In a brave and brilliant move by the the Baraa Brigades sect of the Free Syrian Army, 48 Iranian militants have been taken hostage in Syria. FSA is the collective cadre of defectors from Assad's brutal military and enemy alliances as Hezbollah and IRGC, pledging allegiance to rule of law, rejection of cruel and unusual punishment, peace and border security.
Recently the Baraa Brigades have reportedly threatened to kill these Iranian hostages in a video citing Iranian military allegiance to Assad, and in ongoing urgent threats. However, the three hostages who were killed were victims of a roof caving in as a result of unpredicted Syrian government air strikes on rebel positions, not by the hands of Baraa.
Considering the number of political prisoners being brutally tortured and massacred inside Iran under IRGC and related "justice" authorities, ironically the Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has appealed to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Turkish government to aid in the Iranian militants release, while threatening the US with resposibility.
The hostages have made certain offerings, not unlike the standard practice inside Iran: both claiming they will publicly denounce Assad to media if they are released (whether or not that is their true stance); while Saeed Jalili, Iran's security chief met with Assad committing support to his leadership.
The identification of these 48 Iranians is debatable, but likely all are right.
Salehi claims that the hostages were on religious pilgrimage to Syria, which is not surprising given religious ventures are a constant historical cover for terrorist and otherwise threatening acts by the Iranian government, typically lead by clerics and IRGC. ForeignPolicy.com reports:
"The Free Syrian Army maintains that the Iranians are members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps who had been collecting intelligence on Syria's rebel movement. The Iranians have insisted that they were Shiite pilgrims traveling to Sayida Zeinab, a Muslim shrine outside of Damascus…In a letter to Ban, Salehi said that seven members of the Iranian Red Crescent Society had also been abducted in Benghazi on July 31. He said they were in Libya at the invitation of the Libyan Red Cross when they were kidnapped."
In civil society, prisoners of war (PoWs) are taken in as war criminals, to gain more information, to negotiate, or otherwise to keep the enemy's soldiers off the battlefield and promote peace. In the black market and elsewhere, hostages also make good for high-levels of ransom, an idea which may not be that out of line given the significance of the black market to regional revolutions, including smuggling phones, food, and aiding people in escaping their nations. Given that the questionably aligned Syrian National Council isn't exactly aiding the FSA as they purport to the western governments, financial resources have to come from somewhere at least moderately legitimate, and it better not come from al Qaeda.
The Free Syrian Army is a military apparatus in its infancy, faced with a major triumph, and course for determining new policy of post-Assad era military engagement. Certainly there is no need to release the hostages, they are a battle won, and in good number. What more, any claim that Salehi and his associates have against FSA for 'crimes against humanity' most certainly call for counter-claims due to the presence of IRGC and Iran-sponsored Hezbollah on the ground, breaking into residences and businesses, brutalizing innocent families and butchering children from a country that is not even theirs. The Syrian people have captured sufficient evidence of these massacres, and the Iranian opposition empathizes as the Iranian people suffer similar tragedies inside Iran on a daily basis. Salehi has no place to request assistance from anyone, and Iran doesn't participate in International Criminal Court anyway. Its like driving a car without a license, Iran has no defense.
To the FSA, leadership councils and respective commanders, hold the hostages, treat them civilly, keep firm to the Free Syrian Army's Proclamation of Principles that is in line with Allepo FSA commanders, and consider this. Ban Ki-Moon is in process of nominating Lakhdar Brahimi to replace Kofi Annan, he's not in the role yet, but let this be his first assignment.
Original: http://nfafi.org/reports/iranian-opposition-fsa-interrogate-dont-masacrate
Reposted, Radio Koocheh: http://radiokoocheh.com/article/174465
