TAL RIFAAT, Syria — Abdul Hakim Yasin, the commander of a Syrian antigovernment fighting group, 37, had been a clean-shaven accountant before the war. He had lived a quiet life with his wife and two young sons. Now he had a thick beard. The war had hardened him.
In July, his father, Jamal, had been arrested by the soldiers. He suspected it was because the government knew his son led an armed group; he said he expected his father would be killed.
His father had just called to say his jailers had released him and he needed a ride out of Aleppo.
Abdul Yasin shouted that his father had called and said he had been unexpectedly let out from prison. They needed to rush to retrieve him. The rebels climbed onto trucks, loaded weapons and drove on nearly deserted roads toward a city under siege, to reclaim their leaders father.
POP2
Mr. Yasin was pensive as he drove, worried that the call was a ploy to lure him and his fighters into a trap.
In the lead truck, Mr. Yasin repeatedly tried to call a friend he had sent ahead in civilian clothes in an empty freight truck. He was expecting a trick, and wanted the lead driver to ensure that his father actually was free and there was no trap. Then the fighters could drive in.
At the outskirts of the city, he reached the other man, who reported that he was with Jamal Yasin, driving north.
In the darkness of the abandoned road, the other truck approached and stopped. Jamal Yasin (Abdul's father) climbed out.
Jamal Yasin said he had not been tortured. But the prison cell was tiny and so overcrowded that he almost could not sleep.
Abdul Hakim Yasin admitted to his worry. “I was 99 percent sure it was an ambush,” he said.
POP3
His father listened, then gently admonished his son. “You really think if it was an ambush I would call you?” he said. “Even if they were slitting my throat?”
From a New York Times article
By C. J. CHIVERS
Published: August 20, 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment