Jihadists Say Syria Rebel Beheaded in Error

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Al-Qaida-linked jihadists in Syria have admitted beheading a fellow rebel by mistake after believing him to be an Iraqi Shiite fighting alongside regime forces, a watchdog said on Friday.

A video posted on the Internet on Wednesday showed two members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) holding up a bearded man's head before a crowd in Aleppo in northern Syria.

They said he was an Iraqi Shiite who had been fighting among the ranks of President Bashar Assad's forces.

"Some minutes after the video was posted, the man was identified as Mohammed Marroush, a fighter with rebel group Ahrar al-Sham," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

The Islamist Ahrar al-Sham is an ISIL ally.

"ISIL later admitted the rebel had been killed by mistake and said it had arrested one of its men, a Tunisian, for decapitating him. He was referred to their Islamic court."

The second man, also a foreign fighter and from the Gulf, has not been detained.

Marroush had been wounded in fighting at a regime military base east of Aleppo, Syria's second city and former commercial hub.

In the battle, rebel and jihadist groups squared up against Syrian soldiers backed by members of Hizbullah and Iraqi Shiites of the Abu Fadl al-Abbas group.

Marroush was taken to hospital outside Aleppo for treatment, and in his drugged state was heard to repeat the names Ali and Hussein, two venerated Shiite imams.

"This was the last thing he had heard from the Shiite fighters before being wounded," an Observatory statement said.

"The two ISIL men deduced he was a Shiite fighter and cut his head off," it added, calling the decapitation "a war crime".

An ISIL chief, Omar al-Qahtani, said on Twitter that Marroush had thought he had been captured by the enemy and lied, saying he was a Shiite.

Extremist Sunnis deem Shiites to be apostates.

"He called out the name 'Hussein', and those present in the hospital thought he was a (pro-regime) prisoner," Qahtani said.

"Under questioning, he claimed to be Shiite... so the brothers killed him," he said, asking the dead man for forgiveness.

"Mistakes happen on the battlefield all the time," Sheikh Qahtani added.

Extremist Sunni jihadist groups battling regime forces have been accused for months by more mainstream rebel factions of all sorts of abuse, including abductions and beheadings.

Comments 7
Missing --karim_m1-- 15 November 2013, 15:07

The FSA-Al Qaeda terrorists and the way is they administer justice is hilarious.

"Sorry shabeb, we accidentally tore this man's head off. But we still want a free, democratic, and secular Syria!"

Thumb cedre 16 November 2013, 00:02

stupidos, they're not fsa, they're actually not cooperating with fsa when not fighting them. Those takfiris are assad and nasry best friends, but i dont expect u to understand that, almanar BS is more than enough for ur limited cortexes...

Default-user-icon dddd (Guest) 15 November 2013, 15:08

a5adet 2idon el chabeb!

Default-user-icon Saatchix2 (Guest) 15 November 2013, 15:13

Bashar's cleverest move was to release these al Qaeda terrorists from his jails, they are the best advertisement for his criminal regime. He already knew how effective they can be from back when he was sending them to Iraq by the thousands to slaughter the imperialist infidels.

Thumb cedre 16 November 2013, 00:03

thank you.

Default-user-icon JCWilliams (Guest) 15 November 2013, 17:33

If they were smart jihadists they would have glued his head back on before it was too late and the story hit became news

Default-user-icon Karabij Aleppo (Guest) 16 November 2013, 03:39

One allouchti down, more Sanni lunatics to follow.