Newly Freed Italian Journalist Narrates Horrors of Syria Armed Groups’ Terrorism

Local Editor

Italian journalist Domenico Quirico said Tuesday he and Belgian teacher Pierre Piccinin were "treated like animals" during their five months in captivity in Syria and found the war-torn country to be a place of "evil."

The 62-year-old veteran war correspondent for La Stampa daily, who returned to Italy in the night between Sunday and Monday, wrote a first-person account of his time in captivity in the newspaper.
Quirico said he and Piccinin entered Syria on April 6 with members of the so-called "Free Syrian Army" and were captured near al-Qseir not far from the Lebanese border.

He said they were betrayed by members of the "FSA".

The journalist said they were beaten by militants belonging to a group called al-Faruk and taken to a house in al-Qseir, a strategic town near the border with Lebanon.
"These rebels take advantage of the Islamic veneer and the context of the revolution to take over vast tracts of territory, hold the population to ransom, kidnap people and fill their pockets," he said.
The journalist said he and Piccinin suffered a "terrible and extraordinary saga," being shifted around the country and making two escape attempts.
In June, they were forced to leave the city for Homs along with thousands of civilians.

During this "exodus," Quirico said he borrowed a mobile phone from a wounded militant to call home.

"It was the only gesture of pity I received in 152 days of captivity," he said. "Even children and old people tried to hurt us. Maybe I am putting this in overly ethical terms but in Syria I really found a country of evil."
"We were treated like animals, locked in small rooms with shuttered windows despite the stifling heat, thrown on straw mattresses, fed with scraps," he added.
He further stated: "In all my life, I never felt that kind of daily humiliation."
He said their captors carried out two mock executions, including one in which a militant put his head against a wall and held the barrel to his temple.
"During those interminable moments, I felt ashamed ... It is your own fear that enrages you," he said.

"The West trusts them but I discovered at my own expense that the group that kidnapped me represents an alarming phenomenon of the revolution: Bandit groups like in Somalia that extort the local population," he added.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team