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Catherina

(35,568 posts)
Tue Sep 10, 2013, 12:29 AM Sep 2013

Syria: Assad not Responsible for Ghouta Gas Attack, Says Freed Hostage Pierre Piccinin

Source: International Business Times

Syria: Assad not Responsible for Ghouta Gas Attack, Says Freed Hostage Pierre Piccinin
Belgian hostage held with Italian war reporter Domenico Quirico by Syrian rebels said captors denied Assad involvement


By Umberto Bacchi : September 9, 2013 2:00 PM GMT


Belgian writer and Syrian hostage Pierre Piccinin said Assad is not to blame for the Ghouta Chemical gas attack (RTL)

A Belgian writer held hostage for five months in Syria has said that his own rebel captors denied that President Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the Ghouta massacre.

Pierre Piccinin said that he and fellow hostage Domenico Quirico, an Italian war reporter, heard their jailers talking about the chemical weapon attack and saying that Assad was not to blame.
...

"It wasn't the government of Bashar al-Assad that used sarin gas or any other gas in Ghouta," Piccinin told Belgian RTL radio after he was released.

"We are sure about this because we overheard a conversation between rebels. It pains me to say it because I've been a fierce supporter of the Free Syrian Army in its rightful fight for democracy since 2012," Piccinin added.

...

Quirico said he listened to a Skype conversation between three individuals, whose names he could not confirm. One identified himself as a Free Syrian Army general.

...


Read more: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/504735/20130909/syria-chemical-attack-assad-rebels-blame-hostage.htm



Related thread in GD: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023634508

News video in French. I'm too tired to translate. It says what the article says.

22 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Syria: Assad not Responsible for Ghouta Gas Attack, Says Freed Hostage Pierre Piccinin (Original Post) Catherina Sep 2013 OP
wonder how many times this will be thrust upon us.. VanillaRhapsody Sep 2013 #1
You know something Vanilla, if I'm ever accused of a capital crime in Texas... bluesbassman Sep 2013 #8
As long as the capital crime isn't JoeyT Sep 2013 #9
Oh, well that clears that up. frazzled Sep 2013 #2
This message was self-deleted by its author snappyturtle Sep 2013 #3
Last night I watched Frontline's "Syria Behind the Lines". snappyturtle Sep 2013 #4
wouldn't be the fourth time they'd be caught with gas, either... MisterP Sep 2013 #6
Even the Obama administration has said there is reasonable doubt. David__77 Sep 2013 #5
and yet they're still foaming for military action. burnsei sensei Sep 2013 #21
What is this then? stevil Sep 2013 #7
Stuff he wrote in 2012 when he supported a revolution there Catherina Sep 2013 #11
I'm confused.... stevil Sep 2013 #13
Those are not harrowing details. Catherina Sep 2013 #17
Not what it turned into, but rather what it always was. David__77 Sep 2013 #15
My clumsy way of saying 'before it showed its true face' Catherina Sep 2013 #16
Anyone who is skeptical about the American evidence Luschnig Sep 2013 #10
And I am. n/t crim son Sep 2013 #20
This matters little to me. DeSwiss Sep 2013 #12
Agreed. That's certainly the larger point n/t Catherina Sep 2013 #14
Precisely cosmicone Sep 2013 #19
Chemical attack was rebel provocation, former captives say dipsydoodle Sep 2013 #18
Kick. nt. polly7 Sep 2013 #22

bluesbassman

(19,274 posts)
8. You know something Vanilla, if I'm ever accused of a capital crime in Texas...
Tue Sep 10, 2013, 02:00 AM
Sep 2013

I sure hope you aren't one of the jurors.

I'm sure you'll come back with some snappy line about not living in Texas. Good, that lessens the odds of you doing any real life damage, and the odds of me getting involved in a capital offense beef in any state including the one you do live in are nil, but you get my drift.

Response to Catherina (Original post)

snappyturtle

(14,656 posts)
4. Last night I watched Frontline's "Syria Behind the Lines".
Tue Sep 10, 2013, 12:42 AM
Sep 2013

In it, the rebels the reporter was following had "acquired" a
rocket launcher from the Syrian army in one of their forays.
Made me wonder if they couldn't then have chemical
weapons too?

David__77

(23,170 posts)
5. Even the Obama administration has said there is reasonable doubt.
Tue Sep 10, 2013, 12:57 AM
Sep 2013

But they said that that isn't the criterion for making a determination. Obviously these claims by the abductees don't establish guilt by the insurgents, but they are data points among many, many others.

Catherina

(35,568 posts)
11. Stuff he wrote in 2012 when he supported a revolution there
Tue Sep 10, 2013, 02:30 AM
Sep 2013

he mentioned that in several interviews explaining that it pained him due to his long-time past support to but he had a moral duty to tell the truth. I've watched about 6 of them in French tonight. He returned to Syria supporting the revolution until he saw what it really is, or at least what it's turned into.

The details are harrowing.

stevil

(1,537 posts)
13. I'm confused....
Tue Sep 10, 2013, 02:54 AM
Sep 2013

From my link....

