Ex-hostage claims Syrian rebels were behind gas attacks

Newly freed Belgian teacher Pierre Piccinin da Prata claims that Syrian rebels, not the Assad regime, were responsible for the Sarin attack that killed over 1,400 civilians on August 21. Piccinin da Prata was released last weekend after being kidnapped in Syria five months ago, together with Italian journalist Domenico Quirico. The teacher claims to have proof that Syrian rebels were responsible for the attack with chemical weapons. He says he is certain about this because he and Quirico overheard conversations between the rebels in the barracks of the Free Syria Army in Bab al-Quad on August 30. "It is a moral duty to tell [the truth]. It was not Bashar al-Assad’s who used sarin gas in the suburbs of Damascus,” Piccinin told RTL. “We are certain of this after overhearing a conversation, even if it pains me to admit it because, since May 2012, I have been a staunch supporter of the Free Syrian Army in their just struggle for democracy ". Quirico, for his part, distanced himself from Piccinin’s assertions. While admitting to overhearing the conversation in question, he said he was “absolutely not able to say if this conversation was based on real facts or on hearsay," he said. Piccinin said he and Quirico were initially picked up in April by the Western-backed Free Syrian Army who then handed them over to the Abu Ammar brigade, a rebel group "more bandit than Islamist". A source close to the Belgian government told AFP that Piccinin's comments "engage only him personally".

(AFP)