Good bargain? Saudi Arabia sends 1,239 death row inmates to fight in Syria with full pardon

Editor’s note: We are publishing this story as it corroborates our earlier story about the release of terrorist prayer leaders to Pakistan. 

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia with French President Francois Hollande, who went to the desert kingdom in early November for talks about Syria and Iran.

Saudi Arabia has sent death-row inmates from several nations to fight against the Syrian government in exchange for commuting their sentences, the Assyrian International News Agency reports.

Citing what it calls a “top secret memo” in April from the Ministry of Interior, AINA says the Saudi offered 1,239 inmates a pardon and a monthly stipend for their families, which were were allowed to stay in the Sunni Wahhabi-Salafist Arab kingdom. Syrian President Bashar Assad is an Alawite, a minority Shiite sect.

According to an English translation of the memo, besides Saudis, the prisoners included Afghans, Egyptians, Iraqis, Jordanians, Kuwaitis, Pakistanis, Palestinians, Somalis, Sudanese, Syrians and Yemenis. All faced “execution by sword” for murder, rape or drug smuggling.

Russia, which has backed Assad, objected to the bargain and allegedly threatened to bring the issue to the United Nations, said an unidentified former Iraqi member of Parliament who confirmed the memo’s authenticity, says AINA, an independent outlet.

“Initially Saudi Arabia denied the existence of this program. But the testimony of the released prisoners forced the Saudi government to admit, in private circles, its existence,” AINA writes. “The Saudis agreed to stop their clandestine activities and work towards finding a political solution on condition that knowledge of this program would not be made public.”

AINA also published the original Arabic memo.

The report mentions that most of the 23 Iraqi prisoners returned home, as did an unspecified number of Yemenis. But AINA does not indicate the fates of the remaining inmates or how many may have been killed, wounded or captured.

Assyrians, the builders of Mesopotamian civilizations, are a semitic people indigenous to northern Iraq. They are ethnically distinct from Arabs and Jews, and are generally Christians. Assyria dominated the Middle East in the first millennium BCE.

Source :

http://www.ynaija.com/good-bargain-saudi-arabia-sends-1239-death-row-inmates-to-fight-in-syria-with-full-pardon/

Comments

comments

Latest Comments
  1. Nike Air Max 90 Men
    -
  2. Anonymous
    -
  3. sac evelyne hermes occasion
    -
  4. Nike Cortez
    -
  5. Adidas Predator Absolado X TF
    -
  6. Nike Free Flyknit+(Women)
    -
  7. Nike Zoom KD IV
    -
  8. Tracy McGrady Shoes
    -
  9. Nike Air Max 2014
    -
  10. Nike Air Max Terra Ninety
    -
  11. Nike Mercurial 9
    -
  12. Adidas F50 AdiZero TRX FG
    -
  13. Manchester City
    -
  14. Nike Air Jordan Fusion 5
    -
  15. Nike Dunk Low Pro SB
    -
  16. Nike Elastico Finale II IC Boots
    -
  17. Nike Free Run+
    -
  18. USA National Soccer Team
    -
  19. Nike Air Max 2012 High-heeled
    -
  20. Nike Air Max TN
    -
  21. Nike Zoom Hyperfuse XDR
    -
  22. nike zoom hyperfuse
    -
  23. Nike Air Jordan 4
    -
  24. Nike Air Max 95
    -
  25. Nike Dunk SB High Womens
    -
  26. Nike Air Max 2014
    -
  27. Nike Hypervenom Phelon Indoor
    -
  28. Nike Free 3.0 V4
    -
  29. Nike Free Run+ Women Shoes
    -
  30. Nike Blazer
    -
  31. Nike Shox (Women)
    -
  32. Nike Zoom KD V
    -
  33. Nike Free Powerlines +
    -
  34. Nike Air Max 87
    -
  35. New Balance
    -
  36. Mizuno Wave Ignitus 3 MD TPU
    -
  37. Timberland
    -
  38. Bayern Munchen
    -
  39. Nike CTR360 Maestri III FG
    -
  40. Nike Shox Deliver
    -
  41. Nike Hypervenom Phantom FG Boots
    -
  42. Nike Air Max +2011
    -
  43. Nike Air Max 2012
    -
  44. Nike Air Max Skyline
    -
  45. Adidas Cleats
    -
  46. Adidas Copa Mundial Firm Ground Soccer Shoes
    -
  47. Air Jordan 6 Rings
    -
  48. Puma Womens Shoes
    -
  49. Nike Air Max LeBron 8 V Low
    -
  50. Nike Air Max TN Womens
    -
  51. Nike Air Max 89 Mens
    -
  52. Nike Air Force 1 Low
    -
  53. Air Jordan 11
    -
  54. Nike Air Force 1 Mid
    -
  55. Santos
    -
  56. Nike Air Max 90
    -
  57. Nike Mercurial Vapor VIII FG
    -
  58. Nike Air Max 95 360
    -
  59. Nike Max Trainer 1.3+ Breathe
    -
  60. Nike Shox
    -
  61. Nike Air Max HYP PRM Mens
    -