Syria Special: Syrian Ambassador to US Responds to Accusations

As we noted yesterday, the Syrian Ambassador to the United States, Imad Moustapha, spoke on NPR, and he tells a very different story than the evidence that we have collected here. In our conversation with NPR's Andy Carvin and Foreign Policy's Blake Hounshell, none of us have seen any video evidence that would support the Syrian government's claims, despite the fact that Moustapha claims there are hundreds of videotapes that the Syrian government has collected which show armed gangs killing innocent civilians.

Below we have posted the audio, one of our favorite excerpts (of which we have hundreds or thousands of counterexamples), and a link to the full transcript.

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Mid interview, a caller challenges the Ambassador:

HAZIM: Yes. I have a question for the ambassador. My brother, Dr. Sakher Hallak, he came to visit the United States. He was a very highly educated physician. He came here to attend a meeting. After he went back to Syria, he file - he had filed a petition to allow physician to treat the injured in the demonstrations, then he was kidnapped and killed. And I was wondering, he is a secular high-profile physician. He's not an armed gang. Why would they do that if he claims they're killing armed gangs?

CONAN: Hazim, you say he was kidnapped and killed by the government?

HAZIM: Yes, by the Mukhabarat.

CONAN: The secret police? Go ahead, please.

HAZIM: Yes.

MOUSTAPHA: Look, this is unfortunate. And I don't want to spend my time discrediting people's stories as silly stories. Your brother is a highly respected doctor from Aleppo. Not a single demonstration took place in Aleppo. He has never involved himself in politics. He is highly respected, and there is no proof whatsoever that the government has even harassed him, not to say kidnapped and killed him. This is an absolutely false accusation, and you can add it to the plethora of false accusations. The fact that he was murdered in Aleppo has nothing to do whatsoever with the insurgency in Syria.

HAZIM: That's (unintelligible) that you guys are having, that this was all what you say. You deny everything. We have, actually, pictures from colonel. We got it secretly of him, you know. We have also information also you guys kidnapping. You told his wife he was released the next day. You told his wife he was released the next day or Thursday. His friends went and visited him over there. It's been investigated by Amnesty International. And you come - you have the - to say that now he is - was not kidnapped and killed by you?

CONAN: Hazim, I can't speak for...

MOUSTAPHA: I think this is a very good example and a very good evidence of what's happening about Syria. People call news agencies here in the West and other human rights organizations, and they give them blatantly either exaggerated or totally absolutely untrue stories. Here is an example. A group of terrorists will attack a military barrack, a fire exchange will ensue. Three, four military people will be killed. Six, seven insurgents will be killed. People like the gentleman will immediately call Amnesty International and say, today, 11 people were killed in Syria.

Look, in Syria, every single demonstration, without a single exception - and this is my challenge - started from a mosque. Not a single demonstration started from a university, not a single demonstration front started from a professional syndicate or group or union, not a single demonstration started from major cities like Damascus and Aleppo. Those are the leaders of the insurgency in Syria.

You are what you call the leaders for freedom and democracy in Syria. This is a radio station. I know you cannot see the pictures, but I welcome you, I welcome everyone to Google these pictures. These are the guys who are calling for what they call a revolution for freedom and democracy in Syria. You are repeating exactly what you did in Afghanistan when you supported mujahedeen, and you used to call them freedom fighters, and then you'll discover what sort of people you are dealing with.

A full transcript can be seen here.