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HAREM, Syria, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Unarmed and cornered by Syrian rebel fighters, the man seemed to accept his death with more silent sorrow than surprise; his killers did not hesitate as they shot their prisoner.
GRAPHIC WARNING: Contains images which some viewers may find disturbing.
Asmaa Waguih / Reuters
A member of the Free Syrian Army is reflected in a mirror in a house they use as a base during street fighting in Harem town, Idlib Governorate.
The incident, filmed by a Reuters video crew, happened last week in Harem, near Aleppo, where rebels have surrounded hundreds of troops and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Taking one neighbourhood after days of bitter street fighting, opposition fighters went from house to house.
From one building they hauled a man in middle age, dressed in casual clothes, black bearded and without a weapon. He seemed anxious and shied away as he stumbled into the street. Three rebels fighters casually raised their Kalashnikov rifles. A shot rang out, then another. A third. The man began to fall. Still silent. More shots. He lay still. A final round hit his head.
Asmaa Waguih / Reuters
Free Syrian Army members fire on a man they suspect to be from the pro-government forces during a combing operation in Harem town, Idlib Governorate.
Asmaa Waguih / Reuters
A wounded man, suspected to be from pro-government forces, talks to members of the Free Syrian Army as he tries to convince them he did not shoot at them during fighting in Harem town, Idlib Governorate.
For rebel commanders who present their siege of the former Crusader fortress town of Harem as a showcase for efforts to forge a disciplined fighting force out of motley volunteers, the killing was an embarrassment, offering evidence that Assad's "shabbiha" gunmen have no monopoly on atrocities.
Brigade commander Basel Eissa did shout at his men but was unable to stop them. Leaders of the unit said the fighters were angry at taking casualties. They also justified their action by saying they later found documents showing the dead man was a loyalist army officer - though that would be no defence in a war crimes court.
"I try to remind them that there are moral reasons we do not just kill soldiers," Eissa said. "And beyond that, I tell them that strategically it is bad - we get help or information when we spare these men's lives. We are not their judge, God is."
Commanders are also aware that bad publicity could hamper rebel efforts to secure arms and funding from abroad that might allow them to better match the tanks, aircraft and artillery which Assad's forces are using against them to deadly effect - Eissa himself was killed in an air strike earlier this week.
Asmaa Waguih / Reuters
Members of the Free Syrian Army run to avoid a sniper during clashes with pro-government forces in Harem town, Idlib Governorate.
Asmaa Waguih / Reuters
A member of the Free Syrian Army talks to a woman during a patrol to search for pro-government forces in Harem town, Idlib Governorate.
Asmaa Waguih / Reuters
Free Syrian Army fighters fire a rocket towards a castle where pro-government forces are based, in Harem town, Idlib Governorate.
War Games
U.N. investigators accuse pro-government forces of war crimes, including the murder and torture of civilians, in what they said in August may be a state-directed policy. They said rebel fighters were also guilty of war crimes, including executing prisoners, but on a smaller scale.
Asmaa Waguih / Reuters
Members of the Free Syrian Army walk past dead bodies suspected to be from pro-government forces during a combing operation in Harem town, Idlib Governorate.
Assad's state media give extensive coverage to allegations of atrocities committed by opponents whom the president brands as "terrorists" bent on destroying Syrian society.
Major Mohammed al-Ali, an army defector at Harem trying to coordinate rebel brigades in the hope of greater international support, said: "In every battle, there are violations. We deal with them harshly to make an example of them."
There was no sign of immediate punishment, however, for those fighters who killed the prisoner last week, although their commanders in field reprimanded them. After the shooting, the unit involved continued its operation.
Elsewhere in Harem, Reuters saw the bodies of four uniformed soldiers lined up in a garden, all shot in the head. And, although dozens of prisoners were held by rebels at Harem, at least one fighter there described commanders' calls for fair treatment as a smokescreen to keep the killing hidden.
More and more instances of executions are coming to light, including a video uploaded to the Internet last week that showed rebels in another part of Idlib province in the northwest lining several soldiers up against a wall and gunning them down, an act the United Nations has said could constitute a war crime.
Asmaa Waguih / Reuters
The body of a member of the Free Syrian Army is seen on the roof of a building after he was shot dead during fighting with pro-government forces in Harem town, Idlib governorate.
Photos taken by Reuters photographer Asmaa Waguih on Oct. 26 - 30, but made available to NBC News today.
A look back at the violence that has overtaken the country
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Looks to me like the 'rebels' are cold-blooded murderers filled with unimaginable hate... and Obama and Hillary Clinton are supporting these hooligans??????????
uh this is the new wold order spinning the news to make sure you are desensitized to the real problems...
greed, corruption and debt
These are the "hooligans" to which Mr. Romney chastised Mr. Obama for not arming. One more reason for Tuesday's outcome.
No, 'you' are supporting these war crimes and genocide with your silence towards these these war crimes being committed by the UNITED SNAKES (US/Israel/NATO) in our name!!!!
"where rebels have surrounded hundreds of troops and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Taking one neighbourhood after days of bitter street fighting, opposition fighters went from house to house."
