The Belgian
teacher Pierre Piccinin da Prate and Domenico Quirico, a journalist at La
Stampa, both kidnapped in Syria in April 2013 by the Syrian rebels (whose main
military arm is Jabhat Al-nusra which closely linked to Al Qaeda), were
released on Sunday (8/9/2013).
During his
interview with RTL-TVI, Piccinin indicated that it is the Syrian rebels and not
the Syrian regime who used the sarin gas (in Al Ghouta). Puccini held on strongly to his
statement especially when told that Quirico denies being that certain of this
fact. He then insisted that it would be suicidal for the West to support the
extremists who now lead the so-called Syrian revolution.
Puccini, who
was a strong supporter of the Syrian rebels at the beginning of the uprise in 2011, said
that "it is a moral duty to relay such information. It is not the
Government of Bashar Al-Assad which used sarin gas , or any other gas, in the
outskirts of Damascus. We are certain of this fact since we overheard a shocking
conversation between the Syrian rebels. My statement comes at a high personal
cost since I used to support the Free Syrian Army in their just struggle for
democracy."
On the other
hand, Domenico Quirico said "One day, we overheard a conversation in
English via Skype between three men through the door of the room in which we
were imprisoned. In this conversation, the men said that the gas attacks in the
two districts of Damascus were committed by the rebels as a provocation to push
the West to launch an attack on Syria". He also said that he is not sure
of "the reliability nor the identity of the persons involved in this conversation.
"I cannot assert whether this conversation was based on real facts or on a
rumor. It is folly to claim that I know that it is not Assad who used the
gas."
Puccinin, in
response to Quirico's suspicions, said: "I'm a little bit surprised
because we were together when we heard this conversation. It involved the Free
Syrian Army general who was holding prisoners and a militant from Al-Farouq
brigade. It was clear that, according to this conversation, Al-Assad's regime
is not responsible for the gas attacks gas based on which the world shall
decide whether or not to attack the regime of Bashar Al-Assad."
Puccinin,
and in response to questions from Michel De Maegd, reiterated that, according
to the two men, no, it is not the regime "of Al-Assad who is behind this
attack". The Belgian ex-hostage continued: "The regime could not have
made a more precious beautiful gift to the rebels had it really used these
chemical weapons." Mr. Piccinin completely opposes the idea of an international
attack on Syria. "The Free Syrian Army is now controlled by extremists. It
would be crazy and suicidal for the West to support these people."
Puccinin
explained: "It wasn't always the same group that held us. We were detained
by different, anti-Western, anti-Christian, violent extremists. At many times,
we were subjected to extreme physical violence" humiliation, bullying, and
mock executions. Domenico underwent two mock executions by the revolver. At one
time, we were convinced that they were going to kill us since they told us that
we became a burden on them and that they were going to get rid of us".
