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Saturday 14 September 2013

Graphic content: Rebels behead Assad's thugs in front of children

These are some of the most brutal scenes to emerge from Syria's civil war. Rebels photographed beheading men loyal to the country's president, right in front of children. UK Daily Mail reports
The sword rests briefly on his neck as a blindfolded man kneels under a clear blue sky. Moments later, the executioner raises his right arm, slashes downwards and the prisoner is dead.The whole barbaric episode is watched by a crowd of jeering men, many of them armed. And sitting on a low wall only a few feet from where the wretched captive died so violently is a line of young boys.
They were still there as the dead man’s head was dumped on his body. Another child, even younger, was led by the hand past the corpse. Warning: Graphic content. Continue...



A Syrian boy is held by the hand as he walks past the body of a beheaded Islamic militant loyal to Assad
A Syrian boy is held by the hand as he walks past the body of a beheaded Islamic militant loyal to Assad. An unnamed photojournalist was given rare access to the public execution in the town of Keferghan in the north of the country
A group of young children sit on a wall as they stare at the dead body
A group of young children sit on a wall as they stare at the dead body



The severed head of a militant is held aloft. The photographer witnessed four public executions on August 31
The severed head of a militant is held aloft. The photographer witnessed four public executions on August 31

The public execution was the last of four that took place on August 31 in the town of Keferghan in the north of the country.
The picture forms part of a set taken by a photojournalist - whose identity has not been revealed in order to protect him - who was given unprecedented access to the gruesome proceedings.
Among the other photos are an executioner lining up his sword before delivering the final blow as his victim kneels in the village square - and a victim's head being held aloft by a jubilant fighter.
Although it is difficult to confirm the political affiliation of those involved, an eyewitness told Time that the executioners belonged to ISIS - an Al-Qaeda faction opposed to President Bashar Assad's regime.

The captives are understood to belong to the fearsome Shabiha ('ghosts') - thugs loyal to Assad who are said to roam the country massacring women and children
The captives are understood to belong to the fearsome Shabiha ('ghosts') - thugs loyal to Assad who are said to roam the country massacring women and children


Above, a captive prepares to meet his fate
Above, a captive prepares to meet his fate. Describing the scene, the photographer said: 'That scene in Syria, that moment, was like a scene from the Middle Ages, the kind of thing you read about in history books'


Below is an edited account of the photographer's harrowing experience:
'The man was brought in to the square. His eyes were blindfolded. I began shooting pictures, one after the other. It was to be the fourth execution that day I would photograph. I was feeling awful; several times I had been on the verge of throwing up.
But I kept it under control because as a journalist I knew I had to document this, as I had the three previous beheadings I had photographed that day, in three other locations outside Aleppo.
The crowd began cheering. Everyone was happy. I knew that if I tried to intervene I would be taken away, and that the executions would go ahead. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to change what was happening and I might put myself in danger.
I saw a scene of utter cruelty: a human being treated in a way that no human being should ever be treated. But it seems to me that in two and a half years, the war has degraded people’s humanity. On this day the people at the execution had no control over their feelings, their desires, their anger. It was impossible to stop them.
A member of the notorious Shabiha is held by the scruff of his neck as he is led to his doom
A member of the notorious Shabiha is held by the scruff of his neck as he is led to his doom

The pictures emerged as the organisation Human Rights Watch released a video and report into brutal summary executions
The pictures emerged as the organisation Human Rights Watch released a video and report into brutal summary executions carried out by the other side - Syrian government forces

The executions took place near Syria's largest city, Aleppo, which has seen intense fighting between the rebels and Assad's forces
The executions took place near Syria's largest city, Aleppo, which has seen intense fighting between the rebels and Assad's forces
I don’t know how old the victim was but he was young. He was forced to his knees. The rebels around him read out his crimes from a sheet of paper. They stood around him. The young man was on his knees on the ground, his hands tied. He seemed frozen.
Two rebels whispered something into his ear and the young man replied in an innocent and sad manner, but I couldn’t understand what he said because I don’t speak Arabic.
At the moment of execution the rebels grasped his throat. The young man put up a struggle. Three or four rebels pinned him down. The man tried to protect his throat with his hands, which were still tied together.
He tried to resist but they were stronger than he was and they cut his throat. They raised his head into the air. People waved their guns and cheered. Everyone was happy that the execution had gone ahead.
That scene in Syria, that moment, was like a scene from the Middle Ages, the kind of thing you read about in history books. The war in Syria has reached the point where a person can be mercilessly killed in front of hundreds of people who enjoy the spectacle.
As a human being I would never have wished to see what I saw. But as a journalist I have a camera and a responsibility. I have a responsibility to share what I saw that day. That’s why I am making this statement and that’s why I took the photographs. I will close this chapter soon and try never to remember it.'
'The war in Syria has reached the point where a person can be mercilessly killed in front of hundreds of people - who enjoy the spectacle,' said the photographer
'The war in Syria has reached the point where a person can be mercilessly killed in front of hundreds of people - who enjoy the spectacle,' said the photographer



