AZAZ/ALEPPO, SYRIA // Rebel fighter Ahmed chuckles as he tells the story of the Syrian army sniper who was captured and executed by rebels, shot dead after a "trial" conducted at his own graveside.
He says Rami the sniper, firing from a high minaret at the local mosque, killed many rebels and civilians before he was seized by fighters from Ahmed's Amr bin Ak Aas brigade which operates around the northern Syrian town of Azaz.
"We took him right to his grave and, after hearing the witnesses' statements, we shot him dead," said Ahmed.
The rebels have been waging a 17-month uprising against the reigm of the Syrian president Bashar Al Assad, during which government forces have frequently been accused of carrying out summary executions and other violations against fighters and civilians.
But video footage of a purported execution of pro-Assad militia and rebels making a gloating victory tour of an Aleppo police station still strewn with bodies, suggest both sides are capable of brutalities. And rebels themselves say they have no cause to show mercy to their opponents.
One of the witnesses at Rami's "trial" was a man who said he lost two sons to the sniper. But beyond a few witness statements, the justice dispensed appeared to be summary, at best.
Ahmed said his forces often capture a handful of soldiers in battle, and would know the names and faces of certain commanders or soldiers who were loyal to Mr Al Assad. They would create courts for the captured men, and execute them.
"The culture of lawyers has long passed. I mean a guy like that," Ahmed said, referring to Rami the sniper. "What do you think his fate should be?"
Further south in Aleppo, a dozen prisoners stand against a wall with their hands above their heads, hours after surrendering to rebels who overran their police station on the southern fringes of the city, not the same building as the one shown in the video.
The former police officials face an uncertain fate at the hands of fighters who said they would be put on trial in front of a Sharia court. Sharia justice, implemented in its most literal form, can involve eye-for-an-eye retribution, up to and including the death penalty.
Others who chose to resist the rebel attack on the police station in Salheen district were overwhelmed and killed after a battle which activists said lasted several hours.
One of the policemen said he received a call from the rebels on Monday night, a few hours before the attack started, saying that if he wished to surrender he should bring his men out with their hands raised.
"I told my guys: 'Tomorrow when they come in, drop your weapons'. This morning we didn't fire a single bullet," he said, in a school building being used by the Aleppo rebels as a base and a prison for the captives.
"Of course at that moment we were very frightened, but they kept saying we would be safe so we went out and everything went as planned," he said.
None of the captives, wearing regular civilian trousers and shirts, showed signs of having been mistreated since they gave themselves up.
"Notice we haven't hit them in the face," said Abu Bakr, one of the rebel leaders at the school base. "Have we hit you once?" he asked, and was answered by a vigorous shaking of heads by his captives.
"These prisoners will be transferred to sharia courts to be tried by judges and clerics who have defected from the regime, and religious scholars," he said, adding their fate was in the hands of the rebel 'courts'.
"It depends on what the court decides and whether they have blood on their hands. Whatever they decide we will commit to that. For now they are going to prison."
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57%20Seconds
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
Selected fixtures
All times UAE
Wednesday
Poland v Portugal 10.45pm
Russia v Sweden 10.45pm
Friday
Belgium v Switzerland 10.45pm
Croatia v England 10.45pm
Saturday
Netherlands v Germany 10.45pm
Rep of Ireland v Denmark 10.45pm
Sunday
Poland v Italy 10.45pm
Monday
Spain v England 10.45pm
Tuesday
France v Germany 10.45pm
Rep of Ireland v Wales 10.45pm
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
SPECS%3A%20Polestar%203
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Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
How to donate
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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The language of diplomacy in 1853
Treaty of Peace in Perpetuity Agreed Upon by the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast on Behalf of Themselves, Their Heirs and Successors Under the Mediation of the Resident of the Persian Gulf, 1853
(This treaty gave the region the name “Trucial States”.)
We, whose seals are hereunto affixed, Sheikh Sultan bin Suggar, Chief of Rassool-Kheimah, Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon, Chief of Aboo Dhebbee, Sheikh Saeed bin Buyte, Chief of Debay, Sheikh Hamid bin Rashed, Chief of Ejman, Sheikh Abdoola bin Rashed, Chief of Umm-ool-Keiweyn, having experienced for a series of years the benefits and advantages resulting from a maritime truce contracted amongst ourselves under the mediation of the Resident in the Persian Gulf and renewed from time to time up to the present period, and being fully impressed, therefore, with a sense of evil consequence formerly arising, from the prosecution of our feuds at sea, whereby our subjects and dependants were prevented from carrying on the pearl fishery in security, and were exposed to interruption and molestation when passing on their lawful occasions, accordingly, we, as aforesaid have determined, for ourselves, our heirs and successors, to conclude together a lasting and inviolable peace from this time forth in perpetuity.
Taken from Britain and Saudi Arabia, 1925-1939: the Imperial Oasis, by Clive Leatherdale
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More on animal trafficking
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
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