Syria says it fighting rebels who eat human hearts

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

UNITED NATIONS (AP) Syria's foreign minister claimed Monday that his government is fighting a war against al-Qaida-linked militants who eat human hearts and dismember people while they are still alive, then send their limbs to family members.

Walid al-Moallem, addressing world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, also charged that the U.S., Britain and France had blocked the naming of the real perpetrators of chemical weapons attacks in Syria, which he blamed on the opposition.

Al-Moallem claimed "terrorists" fighting the regime are being supplied with chemical weapons, but he did not name specific nations accused of supplying them. The Syrian regime has long referred to the entire opposition rising up against Assad as "terrorists."

Al-Moallem claimed that it was clear to all that offshoots of al-Qaida "the most dangerous terrorist organization in the world" is fighting in the civil war. But some countries refuse to recognize it, he charged.

"The scenes of murder, manslaughter and eating human hearts were shown on TV screens, but did not touch blind consciences," al-Moallem said.

"There are innocent civilians whose heads are put on the grill just because they violate the extremist ideology and deviant views of al-Qaida. In Syria ... there are murderers who dismember human bodies into pieces while still alive and send their limbs to their families, just because those citizens are defending a unified and secular Syria."

A video published online in May purported to show a member of Syria's armed opposition eating a human heart while the body of a Syrian soldier lay close by. The video drew condemnation from human rights groups as well as the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), one of the main opposition groups.

Another video the minister referred to purportedly showed rebels grilling the head of a Syrian soldier.

As rebels gain more territory and a multitude of militias, jihadists and criminals join the fight against Assad, reports of serious human rights abuses committed by armed opposition elements are on the rise.

Summary executions committed by rebel forces albeit on a far smaller scale than the regime's alleged atrocities have put the West in a difficult position as it seeks to arm, train and otherwise aid the rebels.

Al-Moallem said his government was committed to a political solution to the conflict, which he called a war against "terror" and not a civil war as the international community has been referring to it for months. He added that "terrorists" from 83 countries are operating in Syria.

Al-Moallem also accused armed Islamist groups of using "perverted concepts of religion that have nothing to do with Islam." He condemned what he called the Islamists' "perverted fatwas such as sexual jihad."

Rumors have long circulated about women, mostly foreign, engaging in sexual relations with jihadist militants fighting among the rebels as a way of supporting them. Syrian state media have shown women purportedly "confessing" to such activity with foreign fighters, however the claims could not be independently verified.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-world/20130930/UN-United-Nations-Syria/

Edited October 1, 2013 by The Patriot

[RGinWA 816]

Since when did eating human hearts become a faux pas?

With a little rosemary and garlic it could be delicious.