Syrian Rebels used chemical weapons to provoke the world, Say captive journalists

Italian Journalist Domenico Quiric disembark from airplane at Ciampino Military airbase in Rome

Rome: Two captives held by Syrian rebels say that the chemical weapons used in suburbs of Damascus were actually used by rebels to provoke the world to intervene in Syrian, reported Russian Today.

Belgian teacher Pierre Piccinin and Italian journalist Domenico Quiric, both of whom were abducted and held hostage for several months in Syria, said they overheard in an exchange between their captors that rebels were behind the recent chemical attack.

Belgian captive Pierre disembark for airplane on 9 September, at Rome

Piccinin said during an interview with Belgium's RTL radio station that, “It is a moral duty to say this. The government of Bashar al-Assad did not use sarin gas or other types of gas in the outskirts of Damascus,”

Another captive, an Italian journalist, Domenico Quirico told Italy’s La Stampa that, "In this conversation, they said that the gas attack on two neighborhoods of Damascus was launched by the rebels as a provocation to lead the West to intervene militarily."

Based on what both men have learned, Peccinin told RTL that it would be “insane and suicidal for the West to support these people.” 

He added that, “It pains me to say it because I've been a fierce supporter of the Free Syrian Army in its rightful fight for democracy since 2012," 

Quirico seems to agree with Peccini’s assessment by saying that, “I am extremely surprised that the United States could think about intervening, knowing very well how the Syrian revolution has become international jihadism – in other words Al-Qaeda,"