The picture forms part of a set taken by the photojournalist, whose identity has not been revealed in order to protect him
The picture forms part of a set taken by the photojournalist, whose identity has not been revealed in order to protect him
Wearing a bloodied blindfold, one of the captives kneels before his executioners
Wearing a bloodied blindfold, one of the captives kneels before his executioners


The dreadful pictures emerged as the organisation Human Rights Watch released a video and report into brutal summary executions carried out by the other side - Syrian government forces.
They massacred at least 248 innocent people in the towns of al-Bayda and Baniyas in May this year, the report said.
The executions - which included at least 37 women and children - came after military clashes had ended and opposition fighters had retreated.
People were rounded up and shot at close range in an apparent attempt to ‘teach a lesson’ to the townsfolk not to side with the rebels.
The United States and Russia undertook a second day of talks in Geneva yesterday to try and achieve a diplomatic solution to the brutal conflict and get Syria to hand over its chemical weapons.
Anti-Assad fighters are seen here near Aleppo, in norther Syria
Anti-Assad fighters are seen here near Aleppo, in norther Syria

The U.S. and Russia undertook a second day of talks in Geneva yesterday to try and achieve a diplomatic solution to the brutal conflict
The U.S. and Russia undertook a second day of talks in Geneva yesterday to try and achieve a diplomatic solution to the brutal conflict and get Syria to hand over its chemical weapons

Syrian government forces massacred at least 248 innocent people in the towns of al-Bayda and Baniyas in May this year. 

Culled from UK Daily Mail


100 comments:

  1. wow..this isnt cool at all. in front of children.. same thing i saw CLICK HERE.

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    1. oh blood of God im so cold,jack were are u.

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    2. Did cn happend GOD pls help ur people

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  2. Why ee dey sweet dis pple to dey kill like dis

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  3. This is gross! Humans are just becoming animals! How appalling!!

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  4. oh my God.....help us

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  5. Now this is why the US shouldn't offer any form of military assistance to the Free Syrian Army.
    Fact is,these rebel fighters are in no small way affiliated to terrorist groups from Hezbollah to Al-Qaeda who are against the US,Isreal and her allies.
    Come to think of it,are these rebels any better than Assad and his loyalist fighters?do you think they wouldn't use chemical weapons on wives and children of pro-Assad fighters if they had access to it?
    The Syrian case is quite a sorry one considering the fact that both warring parties are guilty of crimes against humanity.
    One can only hope that Obama's proposed diplomatic means of retrieving tons of Chemical weapons works.
    Even Russia as it stand is quite confused,so is Assad and the Free Syrian Army.
    Only time will tell how these all ends!

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    1. Once again Mich,u have shown ur level of intelligence..something I've come to respect u for.

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  6. wot nonsence... God help us all

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  7. Linda,I can't see anything ooooo

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  8. To paraphrase the journalist, war changes people. You can't really blame anyone, the captives have killed people and so have the al qeda people. As for the kids beheading is a common occurence in the mid east, they see people blown apart, they see wars, they see people use cruel and crude arts of war. Those aren't kids anymore, they have been hardened and are just been put through a rite of passage. Tomorrow one of them could be the one captured or the one wielding the sword. It's a cruel world in the middle east.

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  9. muslims....na wa

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    1. Saheed Badmus Santoma15 September 2013 at 04:49

      Sharap which one b muslim na wa..so dem tell Ʊ say dere war is abt islam..olodo

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  10. Blood of Jeaua Christ pls touch the hearts of men*crying* this is gruesome

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  11. Have you not seen the vid of a rebel tearing out the heart of a dead soldier from his body and eating it? The rebels are brutal thugs.

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  12. I wonder wat d future would luk lyk......may God help us

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  13. I HAD TO SCROLL DOWN COS I CAN'T CONTIUNE TO WATCH. HEARTLESS group of people.

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  14. God have mercy!!

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  15. Smh!
    ~D great anonymous!

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  16. this is some serious shit mhen...barbaric. so much for 21st century

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  17. Wicked idiot's all in d name of human's

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  18. Beheading Humans and killing people in broaDday lught SOMETHING NIGERIANS ARE VERY FAMILIAR WITH.