He was arrested and detained by Syrian intelligence. And mistreated. And had this to say:

"I would never pretend to speak for the Syrians. I am merely passing on the unanimous message which was given me by the fighters of the SLA, the prison companions tortured to death, the friends in Bab al Musalla: Bashar al-Assad has his supporters among the Alawites among the Christians and the other minorities, also among the Sunnis who fear radical Islamism; but “the majority of the population no longer wishes to live in this country which is not a country but a regime. The SLA is prepared. It already holds many bastions and also has a presence in the big cities. In Damascus and Aleppo, unseen, awaiting the moment for a general insurrection. But that moment can only occur if the western democracies provide real military support. The SLA lacks the military power to confront the regime’s army, an army well equipped that has imposed itself for more than a year without having even used its special armoured units, its planes or its helicopters; an army fashioned by the regime in order to remain faithful to it. The SLA can only destroy the regime if the West destroys its heavy material, the tanks and the planes. And, if the West provides its support, floods of people will pour out on to the streets and quantities of soldiers themselves will join in the revolution; but at the moment they know that the regime is strong and that it is gaining the upper hand and they are frightened. Unfortunately nobody wants to help us. The western counties talk a lot; they watch but do nothing. For there is nothing to be gained here. The regime knows this. It is for that reason that it does hesitate to torture, to kill and bomb. It knows that nobody will do anything. That it has nothing to fear. We are alone.” (J., at Bab al-Musalla)

Yes, the details are harrowing. But which version do we believe?

Catherina

(35,568 posts)
17. Those are not harrowing details.
Tue Sep 10, 2013, 03:21 AM
Sep 2013

Harrowing details are the torture, the beatings, he and Domenico Quirico went through just recently, not the older stuff you quoted that Piccinin wrote a year ago when he thought this was a real revolution and supported the so-called rebels. Dates and evolution matter.

He clearly stated he USED to support the rebels before his experience. If you mix things up with words he wrote a year ago, before he was tortured, you'll be confused.

Freed Belgian, Italian recount Syria kidnap ordeal

13 hours ago

Freed Italian journalist Domenico Quirico and Belgian teacher Pierre Piccinin on Monday said they were beaten, starved and subjected to mock executions during their five-month kidnap ordeal in Syria.

The two men, who were released on Sunday, also said they had overheard their captors talking about rebel involvement in a poison-gas attack, although Quirico said he had no way of verifying that information.

Scant detail has emerged as to how they were released, but Quirico's newspaper La Stampa said Italy's secret services had stepped up efforts to secure their freedom ahead of feared US military strikes.

"These have been very tough months. We were beaten on a daily basis, we suffered two mock executions," Quirico told reporters in Rome's Fiumicino airport before flying to Turin where La Stampa is based.

"I was sold out by the Free Syrian Army, the group that began the revolution and believed in a Syrian society free of the inter-religious dictatorship.

...

http://news.yahoo.com/freed-belgian-italian-recount-syria-kidnap-ordeal-164145311.html


If you read French, you can google and find out worse details of their captivity.

Catherina

(35,568 posts)
16. My clumsy way of saying 'before it showed its true face'
Tue Sep 10, 2013, 03:11 AM
Sep 2013

The first two times he went, it was still at the student demonstration stage. We all know the scenario.

As the head of the US-backed Reform Party of Syria, Farid Ghadry, put it in 2007


“We are calling all Syrian opposition groups together for a national conference to create a parliament in exile and draft a new, secular constitution for Syria,” said Ghadry. “Then, take people to streets. Some people get killed. The international community gets further angry at the regime. Then, have NATO forces protect a safe zone in northern Syria,” on the border with NATO member Turkey. He grinned and concluded, “This way we will move right away into Syria.”

http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/farid-ghadry-syrias-chalabi-from-washington-to-damascus-by-salim-abraham/
 

Luschnig

(32 posts)
10. Anyone who is skeptical about the American evidence
Tue Sep 10, 2013, 02:30 AM
Sep 2013

should be skeptical about this hearsay evidence which one of the witnesses doesn't even trust.

 

DeSwiss

(27,137 posts)
12. This matters little to me.
Tue Sep 10, 2013, 02:51 AM
Sep 2013

The hypocrisy of Assad's accusers with regard to the creation, stocking and use of chemical agents that violate international norms and agreements is what undermines their case. That and the legal stuff, like international laws. Which Assad's accusers have also routinely violated. With arrogant impunity.

- The US is last on the list of countries who get to point fingers......

K&R

 

cosmicone

(11,014 posts)
19. Precisely
Tue Sep 10, 2013, 07:09 AM
Sep 2013

and ... it is always the usual suspects ... the former colonial powers using military strength they acquired by looting the rest of the world and the novo-imperialists i.e. the US who all think they are above the law.

I wish Britain, France, SPain, Portugal and Germany are tried retroactively for all the looting and atrocities in the colonies using the same standards they are now using against third world countries.

dipsydoodle

(42,239 posts)
18. Chemical attack was rebel provocation, former captives say
Tue Sep 10, 2013, 06:13 AM
Sep 2013

Belgian teacher Pierre Piccinin and Italian journalist Domenico Quiric, both of whom were abducted and held hostage for several months in Syria, said they overheard in an exchange between their captors that rebels were behind the recent chemical attack.

In a number of interviews to European news outlets, the former hostages said they overheard an English-language Skype conversation between their captors and other men which suggested it was rebel forces – not the government - that used chemical weapons on Syria’s civilian population in an August 21 attack near Damascus.

“It is a moral duty to say this. The government of Bashar al-Assad did not use sarin gas or other types of gas in the outskirts of Damascus,” Piccinin said during an interview with Belgium's RTL radio station.

Piccinin stressed that while being held captive, he and fellow prisoner Quirico were secluded from the outside world and had no idea that chemical weapons were deployed. But the conversation which both men overheard suggested that the use of the weapons was a strategic move by the opposition, aimed at getting the West to intervene.

"In this conversation, they said that the gas attack on two neighborhoods of Damascus was launched by the rebels as a provocation to lead the West to intervene militarily,” Quirico told Italy’s La Stampa. "We were unaware of everything that was going on during our detention in Syria, and therefore also with the gas attack in Damascus."

http://rt.com/news/chemical-weapons-rebels-captives-632/

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