TURKEY: "Sorry and shocked" - Free Syrian Army vows to avoid committing war crimes in future

Record ID: 276426

  • Title: TURKEY: "Sorry and shocked" - Free Syrian Army vows to avoid committing war crimes in future
  • Date: 15th August 2012
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (AUGUST 15, 2012) (REUTERS) DEFECTED COLONEL ABDUL HAMID OMER ZAKARIA WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) FREE SYRIAN ARMY COLONEL, ABDUL HAMID OMER ZAKARIA, SAYING: "Of course we strongly condemn this unjustifiable crime, and we feel deeply sorry and we were shocked about it. Anyway we will promise to put an end for this complicated issue and we hope to avoid
  • Embargoed: 30th August 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVA7F8SO95KR9YMWJ9NZZI93QTAE
  • Story Text: A colonel from the Free Syrian Army told Reuters on Wednesday (August 15) that they will avoid "unjustifiable crime" in the future, after a UN human rights report accused rebels of committing war crimes including executions.
    U.N. human rights investigators said on Wednesday that Syrian government forces and allied shabbiha militia have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder and torture in what appears to be state-directed policy.
    Syrian rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad have also committed war crimes but these "did not reach the gravity, frequency and scale" of those carried out by the army and security forces, they said.
    Both government forces and armed insurgents had violated rights of children during the 17-month-old conflict, said the 102-page report by the independent investigators led by Paulo Pinheiro.
    Abdul Hamid Zakaria, a defected colonel, said many in the Free Syrian Army were shocked to learned about the crimes against humanity allegation and vowed to change in the future.
    "Of course we strongly condemn this unjustifiable crime, and we feel deeply sorry and we were shocked about it. Anyway we will promise to put an end for this complicated issue and we hope to avoid such crimes in the future. said Zakaria.
    Zakaria also blamed Syrian government for bomb the village of Azaz in an attempt to kill Lebanese hostages in order to ignite a sectarian war in Lebanon.
    A Syrian air strike killed 30 people in a rebel-held town on Wednesday, in which seven Lebanese hostages being held in Azaz were wounded, with four others still missing, a rebel commander said.
    "Everyone knows that the Lebanese hostages are in Azaz, so the regime today just a few hours ago bombarded Azaz just to kill these Lebanese hostages to put an end for this complicated political issue and at the same time to establish and encourage the sectarian war in Lebanon," said Zakaria.
    That citizens of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, key supporters of the Sunni Muslim insurgency, were among those seized by Lebanese Shi'ites prompted Gulf states to urge citizens to leave Lebanon. It also underscored how the Syrian conflict is dividing the region along sectarian lines as world powers remain deadlocked.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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