VIDEO-Syrian rebel 'cuts out soldier's heart and EATS it' in horrific propaganda video | Mail Online

By Matt Blake

PUBLISHED: 10:17 EST, 13 May 2013 | UPDATED: 12:44 EST, 13 May 2013

A video that appears to show a Syrian rebel cutting out and eating the heart of a dead government soldier has been posted online in a horrific new propaganda stunt.

The unverified clip, posted by a pro-government campaign group, claims to show a man - believed to be Abu Sakkar, the well-known founder of Homs' Farouq Brigade - standing over the uniformed corpse in a ditch while ranting against President Bashar al Assad.

Using a knife, the man hacks open the torso and removes two organs before holding them up to the camera and declaring: 'I swear to God we will eat your hearts and your livers, you soldiers of Bashar the dog.' He then raises one to his mouth and takes a bite.

It comes as David Cameron warned today he may still sanction military intervention in the war-torn nation amid growing evidence that Assad is using chemical weapons against his own people.

GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING:Scroll down for video.

Horrific: The amateur video posted on the Internet on Sunday shows Abu Sakkar, a founder of the rebel Farouq Brigade who is well known to journalists as an insurgent from Homs, cutting into the torso of a dead soldier

Remorseless: After removing what appears to be the dead man's heart, Sakkar then reaches into the chest cavity and draws a lung into view

The video, posted on YouTube by and billed as proof of a war crime, is the latest installment of a propaganda war that is growing fast behind the scenes of this bloody conflict.

Last month, a photograph was released by a pro-Assad group based in Lebanon that appeared to show a young rebel fighter barbecuing the severed head of a government soldier.

Experts say such images demonstrate that the battlefield has spread from rubble-strewn streets and war-churned fields to the internet as both sides vie to control their public image and discredit that of their opposition.

 

Meanwhile, human rights groups say it is emblematic of a civil war that has rapidly descended into sectarian hatred and revenge killings.

In the most recent video, Sakkar tells the camera: 'I swear to God we will eat your hearts and your livers, you soldiers of Bashar the dog,'

His rant is greeted by offscreen cheers of his comrades shouting 'Allahu akbar (God is great)'.

Gory: Brandishing the organs for the camera to see, Sakkar continues his rant against Assad's government 

'Soldier's heart cut out and eaten' in horrific propaganda video

Controversial: The video has caused outrage among both supporters of President Bashar al-Assad and opposition figures

PR war: The video, posted on YouTube by and billed as proof of a war crime, is the latest installment of a propaganda war that is growing fast behind the scenes of this bloody conflict

Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch said that he had seen an original, unedited copy of the video and that Abu Sakkar's identity had been confirmed by rebel sources in Homs and by images of him in other videos wearing the same black jacket as in the latest clip and with the same rings on his fingers.

'The mutilation of the bodies of enemies is a war crime. But the even more serious issue is the very rapid descent into sectarian rhetoric and violence,' said Bouckaert.

He said that in the unedited version of the film, Abu Sakkar instructs his men to 'slaughter the Alawites and take their hearts out to eat them', before biting into the heart.

Abu Sakkar has been seen in previous videos firing rockets at Lebanese Shi'ite villages on the border and posing with the body of a soldier purportedly from the Lebanese Shi'ite militant Hezbollah group, which is helping Assad's forces.

Big talks: Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron said he wasn't ruling out taking tougher action against Syria over growing evidence it was using chemical weapons, saying he planned to raise the matter with Barack Obama as he met the US president today

MailOnline cannot independently verify videos from Syria, where access is restricted by the government and security constraints.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday he wasn't ruling out taking tougher action against Syria over growing evidence it was using chemical weapons, saying he planned to raise the matter with U.S. President Barack Obama.

'Certainly we haven't ruled out stepping up action in response to what seems to be happening on the ground,' Cameron told NPR radio. 'The evidence is growing; the lack of room for doubt is shrinking, and I think this is extremely serious.'

Cameron's comments came two days after he urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to do more to stop the bloodshed in Syria, after failing to make any major progress towards ending the two-year conflict.

Speaking at a press conference in Sochi, the Prime Minister said: 'The history of Syria is being written in the blood of her people.

But Mr Cameron’s visit to the Russian president's summer residence in the Black Sea resort ended with an admission that they still have 'differing views' about how to deal with the situation.

Shaky start: David Cameron and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged pleasantries before a press conference today but failed to make real progress on resolving the Syrian conflict

Mr Cameron said Britain and Russia have 'differing views' on how to resolve the conflict

The UK is leading the argument to amend or lift restrictions to allow weapons to be passed to forces opposed to Bashar Assad's regime.

But Russia has remained supportive of the Syrian government, with Mr Putin determined to defend the country's 'sovereignty'.

The visit came as details emerged of Britain’s arguments in favour of lifting the arms embargo.

Ahead of his visit Mr Cameron said the atrocities in Syria ‘continue to mount’ and growing evidence that the Asad regime has used chemical weapons.

He told MPs: ‘There is a growing body of limited but persuasive information showing that the regime has used, and continues to use, chemical weapons including sarin. The room for doubt about that continues to diminish.’

The Syrian conflict started with peaceful protests in March 2011, but when these were suppressed it gradually turned into an increasingly sectarian civil war which, according to one opposition monitoring group, has cost more than 80,000 lives.

Majority Sunni Muslims lead the revolt, while Assad - whose family have ruled for over four decades - gets his core support from his own Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.

 

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