First Western journalist to visit ISIS says US wants to ‘divide’ Syria
©
Stringer / Reuters
RT,
2
March, 2016
Jurgen
Todenhofer, who in 2014 became the first Western reporter to be
allowed first-hand access to Islamic State, told RT that the new
ceasefire is working, but expressed concern that US politicians are
set on splitting Syria up into a fractured warzone.
“There
is a move now from the rebels to separate their brigades from those
of the terrorists, and this gives an opportunity to attack Al Nusra
and other Al Qaeda groups, without attacking the rebels,” the
75-year-old told RT in a Skype interview, saying he had spoken to
several sources inside the country, since the US and Russia-mediated
agreement came into force.
RT
“Every
day that this is holding, this is a wonderful day for people. They
are happy, and I am more optimistic, because there are now contacts
between the rebels and the government.”
Moscow
says there have been over 30 violations of the ceasefire in the past
three days, but observers from all sides note that hostilities have
been toned down, and there has been a breakthrough in the delivery of
humanitarian aid to besieged settlements, which had been on the verge
of starvation.
A
center-right Bundestag deputy for 28 years, before becoming a
journalist and expert, Todenhofer says he hopes the ceasefire is the
first step in forming a new coalition from inside Syria, to repel
Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).
Jürgen
Todenhöfer © wikipedia.org
“
If
the rebels would start to fight with the official government army,
against ISIS, then we would have a chance to defeat ISIS, and to have
peace in Syria. It is a dream, but a realistic dream,” said
the journalist, while admitting that the disagreements between
President Bashar Assad and the opposition sparked the five-year-long
war in the first place.
Todenhofer
has been a frequent critic of Western military interventions, and
believes that it is now down to rebel backers in the Middle East, and
most importantly, Washington, to stop adding fuel to the deadly fire.
“The
US divided Iraq, they divided Libya, and now they could divide Syria
into four or five parts. Divided countries are weak countries, and I
have an impression that certain American politicians like weak
countries in the Middle East.”
Having
witnesses IS operations during a 10-day assignment in Raqqa, the
group’s unofficial capital in northern Syria, Todenhofer believes
that it is sufficiently well-organized to exist indefinitely if it is
not placed under pressure. He also says new attacks in Europe, like
those carried out in Paris last year, are imminent, but little can be
done to prevent them.
“For
ISIS it is much easier to use the forces they have in EU countries,
US or Russia. They have many fans in those countries. They don’t
need to take risks to cross borders – they can do it, but they
don’t need to. They coordinate themselves – it’s not difficult
to make a suicide attack. It’s cheap and it’s easy”
The
journalist says that Europe has still failed to win the battle of
ideas against Islamic State, particularly among its own
disenfranchised youth.
“We
have to show that this ideology is wrong, that this ideology is
anti-Islamic. We have to show people that this is the wrong way, this
does not solve a single problem. ISIS sympathizers should be shown
that even from an Islamic standpoint, they are not serving Islam,
they are fighting Islam. They are a danger for Islam, and most people
they kill – in the Middle East, at least - are fellow Muslims.”
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.