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Assad's Ghost Militia Strikes Fear into Syria Revolt

(Reuters) Khaled Yacoub Oweis - From humble beginnings as a smuggling and blackmail racket set up by Assad's relatives in Latakia, the shabiha have grown into feared militia death squads blamed for the worst atrocities in the Syrian revolt. They swiftly developed with state support into a full-fledged militia after the uprising. Directed by the security forces or ruling Baath Party officials, they put down demonstrations in cities across the country, often by killing demonstrators with live bullets. At the beginning of the revolt, security forces recruited thousands of Sunni Muslims, especially after Assad released thousands from jail in a general amnesty last year. In Damascus, residents and activists said the proportion of Sunnis in the shabiha had dwindled after 11 shabiha were assassinated in the Sunni Damascus district of Maidan during the past two months. In the Sunni Muslim city of Hama, just 20 km. east of Qubair where activists reported a massacre on Wednesday, a potent force of about 3,000 shabiha remain in position. "The shabiha in Hama city are from the Alawite villages around. There is one Sunni village, Qahtaneh, that is all shabiha, because they follow a general in the security apparatus who runs a smuggling racket with the blessing of the regime," said activist Raed Farhoud.
2012-06-08 00:00:00
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