We Will Slaughter All of Alawites & Shiites, FSA video threatens
16 MAy, 2013 – Shia Post
“Hopefully we will slaughter all of them [Alawites]. I have another video clip that I will send to them. In the clip, I am sawing another shabiha [progovernment militiaman] with a saw. The saw we use to cut trees. I sawed him into small pieces and large ones.” Al-Hamad said.

Khalid al-Hamad, left, in an undated photo that originally appeared on the website of the Syrian rebel group, the Independent Omar al-Farouk Brigade, which he commands.

News sites around the world have shown Khalid al-Hamad sink his teeth into what appears to be the lung of a dead Syrian government soldier. His fellow rebels have called for him to be arrested or killed for the act. Human-rights groups have condemned him. But al-Hamad has no regrets.

In an interview conducted via Skype in the early hours of May 14, al-Hamad explained to TIME what caused him to cut out the soldier’s organs: “We opened his cell phone, and I found a clip of a woman and her two daughters fully naked and he was humiliating them, and sticking a stick here and there.”

The video, a 27-second clip in which al-Hamad brandishes organs that appear to be the lungs and heart of the Syrian soldier who lies dead at al-Hamad’s feet, was first seen by two TIME reporters in April. A few weeks later, TIME obtained a copy. Though we had been told by witnesses to the filming that the video was legitimate, we set about authenticating its content, aware of the potential that it could have been faked for propaganda purposes. Al-Hamad has now confirmed that the video is real, and that he did indeed take a bite of the soldier’s lung. (At the time of filming, al-Hamad believed he was biting into the liver. A surgeon who has seen the video confirms that the organ in question was a lung, which somewhat resembles the liver). On May 12, a copy of the video appeared on a proregime website, sparking a flood of Facebook Shares and YouTube views.

Al-Hamad, who is Wahhabi (extremist Sunni) and harbors a sectarian hatred for Alawite and Shiite Muslims, said he has another gruesome video of his killing a government soldier from the Alawite faith. “Hopefully we will slaughter all of them [Alawites]. I have another video clip that I will send to them. In the clip, I am sawing another shabiha [progovernment militiaman] with a saw. The saw we use to cut trees. I sawed him into small pieces and large ones.” Al-Hamad also explained that even though both sides of the conflict in Syria are using video clips of their own brutal actions to intimidate the other, he believes his clip would have particular impact on the regime’s troops. “They film as well, but after what I did hopefully they will never step into the area where Abu Sakkar is,” he said, using his nom de guerre and referring to the part of Syria he currently controls.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), which validated the video, released a report on May 13 identifying al-Hamad as a well-known commander responsible for the recent cross-border shelling of a Shi‘ite Lebanese village that killed two. The organization called on the U.N. Security Council to refer the Syria situation to the International Criminal Court to ensure accountability for all war crimes and crimes against humanity. “It is not enough for Syria’s opposition to condemn such behavior or blame it on violence by the government,” said Nadim Houry, HRW’s deputy director for the Middle East. “The opposition forces need to act firmly to stop such abuses.”

Al-Hamad, who has been fighting on the front lines near the strategic town of al-Qusayr for the past week, said the video captures the first time he had ever attempted to eat an enemy’s liver. He indicated that the triumph of the regime over the oppositions had driven him to extremes. …more

Bahraini activist disrupts UK Royal Horse Show
15 May, 2013 – ABNA

Britain police have arrested a Bahraini activist for disrupting Britain’s annual Royal Windsor Horse Show, attended by Bahraini ruler Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah to protest his regime’s crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

Bahraini activist disrupts UK Royal Horse Show

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – The 26-year-old Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei was swiftly stopped by security forces and arrested while he shouted slogans demanding that the Al Khalifa regime release Bahraini political prisoners.

He was carrying a placard that read “Your Majesty the Queen, stop supporting the dictator of Bahrain”.

Alwadaei who was kept in detention for seven hours told Press TV that he took the action because “it hurts [him] to see [King Hamad] enjoying himself at a time while people in Bahrain are suffering from his rule”.

The Royal Windsor Horse Show is held every year on the Queen’s estate, the Windsor Castle.

The 2013 edition of the show is celebrating its 70th anniversary and included a special show by the Bahrain Arab Horse Display.

During the ceremony, the Bahraini ruler also presented the British Queen two pure-bred Arabian horses in recognition of her efforts to promote Bahraini-British relations.

Britain has been one of the main supporters of the Bahraini regime despite its bloody crackdown on peaceful protesters and has sold the regime £13 million worth of weapons between 2008 and 2012. …source

Bahrain: 6 Jailed for Insults to King
By REUTERS – 15 May, 2013 – NYT

A Bahraini court jailed six people for a year on Wednesday for insulting King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa in messages on Twitter, the official news agency said. The six were accused of posting remarks “undermining the values and traditions of Bahrain’s society towards the king on Twitter,” the head of the public prosecutor’s office, Nayef Youssef, said in a statement reported by the Bahrain News Agency. He said freedom of opinion and expression were guaranteed by the Constitution, law and international conventions, but should not be used in a way that contradicted the norms of society. The news agency gave no further information about the six. …source

Pro-democracy campaigner who witnessed torture of young political prisoners disappears on eve of Red Cross visit

Bahrain: Human Rights Activist Nabeel Rajab Missing from Prison
By Gianluca Mezzofiore – 15 May, 2013 – IB-Times

Prominent Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab has gone missing from his prison cell and moved to an unknown location, according to the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR).

Rajab, who has served 11 months of a two-year sentence for “encouraging illegal gatherings” during the 2011 uprising in the tiny Gulf island, called his wife on 14 May and told her that “he had witnessed the torture of young political prisoners at the hands of prison guards at Jaw prison”.

“He raised his voice telling them to stop, and when they realised that he had witnessed what was happening, they quickly left,” BCHR said in a statement.

“Nabeel Rajab asked his wife to request that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visit him in prison so he can give them his testimony of what he had witnessed. Rajab’s wife received a phone call that evening informing her that Nabeel was reportedly removed from his cell that night by prison guards and was not returned.”

The 48-year-old has been at the forefront of the pro-democracy protests in the Gulf Kingdom and has more than 200,000 followers on Twitter.
Prison officials repeatedly refused him medical treatment for a back injury, according to his wife Sumaya Rajab. …more