    THANK GOD I AM NOT SYRIAN
    THANK GOD I AM NOT NIGERIAN

    I GUESS JUST AS MOSLEMS ALL NIGERIANS ARE DESCENDANTS OF ISHMAEL (HAGAN SON)

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    1. You sound so pathetic! I can tell what tribe in Nigeria you belong to.'hagan' son ko,'hagan' son ni.Olodo rabata!

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    2. Your father there, IDIOT!!!

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  19. I don't know if it is the religion that encourages the violence or violent people are attracted to the religion.

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  20. linda!! i keep saying this, if the west goes on supporting the rebels and Assad is removed from power then we have a full scale war brewing in the middle east soon!!!

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  21. Lord have mercy! What is this! Father father help us since our help is from above n I kip asking... Where is d love! What gain is war? War can never bring peace it is only peace that can bring peace! Oh lord! I'm speechless!!!! In front of children? Oh no! The eveil men do... They ar raising children by teaching dem how 2destroy their nation. When one of us is nt free all of all is nt free! Unity is love,division is fear!!! This is where I rest my case. #Heartbroken# Ify

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  22. what's graphic about this pictures? "hiss"

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  23. OMG!!! Very Gory Images,quite disturbing too...:(






    PRETTY GIRL

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  24. See the set of young boys sitting on a wall discussing,those are the Spartacus of tomorrow they are undergoing a training right now ..........In any situation we are let give thanks to GOD Nigeria is still a better place to live

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  25. Orishirishi God help them

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  26. wow..am speechless...ws touchin my neck while readin dis....pls God come down nd help ur people...ur children re goin nuts....wat is dis....pls d US shudnt arm dose rebels...dey hv a link to al qaeda nd as such wud b armin a terrorist group to commit more harm...luk wat append in libya...dey shud forget abat deir interest nd tink of d people dat wil b killed if dey do so...dose children..omg..cant write no more..*crying*

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  27. end time tinz. To we dat r stil leavin 'it is not too late to repent until u r late'.

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  28. Its good seeing this, trust me, during war, people lose their humanity.

    for all of the Nigerians chanting war songs, i hope they will be willing to die for what they believe in.

    you may think this is inhuman, but when you watch your whole family killed, you lose all sense of wrong or right, you lose your humanity and you lose yourself. you will find there is not different from slaughtering a goat and a human being.

    the biafran warlords on internet, this is what war turn people into.

    to the likes of asari dokubo, i hope they will be man enough to fight.

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  29. stop showing this massacre

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  30. this looks terrible...

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  31. OMG!! Well if d executed ones are responsible 4 d killing of over a thousand pple in syria chemically , den they deserve mor dan death.. Bt if nt.. SMH 4 d damn country

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  32. This is barbaric but that's what war turns people into- heartless and inhuman.

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  33. This is barbaric but that's what war turns people into- heartless and inhuman.

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  34. Signs of d end, oh God pls hv mercy upon us!**sad face**

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  35. wonder shall never end humans being slaughtered like cow, lord have mercy

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  36. God of mercy!!! *speechless*

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  37. My God my God. Kai Lord ooo. I feel sick o.

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  38. God is indeed a patient lord... Mmmmm

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  39. God is indeed a patient lord... Mmmmm

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  40. Very very sad.. Yet we claim to be better than animals..

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  41. Very very sad.. Yet we claim to be better than animals..

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  42. Dats kul...serves dem right for supporting their government for using chemical weapon that killed so many...thumbs up!

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  43. can#'t you make your point without showing the images?

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    1. Who be this? Please Get lost!!!

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  44. Nice and wonderful,...I love dis..

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    1. You must be a very stupid and wicked person.shege boko haram!

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    2. You must be a very stupid and wicked person.shege boko haram!

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  45. Lord have mercy!

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  46. Now you know it is high time you started posting some of the barbaric acts and atrocities committed by some of the Rebels sponsored by the US, UK, France, Saudi and Qatar. It only shows the US false pretense to invade Syria on the pretext that the Syrian government used chemical weapon. This is what I last posted here but you refused to let the comment out because you feel the US intention to invade Syria is justified just because you think Obama is a create decision maker and orator.

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  47. OHHH MY GOD!
    These guys are monsters.
    I dont know how they can do this to humans like themselves.

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  48. whaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttttt...life ooo madness
    continue for more HERE
    more stories HERE

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  49. am confused. I don't even no who to support again. is it the govt. or the rebels. dis is too much menh. tank God Africa is safe. @igbokweO.. tank s.

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  50. may God almighty have mercy. 1st 2 comment.yaay

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  51. The world is coming to an end

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  52. Life can be really appalling sometimes. I can't imagine this happens. Well, God knows it better.

