Al-Qaeda-linked group admits execution of Syrian soldiers

Al-Qaeda-linked group admits execution of Syrian soldiers

File photo shows members of Al-Nusra Front, affiliated with al-Qaeda.

A shadowy al-Qaeda-linked group has claimed responsibility for the execution of 20 Syrian soldiers in the volatile city of Aleppo last month.

"God enabled … the al-Nusra Front in the city of Aleppo to capture and kill 20… soldiers from the Hanano military post," AFP quoted a statement from the Front as saying on Wednesday.

On September 10, a YouTube video showed members of al-Nusra insurgent group executing at least 20 troops in Aleppo.

Most attacks and bombings in Syria are blamed on the al-Nusra Front.

Earlier in the day, several explosions hit Sa’ad Allah al-Jabiri Square in Aleppo, killing at least 31 people and injuring scores of others.

Syrian security forces killed scores of insurgents in Aleppo on Tuesday during intense clashes in the al-Ramouseh Bridge neighborhood.

The Syrian army also inflicted heavy losses on the insurgents in Aleppo’s al-Atareb district on the same day and destroyed four pickup trucks.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011.

Many people, including large numbers of security forces, have been killed in the turmoil in Syria.

The Syrian government says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country and accuses Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey of arming the insurgents.

KA/JR/SS

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Aleppo - A disturbing amateur video that shows Syrian rebels executing government soldiers has emerged. The government soldiers, half naked, unarmed and trembling with fear, are made to kneel facing a wall before they are shot.

The Guardian reports the men are members of the shabiha, a militia group supporting President Bashar al Assad's regime. According to the Los Angeles Times, the footage, purporting to show Syrian rebel troops executing pro-government militia members in Aleppo, has attracted strong condemnation. The NY Daily News reports that although the provenance of the video cannot be independently verified, human rights groups have condemned the execution. Nadim Houry, of the Human Rights Watch, tweeted: “The reported execution by FSA of members of the Berri clan in #Aleppo is a war crime. Such reprisals never justified.”

The video shows the rebel troops leading the Shabiha men to execution while other armed men chant "Allahu Akbar!" One of the shahiba men is an older man with bloodied face dressed only in boxer shorts. He and the younger men show signs of being abused.

The Daily Mail reports that at one point, a man attempts to stop the filming by putting his hands over the camera lens. When, soon after the noise of gun fire, the camera regains focus, a pile of corpses is seen where the men had knelt.

The video caption says the footage shows execution of "dog" shabiha leader Zeino Berri, and other leaders from the Berri clan. The men were accused of committing atrocities in Aleppo. The shahiba are blamed for killings, rape and other atrocities, including the Houla massacre in which more than 108 people, mostly women and children were killed.

RT.com identifies "Zeino Berri" as Ali Zeineddin al-Berri, accused of leading a shabiha group that killed 15 FSA soldiers during a truce in Aleppo.

According to RT.com, Clive Baldwin, a senior legal adviser for Human Rights Watch, told BBC News: "What it looks like is execution of detainees and if that is the case, that would be a war crime."

Russia’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Gennady Gatilov, has also condemned the shooting: "The brutal massacre of government supporters by the opposition in the city of Aleppo shows that human rights violations are being committed by both sides."

The Guardian reports that Bashir al-Haji, spokesman for the FSA's Tawhid ("Unity") Brigade, said in a phone interview that the shootings were in retaliation for the incident on Tuesday when 15 FSA people were killed by Berri shabiha during a truce in that part of Aleppo.

There have been several reports of what appear summary executions in Syria by both rebel and government troops. RT.com reports that Ahmed, a rebel fighter from the Amr bin Al-Aas brigade in the Syrian town of Azaz, recounted the execution of a Syrian army sniper Rami, who was shot dead after a trial by his graveside. Ahmed said: "We took him right to his grave and, after hearing the witnesses' statements, we shot him dead." Ahmed indicated that his men often captured prisoners in battle and create graveside "courts" before they are executed. When pressed on the issue, he said: "The culture of lawyers has long passed. I mean a guy like that. what do you think his fate should be?"

The Los Angeles Times reports more than 140,000 people have viewed the footage of the purported execution and it has attracted more than 2,000 likes and 100 dislikes.

According to Los Angeles Times, a comment said: "This is what happens to people who kill children, women and shell protesters! Everyone else should use this as an example."

Another said: "How ugly. But they deserve it."

Another comment asked: "These people want freedom and democracy"? What a farce."

Amnesty International said in a report issued Wednesday that the Assad government is engaged in a brutal campaign in Aleppo. The report, according to Amnesty, "details a wide range of systematic, state-directed abuses, including the deliberate targeting of peaceful protesters and activists, the hunting down of injured protesters, the routine use of torture, the targeting of medics providing lifesaving emergency treatment to the wounded, arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances."

Meanwhile President Assad has issued a statement encouraging his troops to fight, saying that the battle against the Syrian rebel troops will determine the fate of Syria. The message appeared in the military magazine to mark the armed forces day, The Daily Mail reports.

The statement said: "The fate of our people and our nation, past, present and future, depends on this battle."

The Guardian reports Assad told his fighters in the statement: "My trust in you is great, and the trust of our people in you that you are the defender of its just causes."

Assad has not spoken in public since the bombing in Damascus on July 18 that killed four of his close security aides. Although he has been seen on television, Assad's whereabouts remain unknown two weeks after a bomb attack killed members of his inner cabinet.

Thousands have fled the city of Aleppo with a population of 2.5 million. Those who remain live under daily risks.

