Alex Thomson, l’envoyé de Channel 4 en Syrie, pense que l’Armée syrienne libre l’a délibérément piégé pour l’envoyer se faire tirer dessus, au motif que la mort des journalistes, c’est mauvais pour le régime. Suite à cela, des véhicules rebelles l’auraient empêché d’entrer en contact avec les observateurs de l’ONU.
►http://blogs.channel4.com/alex-thomsons-view/hostile-territory/1863
Suddenly four men in a black car beckon us to follow. We move out behind.
We are led another route. Led in fact, straight into a free-fire zone. Told by the Free Syrian Army to follow a road that was blocked off in the middle of no-man’s-land.
At that point there was the crack of a bullet and one of the slower three-point turns I’ve experienced. We screamed off into the nearest side-street for cover.
Another dead-end.
There was no option but to drive back out onto the sniping ground and floor it back to the road we’d been led in on.
Predictably the black car was there which had led us to the trap. They roared off as soon as we re-appeared.
I’m quite clear the rebels deliberately set us up to be shot by the Syrian Army. Dead journos are bad for Damascus.
That conviction only strengthened half an hour later when our four friends in the same beaten-up black car suddenly pulled out of a side-street, blocking us from the UN vehicles ahead.
The UN duly drove back past us, witnessed us surrounded by shouting militia, and left town.
Eventually we got out too and on the right route, back to Damascus.
In a war where they slit the throats of toddlers back to the spine, what’s the big deal in sending a van full of journalists into the killing zone?
L’article a fait l’objet d’une dépêche de l’Associated Press :
►http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hNbXaevv3GIOi4Jhzlt5Wxp4TDuA?docId=acd9b4763108475ba12a4932348cce6b
A British journalist claims Syrian rebels set him up to die in no man’s land near the Lebanese border, saying Friday he believes they wanted to use his death at the hands of government forces to score propaganda points.
La reprise internationale n’est pas bien lourde :
– Guardian, Syrian rebels tried to get me killed, says Channel 4 correspondent
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jun/08/alex-thompson-syrian-rebels
– Washington Post, British journalist says Syrian rebels set him up to die in no man’s land near Lebanese border (curieusement, l’article est encore signalé sur la page « Europe » du WaPo, mais n’est plus accessible en ligne)
►http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/british-journalist-says-syrian-rebels-set-him-up-to-die-in-no-mans-land-near-lebanese-border/2012/06/08/gJQAUImGOV_story.html
– The Altantic, Did Syrian Rebels Lure Journalists to Death Trap ?
►http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/06/did-syrian-rebels-lure-journalists-to-death-trap/258282
– San Francisco Chronicle, UK journalist : Syria rebels led me into death trap
►http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/06/08/international/i125317D28.DTL
– Al Akhbar, Free Syrian Army "set journalist up to be killed"
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/free-syrian-army-set-journalist-be-killed
et rien en français.