Sunni rebels are supported by Sunni Islamic killers (not hooligans) like al Qaida, MB, Salaffi and other label ones.
Let them kill each other. We have NO ROLES in Shiites vs Sunni battles.
Or else, they (Shiites, Sunnis and other Islamic sects) will be on us (US, British and West) No. 1 enemy for them. The list of enemies goes on and on to Zionists, Christians and so on!
REMOVE SANCTIONS ON IRANIAN OIL TO CRASH OIL PRICES TO WEAKEN ENEMIES LIKE SAUDI ARABIA, QATAR, AND OTHERS.
THIS WILL ALSO IMPROVE OUR ECONOMIES!
Only thing I see in these videos is gun dealers selling guns to both sides and making a huge profit... while people on both sides fight over scraps of nothing...and die in the streets as brothers and families
Are there "good guys" and "bad guys" in these conflicts? At some point, we need to just realize that there may be no one worth supporting in many of these countries and just stay away.
No, just "smelly guys".
In war, the lines between good guys and bad guys become very blurred; People do things under stress they would never think of doing at other times.
There is a saying that the winners write the history books. People are generally more likely to brag about success rather than defeat or atrocities committed. There are tales of heroic defeat in history, (such as the "300"), but that occurs far, far less often than tales of heroic wins.
More results of the new world order and the tail wagging the dog!
The old saying: "My enemies' enemy is my friend" should be replaced by the more appropriate one:
"My enemies' enemy could be my next enemy" (as soon as the current conflict is resolved).
Extreme care should be exercised when choosing side. Neutrality, which has been reviled by some in recent years, has advantages that should not be overlooked. Unless there is a clear indication that our overall position would deteriorate should a specific side prevail over the other one, observing and staying out of the cauldron is a prudent response to external conflicts.
Example? Being old enough to remember the Domino Theory of Vietnam fame, I will point out that the fall of Vietnam did NOT result in the entire Far East slipping under the Communist umbrella as expected. Apparently there were alternatives to how this threat could be managed.
Perhaps we should learn from this? Ask Vietnam veterans ... or families who lost a loved one.
Those wacky rebels. ho hum.
When the UNITED SNAKES (US/Israel/NATO) arrive innocent people soon begin to die (If massacre fits under the term 'die). Yassar, these white racist MFer's deserve all the blue on green attacks and all the other 'bleeding events' they are experiencing in the Middle East, the sub-continent and places known 'only' to God (Now Africa). How a group of thugs like the UNITED SNAKES can continue to murder innocent civilians trying to persuade Assad to resign is more than a war crime. It is genocide under International Law, the Nuremburg protocols on aggression and the UN Charter.
I find it hard to believe the implication of your chosen screen name that you are in the US. Yours is the most anti-US rant I have heard in quite a while, and considering your opinion of the US, if you are truly in Arizona, I strongly suggest you leave. A suitable destination would be Syria, where you could vent your hate in a more effective manner.
However I'm reasonably certain that you are not in the US. You may well already be in Syria, working as a propagandist for the Assad regime, which appears determined to hold onto power regardless of how much of his own country he destroys and how many of his own citizens he kills. If I am wrong, however, please go there so that you may share his uiltimate fate.
Most of the time I have no idea WTF AZ is talking about - but it's always entertaining! Keep posting, brother!
more good Mohammadens killing each other and the U.S. is helping them.
I know this is war, but that man who got shot on the street, unarmed, is not right. nobody should be shot like that like a steet dog
And we are trying to insert ourselves into this. After the election we are moving Patriot Missles into the Syria/Turkey border. Do not we have enough hatred at home we need to fix. Hey, Obama, the Middle Class does not mean those in the Middle East. It means the folks that are here, trying to make a living.
Someones brave enough to take pictures of all this.
Brutal. I am sure now that the remaining Assad loyalists will fight to the death rather than face execution. What a mess.
These Syrian rebels are acting like barbarians!!
NO REPETITIONS OF IRAQI WARS IN SYRIA AND IRAN. WE HAVE NO ROLES!
In Syria, if Assad is overthrown by Sunni Islamic religious Nazis like al-Qaida, MB, the conditions of Christians will be unbearable just like Iraq.
Followers of Islamic cult, especially Sunni Saudi inspired Islamic radicals and militants (al-Qaida, Salaffi, Wahhabi, MB, Taliban and other label ones), are fast marching backwards to their seventh century desert tribal days.
They are indulging in rapings, lootings, killings and genocides of non-Muslims (Darfur, S. Sudan, Nigeria and spreading like wild fire in many regions and Muslims (Libya, Yemen, Mali, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other places).
Sunni Saudi backed Salaffi and MB new chapters are opening up in Egypt. Morsi is just a front for them. Just watch the fate of Christians, women and Israel as the time goes by.
Pakis and Sunni Saudis and co are responsible for 80 percent of world problems including economic ones. Examine the devastations with Iraqi wars and now sanctions on Iranian oil and the resultant oil price manipulations.
They are making the lives of their own people also miserable by their Islamic religious madness to the intolerable levels.