The rebels face a daunting task being poorly armed in comparison with the Syrian Army. They are armed mostly with rifles, machine guns and rocket propelled grenades against the Syrian Army that has fighter jests, helicopter gunships, tanks, armored fighting vehicles, artillery and mortars. The lack of unity between the several rebel groups is also a factor against their success.

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Iranian pastor who faces execution for refusing to recant his Christian faith.

An undated photograph provided by the American Center for Law & Justice shows Youcef Nadarkhani, an Iranian pastor who faces execution for refusing to recant his Christian faith.

Iranian Authorities Pressuring Jailed Christian Pastor to Convert to Islam

Government officials in Iran are trying to convince a jailed pastor to return to Islam as he waits for the nation’s supreme leader to decide whether he should be executed for converting to Christianity, sources close to the case told FoxNews.com.

Iran’s secret service officials recently approached 34-year-old pastor Youcef Nadarkhani at his prison site in Rasht and presented him with a book on Islamic literature, telling him they would be back to discuss the material and hear his opinion, the sources said.

FoxNews.com obtained a digital copy of the book given to Nadarkhani, a 300-page compilation entitled "Beshaarat-eh Ahdein," meaning “Message of the Two Eras,” referring to the New and Old Testaments. Through various narratives, the book claims Christianity is a fabrication and attempts to establish the superiority of Islam.

“This isn’t the first time that we have seen this strategy used in the Iranian jail system,” said attorney Tiffany Barrans, the international legal director for the American Center for Law and Justice.

Barrans questioned whether this signaled the ayatollah's willingness to give Nadarkhani another chance, or rather "another way to trap him to allow the regime to continue to punish him or have documented evidence of blasphemy against Islam.”

Barrans, who said she has been in frequent contact with Nadarkhani’s attorneys, said he has been advised by family members, members of the church and lawyers to remain silent, out of fear that the Iranian government may try to use his statements against him, a strategy she said is commonly employed by the regime.

Nadarkhani remains in prison, awaiting a final verdict that has been drawn out and delayed amid heavy and targeted international attention to his case. Iran’s judiciary has been caught in a bind, fearing the ultimate decision will have far-reaching political implications.

If Nadarkhani is released, the judiciary risks appearing disrespectful of the tenets of Shariah law. But if he is executed, Iran will face increasing criticism from the international community, which continues to petition for the pastor’s release.

A few weeks ago, a letter on behalf of the judiciary was sent to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the nation’s highest authority in interpreting Shariah Law, asking him to make the final decision.

It is unusual for the supreme leader to be asked to weigh in on a case, but officials said this case is rare in nature and requires Khamenei’s stamp of approval in order to issue an execution.

Nadarkhani came under the regime’s radar in 2006 when he applied for his church to be registered with the state. According to sources, he was arrested at that time and then soon released.

In 2009, Nadarkhani went to local officials to complain about Islamic indoctrination in his school district, arguing that his children should not be forced to learn about Islam.

He was subsequently arrested and has been held since.

Barrans said there has been much confusion in the story, in part deliberately caused by the Iranian regime through its state-controlled media. She said that in an effort to distract the media, the Iranian government denied that the charge against Nadarkhani was apostasy, or leaving Islam, and instead alleged that he was being held for rape and extortion.

But according to details provided by Barrans and confirmed by FoxNews.com with sources close to the case in Iran, Nadarkhani was arrested in October 2009 and was tried and found guilty of apostasy by a lower court in Gilan, a province in Rasht. He was then given verbal notification of an impending death-by-hanging sentence.

In December, his lawyers appealed the decision, and the case was sent to Iran’s Supreme Court, which by June stated that it upheld the lower court’s decision of execution, provided it could be proven that he had been a practicing Muslim from the age of adulthood, 15 in Islamic law, to age 19, the time when he converted.

In September, the lower court ruled that Nadarkhani had not practiced Islam during his adult life but still upheld the apostasy charge because he was born into a Muslim family. The court then gave Nadarkhani the opportunity to recant, as the law requires a man to be given three chances to recant his beliefs and return to Islam.

Nadarkhani refused.

Experts credit international support of Nadarkhani in keeping him alive. Christian advocacy groups and human rights organizations have mounted numerous global campaigns and petitions against the Iranian government.

“For me, as a husband and a father of two, the first thing I think about is being in his situation,” said the Rev. Jason DeMars, founder of Present Truth Ministries, a support group for persecuted church communities in the Middle East.

DeMars has been linked to the network of churches in Iran to which Nadarkhani belonged, providing these communities with materials, mission coordination and international support.

“Politically, Iran wants to spread its influence and revolution throughout the Middle East. If we don’t raise our voices now, this persecution is going to affect Christians in other countries as well,” he said.

Apostasy is punishable by death in Shariah law. Article 225 of the Iranian penal code states, "Punishment for an Innate Apostate is death," and "Punishment for a Parental Apostate is death.”

Under this law, a Muslim who converts to Christian is called a mortad, meaning one who leaves Islam. If the convert attempts to convert others, he is called a mortad harbi, or a convert who is waging war against Islam. Death sentences for such individuals are prescribed both by fatwas, or legal decrees, and reinforced by Iran’s penal code.

All religious minorities in Iran, including Bahais, Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians, have faced various forms of persecution and political and social marginalization throughout the regime’s 30-year reign. But the government saves its harshest retribution for those who have abandoned Islam.

Khamenei is not expected to announce a public decision on the case; he traditionally has influenced cases behind closed doors. Should he decline, the lower court will be responsible for making final judgment. SOURCE: