Hezbollah ‘mercenaries’ helped a fearful Assad early in revolt: Leaks

Friday, 05 October 2012

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Classified files obtained by Al Arabiya confirm Hezbollah’s involvement in the Syrian bloody crackdown. (Al Arabiya)

By AL ARABIYA EXCLUSIVE

Hezbollah, the Lebanese guerrilla movement and one of the strongest allies of the Baathist regime in Damascus, has consistently denied any role in the Syrian unrest.

The group even dismissed a video aired on Al Arabiya in August showing a man named Hassan Salim al-Meqdad believed to be one of its commanders under arrest by Syrian opposition fighters.

A document stating the arrival of 250 Hezbollah members in Aleppo, Syria on May, 23, 2011. (Al Arabiya)

 

But classified secret Syrian official documents obtained by Al Arabiya reveal that Hezbollah has played an active role in the deadly crackdown on civilians and armed opposition in the neighboring Syria. 

A document that was sent on May 23, 2011 from Col. Saqr Mannoun, head of Branch 291 of the Air Force Intelligence to President Bashar al-Assad stated, “The first batch of support personnel from Hezbollah, numbered 250, were received and housed in Ramsis hotel in Baroun Street in the province of Aleppo; waiting for my sir’s orders.”

 Aleppo was clam and heavily secured under Assad’s iron grips in the early months of the uprising, and it made sense for the regime to receive foreign backers there.

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