Leader of the Lebanese Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, accused the Assad regime of being behind the execution of Tharwat Abu Ammar, one of the women who were kidnapped by ISIS militants in al-Suwayda province in July. Local activists said that the Assad regime is seeking to discredit the local notables in the al-Suwayda province and force families of the kidnapped women to resort to it for their release.
In comments he published on Twitter on Wednesday, Jumblat said that he was “surprised at the execution of Tharwat at a time when things seemed to be on their way to be resolved.”
“Isn’t it strange that at the moment Sheikh Yahya al-Hajjar, one of the Dignity Sheikhs, intervened for the release of the female Bedouin detainees to ensure the release of the women who were held by ISIS, in the presence of Russian officers, Tharwat Abu Ammar was executed?”
“The only explanation is that the Assad regime is behind Tharwat’s execution as it does not want the mediation of the Russian officers or the efforts of Sheikh al-Hajjar.”
Syrian journalist Malik Abu al-Khair pointed out that the video showing the execution of Tharwat was first published on al-Suwaida Female Abductees Facebook page. He pointed out that the page is administered by a girl living in the city of Latakia called Inana Barakat, wife of Tammouz Al-Ahmed.
Abu Al-Khair siad that all the videos filmed by ISIS on Al-Suwaida female abductees originated from this page. He demanded a clear explanation as to how this page obtained those videos.
Jumblatt repeatedly said that “the Assad regime and ISIS are two sides of the same coin.” He pointed to evidence of the existence of collusion and understandings between the two sides. He also previously accused the Assad regime of masterminding the string of the deadly suicide bombings that rocked rural Al-Suweida on late July. He said: ” Assad is taking revenge on people of Al-Suwayda for refusing to join his army.”
The ISIS extremist group on Tuesday executed one of the women it kidnapped in Al-Suweida. The 25 years old woman is from the village Shabki rural Swaida. Her parents were killed in the assault ISIS militants launched in the province on late July. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)