The shocking
video of a Syrian rebel eating
the lung of a pro-Assad fighter spread like wildfire across the Internet
earlier this week. The rebel, who goes by the nom de guerre Abu Sakkar, has filmed a YouTube video explaining his
actions.
"I am willing to face trial for my actions if Bashar and his shabeeha [militiamen] stand trial for their
atrocities," he says.
"My message to the world is if the bloodshed in Syria doesn't stop, all of
Syria will become like Abu Sakkar."
The Syrian rebel,
whose real name is Khalid al-Hamad, goes on to explain that he did what he did
because of atrocities committed by pro-Assad fighters. He said that evidence
taken from their cell phones showed how they raped women, killed children, and
tortured men. In an
article published this week by TIME magazine, the rebel fighter explained
that he had a sectarian hatred of Alawites, and that he had made another video
where he cuts up a pro-Assad fighter's body with a saw.
Abu Sakkar's
actions not only created controversy among observers of the conflict,
but also prompted the Syrian rebel leadership to take action. The Free
Syrian Army's
Military Council released a
statement condemning Abu Sakkar's "monstrous act," and instructed field
commanders to being an investigation "in which the perpetrator will be brought
to justice."
So far, however,
Abu Sakkar appears to still be on the battlefield. At the end of the video, the
cameraman asks him whether he will continue fighting after this controversy.
"Victory or martyrdom, I will fight to the death," he replies, then walks off
down the road.
