Home > Footage of chemical attack in Syria is fraud
There is proof the footage of the alleged chemical attack in Syria was fabricated, Mother Agnes Mariam el-Salib, mother superior of St. James Monastery in Qara, Syria, told RT. She says she is about to submit her findings to the UN.
Mother Agnes, a catholic nun, who has been living in Syria for 20
years and has been reporting actively on what has been going on
in the war-ravaged country, says she carefully studied the video
featuring allegedly victims of the chemical weapons attack in the
Syrian village of Guta in August and now questions its
authenticity.
In her interview with RT, Mother Agnes doubts so much footage
could have been taken in so little time, and asks where parents
of the supposedly dead children are. She promises to send her
report to the UN.
The nun is indignant with the world media for apparently turning
a blind eye to the Latakia massacre by rebel extremists, which
left 500 civilians including women and children dead.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has called on the international
community to pay attention to revelations made by Mother Agnes
Mariam el-Salib.
RT: The United States has used internet photos and
video footage of the supposed chemical weapons attack in Eastern
Guta to build a case against the Syrian government. Have you been
able to look at these files? What do you have to say about
them?
Mother Agnes: I have carefully studied the footage, and I
will present a written analysis on it a bit later. I maintain
that the whole affair was a frame-up. It had been staged and
prepared in advance with the goal of framing the Syrian
government as the perpetrator.
The key evidence is that Reuters made these files public at 6.05
in the morning. The chemical attack is said to have been launched
between 3 and 5 o’clock in the morning in Guta. How is it even
possible to collect a dozen different pieces of footage, get more
than 200 kids and 300 young people together in one place, give
them first aid and interview them on camera, and all that in less
than three hours? Is that realistic at all? As someone who works
in the news industry, you know how long all of it would take.
The bodies of children and teenagers we see in that footage – who
were they? What happened to them? Were they killed for real? And
how could that happen ahead of the gas attack? Or, if they were
not killed, where did they come from? Where are their parents?
How come we don’t see any female bodies among all those
supposedly dead children?
I am not saying that no chemical agent was used in the area – it
certainly was. But I insist that the footage that is now being
peddled as evidence had been fabricated in advance. I have
studied it meticulously, and I will submit my report to the UN
Human Rights Commission based in Geneva.
RT: Recently you’ve visited Latakia and the adjacent
areas, you’ve talked to the eyewitnesses to the massacre of
civilians carried out in Latakia by Jabhat al-Nusra. What can you
tell us about it?
MA: What I want to ask first of all is how the
international community can ignore the brutal killing spree in
Latakia on Laylat al-Qadr early in the morning of August 5, an
attack that affected more than 500 people, including children,
women and the elderly. They were all slaughtered. The atrocities
committed exceed any scale. But there was close to nothing about
it in the international mass media. There was only one small
article in “The Independent”, I believe.
We sent our delegation to these villages, and our people had a
look at the situation on-site, talked to the locals, and most
importantly – talked to the survivors of the massacre.
I don’t understand why the Western media apply double standards
in this case – they talk about mass murder that the use of
chemical weapons resulted in non-stop, but they keep quiet about
the Latakia massacre.
RT: Do you know anything about the fate of hostages
captured in Latakia?
MA: In the village of Estreba they massacred all the
residents and burnt down their houses. In the village of
al-Khratta almost all the 37 locals were killed. Only ten people
were able to escape.
A total of twelve Alawite villages were subjected to this
horrendous attack. That was a true slaughterhouse. People were
mutilated and beheaded. There is even a video that shows a girl
being dismembered alive – alive! – by a frame saw. The final
death toll exceeded 400, with 150 to 200 people taken hostage.
Later some of the hostages were killed, their deaths
filmed.
At the moment we are looking for the hostages and negotiating
their release with the militants, but so far we haven’t managed
to achieve that.
RT: We often hear reports of Christians being
persecuted by the militants. Just the day before yesterday there
was an attack in the village of Maaloula, where the majority of
population is Christian. Are Christians in Syria facing grave
danger?
MA: Everyone in Syria is facing grave danger. There was a
case of Muslim religious leaders being kidnapped and beheaded.
They were humiliated and tortured. Ismailis, the druze,
Christians – people from all parts of Syrian society – are being
mass murdered. I would like to say that if these butchers didn’t
have international support, no one would have dared to cross the
line. But today, unfortunately, the violation of human rights and
genocide in Syria is covered up on the international level. I
demand the international community stops assessing the situation
in Syria in accordance with the interests of a certain group of
great powers. The Syrian people are being killed. They fall
victim to contractors, who are provided with weapons and sent to
Syria to kill as many people as possible. The truth is,
everywhere in Syria people are being kidnapped, tortured, raped
and robbed. These crimes remain unpunished, because the key
powers chose international terrorism as a way to destroy
sovereign states. They’ve done it to other countries. And they
will just keep doing it if the international community doesn’t
say “Enough!”
RT: You’ve managed to get hold of some sensitive
information. Does this make you fear for your life as someone who
keeps documents that may compromise the militants? Has anyone
threatened you?
MA: You are right. I do get threatened. They are trying to
discredit me. I know there is a book coming out soon in France
that labels me as a criminal who kills people. But any believer
should first and foremost trust their conscience, their belief in
God, and that will help them save innocent lives. I don’t care
much about my own life. My life is no more precious than that of
any Syrian child, whose body could be used as evidence to justify
wrongdoing. This is the biggest crime ever perpetrated in
history.
RT: What should the Syrians do to stop the tragedy they
are going through?
MA: The Syrians themselves can do nothing to stop it. They
can only rely on the international community, friendly nations,
world powers, such as Russia, China, and India. With a lot of
enthusiasm we did welcome the news that the British parliament
voted against the participation of their country in the possible
war against Syria. There is a terrorist war going on against
Syria right now. The international community and Syria’s friends
should join forces and say: Enough! And they need to use every
opportunity to do that. Otherwise this threat Syria is facing now
will turn into a threat to universal peace.
RT: What should the Vatican and other hubs of
Christianity do to put an end to this tragedy?
MA: The Pope says he has no planes, no bombs, and no armed
forces. Instead, he has the power of the truth, and the truth he
has told. There are messages coming from everywhere in the world
urging against a military intervention in Syria. Those who want
to hear them will. The Pope, the patriarchs, Nobel Prize winners,
including women, keep saying the same in unison: Let’s stop
fighting. No conflict can be solved by military means. Stop
adding fuel to the flame!
All the prominent public figures in the world have risen to speak
against the war. Everyone has spoken their mind, but the US
prefers to turn a deaf ear. The world public opinion has turned
against the US. It’s the first time in history that America is
alone. They are claiming that they are backed by ten countries.
But I insist they aren’t, because the people of these countries
disagree with their governments. Even the American people
disagree with their government.
RT: Do you believe that this tragedy will end and Syria
will remain a homeland for all Syrians, regardless of their
ethnical or religious identity?
MA: I’m not Syrian myself, but I’ve been living in Syria
for 20 years. I’d like to remind everyone that Damascus is the
most ancient capital in the world. I would like to remind
everyone that Syria is the cradle of civilization. I would like
to remind everyone that this is the holy land that gave birth to
the main world religions. What is happening in Syria should serve
as a lesson for everyone. I mean that in existential rather than
political sense. I am convinced that with God’s help the Syrian
people will be able to remain strong, heal their wounds,
reconcile and chase out all the foreign mercenaries and
terrorists. I believe there will be peace in Syria. But for that
we need help from the international community.
http://rt.com/op-edge/mother-chemical-attack-footage-fraud-509/