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  53. Assad's thugs? But the rebels doing the beheading are victims of Assad's thuggery abi?! Its nice that people here and the international community view everything a REBEL group(s) does as ok. Very good.

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  54. Oh God! This is inhuman n awful...

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  55. God is indeed merciful

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  56. The rebels in syria have long lost the credibility of their cause ,and i seriously wonder why US,britain and france still think an invasion would solve it all,because if assad goes down i wonder what would happen to syria, as there are lots of terrorist groups in syria like al nusfra, the best thing is for assad to give up power willingly ,after which he can see to a transition,these is the deal the UN should seek for.

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  57. Na wah God go save man pickin ooooo

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  58. Am cryin wit tears of sadnss nd pain.wot a wicked word,dnt dis pple undstnd dat God is sittin on de throne watchin oh jesus oh ve mercy!

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  59. God help us!!! This is not wat islam teaches!!! Is high time we returned to the true teachings of God's word!!!

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  60. O Lord God almighty. ...........Let thy Kingdom come.

    Tolu.

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  61. Lord have mercy on your people!!!

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  62. GOD please hv mercy .

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  63. reminds me of jos, alot of beheading happened in jos, to the extent that they roast the bodies n eat, or insert the head on a stick n erect it for all to see,while ppl cheered on. and these atrocities were comited by both christians and muslims

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  64. Dis Syria war s getting worse day by day..

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  65. Linda...you call the opposition to the rebels "Assad's thugs?" You're obviously overfeeding off the ever propaganda-filled western media. Assad is the president of Syria & is the chief commander of all its security apparatus,airforce, army,navy,police,special forces,etc....Does it make sense to have untrained "thugs?" Abeggi!
    These rebels need to be flushed out just as much as al-qaeda too needs to be flushed out.

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  66. Boko Haram part 2

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  67. This is not d purpose of creation. Lord save ur world.

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  68. Mumuhamed their evil prophet of doom was their ring leader !

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  69. Islam is the problem of our world. Causing problem s everywhere they exist...Iraq, Pakistan, Iraq, Northern Nigeria, the list is endless

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  70. Can't really say I'm surprised. This is what civil war does to people. The long, drawn-out war in Syria has reduced hitherto human people to mere brutes. Of course it's all just propaganda, albeit very deadly propaganda.

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  71. Can't really say I'm surprised. This is what civil war does to people. The long, drawn-out war in Syria has reduced hitherto human people to mere brutes. Of course it's all just propaganda, albeit very deadly propaganda.

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  72. Instead of going after these animals called rebels, Barack Obama and David Cameron, the two "sissies" on the world scene, are busy harassing Bashar Al-Assad. Not long ago the world was woke up to the spectacle of a "rebel" eating one of his victim's heart, they similarly hacked a Catholic priest. Yet America and Britain kept arming these cannibals and then making futile threats to Assad.

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  73. 4 d fact dat, i'm nt in support of dis. I ll like 2 recommend. Dat execution like dis, shud be extended 2 sum of our leaders. Who ve contributed in ruining dis country.

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  74. this two groups they are animals i am surprising the world suport rebels is very very sad

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  75. Anoymous 5:27 PM. Your comment stood out! I keep telling those who care to listen: ''War is not a tea party''. In a war situation, men become beast. They say all is fair in war. People should stop beating the war drum. Inspite of our differences, we are better off as one nation.

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  76. When people learn not to believe everything they hear on CNN and all the main stream media, then the world would be a better place. If Assad is as bad as the US controlled media portray him to be then the Christians and other minorities won't be begging for him to stay. The use of the chemical weapon was just a false flag attack by the rebels and their sponsors. My people please open your eyes

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  77. The dumbness human beings never ceases to amaze someone. You think its a big deal that a man was killed in front of kids in a war torn country? How many of those kids had their parents slaughtered in front of them? Is death a stranger to them now? what should be news is the measures to be taken to stop the war. Both sides have committed atrocties, which is whyAmerica has no moral justification to send troops to Syria to oust Assad. Even Obama himself will not fold his arms and allow rebels take over his Government so why shouls Assad? who says the Rebels will form a better Govt or do better? CAn we learn from the story of Egypt? The Mursi that was welcomed after Mubarak, ended up being toppled and is charged with the same crimes as Mubarak.

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  78. "The captives are understood to belong to the fearsome Shabiha ('ghosts') - thugs loyal to Assad who are said to roam the country massacring women and children"....rubbish, this makes no sense

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  79. Nigerians will always be hypocrites to quick to blame everything on religion and ethnicity that is why we are loosing our respect in Africa today! as long as some of the foolish shallow minded biggots are not removed then i don't see this country progressing

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the comment writers alone and does not reflect or represent the views of Linda Ikeji.

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