http://world.time.com/2013/05/14/we-will-slaughter-all-of-them-an-interview-with-the-man-behind-the-syrian-atrocity-video/?hpt=hp_t2
Syria
Exclusive: ‘We Will Slaughter All of Them.’ The Rebel Behind the Syrian
Atrocity Video
By Aryn Baker / BeirutMay 14, 201346 Comments
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Omar al-Farouk brigade
Khalid al-Hamad, left, in an undated photo that originally appeared on the
website of the Syrian rebel group, the Independent Omar al-Farouk Brigade,
which he commands
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News sites around the world have shown Khalid al-Hamad sink his teeth into what
appears to be the lung of a dead Syrian government soldier. His fellow rebels
have called for him to be arrested or killed for the act. Human-rights groups
have condemned him. But al-Hamad has no regrets.
In an interview conducted via Skype in the early hours of May 14, al-Hamad
explained to TIME what caused him to cut out the soldier’s organs: “We opened
his cell phone, and I found a clip of a woman and her two daughters fully naked
and he was humiliating them, and sticking a stick here and there.”
The video, a 27-second clip in which al-Hamad brandishes organs that appear to
be the lungs and heart of the Syrian soldier who lies dead at al-Hamad’s feet,
was first seen by two TIME reporters in April. A few weeks later, TIME obtained
a copy. Though we had been told by witnesses to the filming that the video was
legitimate, we set about authenticating its content, aware of the potential
that it could have been faked for propaganda purposes. Al-Hamad has now
confirmed that the video is real, and that he did indeed take a bite of the
soldier’s lung. (At the time of filming, al-Hamad believed he was biting into
the liver. A surgeon who has seen the video confirms that the organ in question
was a lung, which somewhat resembles the liver). On May 12, a copy of the video
appeared on a proregime website, sparking a flood of Facebook Shares and
YouTube views.
(MORE: Savage Online Videos Fuel Syria’s Descent Into Madness)
Al-Hamad, who is Sunni and harbors a sectarian hatred for Alawite Muslims, said
he has another gruesome video of his killing a government soldier from the
Alawite faith. (Syrian President Bashar Assad is Alawite; the conflict in Syria
is increasingly sectarian.) “Hopefully we will slaughter all of them
[Alawites]. I have another video clip that I will send to them. In the clip, I
am sawing another shabiha [progovernment militiaman] with a saw. The saw we use
to cut trees. I sawed him into small pieces and large ones.” Al-Hamad also
explained that even though both sides of the conflict in Syria are using video
clips of their own brutal actions to intimidate the other, he believes his clip
would have particular impact on the regime’s troops. “They film as well, but
after what I did hopefully they will never step into the area where Abu Sakkar
is,” he said, using his nom de guerre and referring to the part of Syria he
currently controls.
(PHOTOS: Chaos and Killing in Syria: Photos of a Slow-Motion Civil War)
Human Rights Watch (HRW), which validated the video, released a report on May
13 identifying al-Hamad as a well-known commander responsible for the recent
cross-border shelling of a Shi‘ite Lebanese village that killed two. The
organization called on the U.N. Security Council to refer the Syria situation
to the International Criminal Court to ensure accountability for all war crimes
and crimes against humanity. “It is not enough for Syria’s opposition to
condemn such behavior or blame it on violence by the government,” said Nadim
Houry, HRW’s deputy director for the Middle East. “The opposition forces need
to act firmly to stop such abuses.” Al-Hamad lashed out at HRW and the U.N. for
focusing on opposition abuses when the regime is responsible for similar
atrocities. During the interview, he sent links to YouTube videos purporting to
show regime abuses. “Why doesn’t the U.N. make an appeal for the shabiha not to
do that? The shabiha themselves posted a million clips of them stabbing and
raping.”
Al-Hamad, who has been fighting on the front lines near the strategic town of
al-Qusayr for the past week, said the video captures the first time he had ever
attempted to eat an enemy’s liver. He indicated that the brutality of the
regime had driven him to extremes. “You are not seeing what we are seeing, and
you are not living what we are living. Where are my brothers, my friends, the
girls of my neighborhood who were raped? May God bless them all.”
(MORE: Syria’s Lurking Terror: A History of Sarin Gas)
The Supreme Military Council, which according to the leadership oversees about
90% of the fighting groups in Syria, has issued a poster — circulated on
Facebook — calling for al-Hamad’s arrest, saying it wants him “dead or alive.”
In response, supporters have posted stylized portraits of al-Hamad cradling a
rifle. “We Love You,” reads the inscription.
Al-Hamad pointed out in the interview that the revolution started as a peaceful
uprising more than two years ago. “[The Alawites] were the ones who killed our
children in Baba Amr and raped our women,” he said, referring to the site of a
ferocious battle in the city of Homs that took place in February 2012. Then,
referring to the recent massacre of Sunni villagers near the coastal village of
Baniyas that has been attributed by rebel groups to the regime, he adds, “They
were the ones who slaughtered the children and women in Bayda [near Baniyas].
We didn’t start it, they started it.” He swore to avenge every death. “Our
slogan is: An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.”
— With reporting by Rami Aysha / Tripoli
MORE: Why Syria’s Future Is in Its Own Hands
Aryn Baker @arynebaker
Aryn Baker is the Middle East Bureau Chief for TIME, covering politics,
society, culture, religion, the arts and the military in the greater Middle
East, including Pakistan and Afghanistan. She currently resides in Beirut,
Lebanon.
Read more:
http://world.time.com/2013/05/14/we-will-slaughter-all-of-them-an-interview-with-the-man-behind-the-syrian-atrocity-video/#ixzz2TLMfpmkw
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