Subscribe Today
Request a Clip
The following are excerpts from the interrogation of Syrian intelligence officer Fadi Al-Abdallah who was captured in Iraq. Al-Iraqiya TV aired this interrogation on March 22, 2005:
Interviewer: What is your name?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: Second Lieutenant Ahmad… First Lieutenant Fadi Al-Abdallah.
Interviewer: Second lieutenant or first lieutenant?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: First Lieutenant Fadi Al-Abdallah, of Syrian intelligence.
Interviewer: What exactly was your role before the collapse of the regime?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: My role was only to train, to supervise, and to distribute the money to the terrorist networks.
Interviewer: Did you know that the regime would fall on a specific year or date?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: No, sir.
Interviewer: Then why did you form these networks before the fall of the regime?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: Sir, in order to unite Syria and Iraq. These were the instructions we received from above.
Interviewer: When I want to unite my household with my brother's, do I tell my children to slaughter my brother's family in order to be united?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: No, sir.
Interviewer: So how can you explain this?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: Sir, these were our orders.
Interviewer: These were orders?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: Yes, sir.
Interviewer: You mean it wasn't your idea to unite. You had orders to prepare for this plan.
Fadi Al-Abdallah: Yes, sir.
Interviewer: But what was the goal of this plan? Did you know or didn't you know?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: I didn't know. But I knew that the goal was to unite Syria and Iraq so they would become one Arab country.
Interviewer: My brother, unification cannot be reached through slaughter.
Interviewer: From whom did you get your orders?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: Sir, from Abu 'Abdu.
Interviewer: What orders did Abu 'Abdu give you?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: Orders such as: "Give money to so and so," or "Pass on these orders." I got the orders from him and passed them on to networks.
Interviewer: You mean that our sons, who were slaughtered by you...
Fadi Al-Abdallah: Yes, sir.
Interviewer: Who gave the orders to slaughter those people?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: The Syrian intelligence.
Interviewer: Why? What did you have against these people?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: Sir, I have no idea. All they only told us was that the goal was to unite both countries. They would tell us these people were collaborators.
Interviewer: People who were kidnapped and released for ransom. Did you yourself get any of this money?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: No, sir.
Interviewer: Was it considered Syrian revenue?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: Yes, sir, it might have been.
Interviewer: How much did you take from the ransom money?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: I took some but not too much. I didn't take large sums.
Interviewer: The sums you took - did you spend them on yourself, or did you return them to the Syrian intelligence?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: I returned them to Syrian intelligence.
Interviewer: Through Abu 'Abdu?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: Yes, sir.
Interviewer: So Iraq has become a business.
Interviewer: How many people did you kill in Iraq?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: Sir, I didn't kill anyone.
Interviewer: You didn't slaughter?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: No, sir. I just gave them the money so they would slaughter.
Interviewer: You would give the order and they would slaughter?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: Yes, sir.
Interviewer: What was the purpose of these slaughters?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: Sir, these were the orders I got from above. It was not up to me.
Interviewer: Didn't you discuss it with the people who gave you the orders?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: No, sir. When I asked they told me that this was done in order to unite the countries and that they are collaborators.
Interviewer: How did you convince people work with you?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: Sir, we told them that when the two countries are united they will get important positions, and so on.
Interviewer: But what was the goal of these acts? I want to understand one thing: What was the purpose of these acts? When your people slaughter someone they shout "Allah Akbar." Allah is innocent of this crime. when he beheads [the victim] with an axe he shouts "Allah Akbar"… Brother, even when I slaughter a chicken I can't eat it. You have brought people to such a mentality. How did you do this?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: With money, sir.
Interviewer: Money? So the goal was for these people to carry out the operations for money?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: Yes, sir.
Interviewer: Then why all these cries of "Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar"?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: All these, cries were false.
Interviewer: So all the CDs that are circulating on the streets - All these acts of slaughter and other thing one is ashamed to mention - Why did you film them and circulate them?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: Sir, this is what the Syrian government wanted.
Interviewer: You mean there was a purpose behind this.
Fadi Al-Abdallah: Yes, sir.
Interviewer: What was the purpose of these acts?
Fadi Al-Abdallah: To terrorize the [Iraqi] people and make them hate the Americans and the new government.
Latest Clips
