

going in the right direction. The Kurds have said they are worried

they're not going be given the role Probably some people think

they are not getting a role, Because if one party believe

they have taken all of the roles, It's said that President Obama

would like to leave the White House with so-called Islamic State

no longer holding territory I don't know whether

the rest of the world I'm very alarmed by

the situation in Syria. The eastern side of Syria

is still in the hands of Daesh, We are moving towards holding

the border with Syria. But what is next there,

on the other side of the border? We're talking to everybody,

please solve Syria. It's important to solve

the situation in Syria. Iraq's prime and stuff. During his

time here in New York, he had two macro meetings with the American

president, including a meeting where it was just the two leaders. They

were discussing this crucial battle on the city of Mosul. We do know

that the White House would like to end this administration by being

able to say that the territorial control of Iraq and Syria by the

so-called Islamic state has come to an end. So he was looking for

financial support here, military support, humanitarian support. One

of the things that was not in that interview was that he also asked for

President Obama's help in removing Turkish forces. There are many, many

issues which are pawns in the side. Let's return to Syria, which has

been dominating headlines this week. The two attacks, one on the

humanitarian and void the last -- convoy, and the one on the clinic.

John Kerry has asked for all of the planes to be grounded in Syria. Is

that possible? Our State Department correspondent has been speaking to a

member of the artist says government to find out if that would be

possible. The whole agreement is hanging by a

thread, and is doing so because of this big Regis attack on a convoy

that had been planned. There were coming to the aid of innocent

civilians. The question before us now is whether Russia has the intent

and the capacity to make good on its commitments under the agreement we

reached after a lot of hard work. If it does, and if it can, this would

be a permit is benefit by renewing a cessation of hostilities, by getting

the Syrian air force out of the skies to stop into skimmer at the

bombing innocent civilians. Ultimately, it is up to Russia to

decide. The deal is this, if this doesn't work, if Russia does not

make good on these commitments, then hard as it is to imagine, this will

get worse. Rush you will be left holding the bag, propping I that

will be under attack, and Russia will be alienating itself. It is up

to Russia. All of this is depending on Russia, and the Americans are

working closely on Russia. At the same time, you are saying that they

are accountable for this strike on the humanitarian convoy. How can you

keep that up question of if you believe that, the US will be

complicit with those actions. The best way, the best chance we have of

stopping the carnage in Syria is through this agreement. The

challenge is this. These things and, Sybil was like Syria and in three

ways. One side wins. Once one side starts to get power, the patrons of

the other side start to in more resources. Or outside powers come in

and try to end the violence. Russia has more at stake because if this

does not succeed, as I said, they will be left responsible for Syria.

Briefly, the military co-operation of it, that must be off the table?

Russia has said from the start that it is in Syria to go after Isis as

well as prop up the Assad regime. We know that, but the point of the

ceasefire was that the Russians and the US would co-operate monetarily.

Since you are accusing them of being committed in this air strike, that

must be off the table? What we have said is that if this agreement holds

for seven days, we get seven days of a cessation of hostilities, we can

look at establishing a mechanism to coordinate in doing what we want to

do, which is in the interests of the International committee, to go after

Daesh. That depends on whether Russia is ready to make good on its

commitments. It's as that you do not have much leverage. I think the

leverage is, what is the alternative? An acceleration of a

civil war that will harm Russia's interests were that anyone else's. I

want to ask you about Russia. Sorry, refugees. There has been a lot of

talk about refugees, a lot of money raised to help them, but no

commitment for countries to resettle them. How do you get around that at

the moment, in terms of doing something practical for refugees,

other than just giving them a question much we have put more

resources into the international systems to help refugees. We have

significantly increased the number of people resettled all around the

world, including by the United States was up they have to be in

fermented, but we make commitments and we have to make sure that we

stick to them. We have commitments to make sure that 1 million for

refugee children have access to school, and a million more have

access to jobs. Ultimately, it comes to Syria and that crisis, the best

way to end the crisis is to end the civil war. That is what we're

working hard to do. The depth the Secretary of State,

speaking to my colleague. ! The alternative to a negotiated end

to this war is just more war. It is hanging by a thread, John Kerry

said. We had from the special envoy to Syria, saying that both John

Kerry and Sergey Lavrov will go back to the negotiating table to get

something back on track. If not, look at Aleppo. It has become a

symbol of the suffering of Syria. Everyone knows the suffering, the

question is what to do to end it? But from me and the rest

of the team, goodbye. Plenty of contrast

across the country We got over the front crossing

the country - it's bringing

some outbreaks of rain. It's a pretty wet and to the day,

actually, across parts of Northern

Ireland and Scotland. It continues to track its way

slowly eastwards,