The Shabiha started off as racketeers and smugglers. But now, as ultra-loyal enforcers of Syria's brutal regime, they have taken on a far more bloodthirsty role
Harriet Alexander and Ruth Sherlock
The Telegraph
"The door to Dr Mousab Azzawi's clinic, on the Mediterranean coast of Syria, was always open to anyone who needed help. But, operating in the heartland of the feared Shabiha militia, there were some patients the doctor would have preferred not to treat.
"They were like monsters," said Dr Azzawi, who worked in Latakia. "They had huge muscles, big bellies, big beards. They were all very tall and frightening, and took steroids to pump up their bodies.
"I had to talk to them like children, because the Shabiha likes people with low intelligence. But that is what makes them so terrifying – the combination of brute strength and blind allegiance to the regime."
As President Bashar al-Assad's country continues its savage slide towards full-blown civil war, the violent, dark and secretive world of the Shabiha is coming out into the open.
Nine days ago, 108 people were butchered by the Shabiha in the town of Houla. The pro-Assad thugs went through the village, house to house, and slit the throats of anyone they came across – including 49 children. Exactly a week later, the Shabiha pulled 12 factory workers off a bus in the town of Qusayr, 40 miles to the south; tied their hands behind their backs, and shot them in the head......
One of the most prominent Alawites on the council is Monzer Makhous.
"The Alawites are supporting Assad because they have been told that he is protecting them, and are very afraid about what will happen when he goes," he told The Sunday Telegraph. "But I don't think there will be revenge against them. Syrian people want peace.
"It is a big challenge for the SNC to attract more Alawites. The Shabiha are killing them too, if they try to leave. But we need them on our side."
Other Alawites agree that more should be done to encourage defections....."
No comments:
Post a Comment