Syrian defectors regroup in Turkey, plot Assad's end | Reuters

Syrian defectors regroup in Turkey, plot Assad's end | Reuters


clip from article:
Turkey closely monitors Colonel Asaad's movements. He is not allowed to receive visitors without authorisation from the Turkish government. A Reuters crew was warned not to stop its vehicle near to where he was camped.
From outside, the camp, which is surrounded by trenches, fences and Turkish military outposts, offers a more serene atmosphere than violence-plagued Syria.
It lies in a plain that is home to cotton fields and olive groves, flanked by snow-capped mountains. Cows and sheep graze nearby.
No weapons are allowed in the camp. Defectors dress in civilian clothes and live with their families.
"We are taking precautions for Asaad's security," a Turkish diplomatic source said.
"Not even an envelope-opener is allowed in the camp. If anything happens to him we will face accusations that Turkey allowed his assassination. The Syrian intelligence is trying to reach that end."
The rebels say they want to avoid a civil war in Syria, and that their main goal is to disrupt military convoys, attack security police and intelligence complexes involved in the crackdown and to defend civilians from repression.
"There have been a few operations against intelligence service buildings because they are the tools the regime uses to kill civilians. These centres house Shabiha militias (state-backed paramilitaries) but the main focus is to cut supply lines of convoys. We don't fire at tanks that do not open fire on civilians," Kurdi said.
"The regime has tried from the beginning to start a sectarian civil war. But we want to avoid it. We are telling the Alawites to denounce the regime so they don't end up paying the bill."
Kurdi, who lives with his wife and three children, says he stays mostly indoors in Antakya, a frontier city where family and cultural ties with Syria transcend political borders and where Arabic language flows as freely as Turkish on the streets.
Kurdi said he will only return to Syria when Assad is gone. Otherwise, he would be killed.
"We are willing to pay whatever the price to end Assad."
[ read more at link ]