Monday, 17 December 2012

THE KIDNAPPING OF ANKHAR KOCHNEVA: THE WEST-BACKED FREE SYRIAN ARMY BAITING THE RUSSIAN BEAR?

 
One might argue that the Free Syrian Army which has effectively declared war on Russia, Ukraine and Iran, with the kidnapping of Ankhar Kochneva. Since they are backed by the West that this might appear to be a proxy declaration.
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   PART ONE:

THE “FREE SYRIAN ARMY” CONTINUES TO HOLD UKRAINIAN REPORTER HOSTAGE



December 17, 2012


Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Aleksandr Dikusarov said that Kiev expected tangible results from actions to secure a safe release of the Ukrainian reporter, saying,
“The Ukraine demands an immediate release of Ankhar Kochneva, and we’ll take action to get the issue of violence against a civilian into the international discussion”.

He added that the Ukraine hoped that the international community would harshly condemn and punish this act of rebel violence. Kochneva worked as an interpreter for a Russian TV crew when Syrian militants kidnapped her. The same day, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich gave instructions to his ministry of Foreign Affairs to do everything possible to free Kochneva.


Syrian militants are threatening to execute journalist Ankhar Kochneva, and they’ve demanded 50 million USD (1.54 billion Roubles. 38 million Euros. 31 million UK Pounds) for her life. The ultimatum signed by the field commanders of the paramilitary wing of the opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA) expires on 13 December. 


The FSA said that Kochneva’s a “Ukrainian spy”. Kochneva, a Ukrainian citizen, lived in Russia for the past ten years. In January 2012, she went to Syria to work as a journalist and translator. Kochneva wrote many interesting and exciting reports for Russian media outlets. VOR contacted her when it needed commentary on the situation in Syrian hot spots, including Homs. Whenever a call from Moscow came, Kochneva was always at her post.

Her reports differed from the picture presented by al Jazeera and other media outlets that supported the Syrian rebels. Most likely, precisely, her objective views on the developments in Syria pushed the militants to kidnap her on 7 October.


In a 28 November video address, she asked the Russian and Ukrainian governments to fulfill the kidnappers’ demands. For their part, a number of Russian media outlets urged Syrian ambassador to Russia Riad Haddad to do everything in his power to free Kochneva as soon as possible.

A head of a Russian NGO, Darya Mitina, said,

“The Russian Committee of Solidarity with the Peoples of Libya and Syria made efforts in this direction. The ultimatum, delivered by the militants urges the parties concerned to search for substantive solutions, as well as for a progression towards talks. Regrettably, for the time being, the means to influence the militants are limited. We’ve requested international human rights and press freedom agencies to pay continued attention to this topic on both radio and television. There’s little information about the kidnapping, taking into account the role Kochneva played in the public information space”.

An expert with the Institute of Oriental Studies, Vladimir Isayev, said,

“As a rule, no details are given about talks with kidnappers or about ransom terms. Judging by the facts, talks are currently under way. Russia has established contact with the Syrian opposition. Some time ago, talks with opposition representatives were held in Moscow. However, I don’t think that they’re involved in the kidnapping. Therefore, I don’t know whether Russia has any possibility or any contacts to influence the opposition, and, thus, to ensure the release of Ankhar Kochneva. On the other hand, Russia can appeal to all those who support the Syrian opposition… for example, to Turkey, with which top-level talks were recently held”.

A week after Kochneva was kidnapped, Ukrainian President Yanukovich gave instructions to his aides to do everything possible for secure her release. This occurred on 15 October. No other reports about Kiev’s stance have come since then.


A group of Syrian rebels threatened to kill a Ukrainian journalist captured on 9 October if they don’t receive ransom for her., Darya Mitina, the journalist’s friend and former KPRF Gosduma deputy told reporters, “The deadline for the ransom payment is 13 December 2012. If the money isn’t paid by that time, they’ll kill her as a ‘Ukrainian spy’”.


Kochneva’s relatives confirmed that the kidnappers contacted them and demanded ransom, but they said that they didn’t believe 13 December was the deadline. Kochneva’s nephew Dmitri was cited as saying, “I have no detail of negotiations to free my aunt. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that they’re working on it, but we don’t know exactly what’s being done”.




Kochneva’s ex-husband Dmitri Petrov told Izvestiya that he’d received an SMS from the journalist’s phone number reading, “I hope for the best. Don’t message me”. A similar text was reportedly sent to one of her friends. In it, Kochneva also mentioned that she’d been kidnapped. 


The Russian Embassy in Damascus had the active support of the Ukrainian government in their search for the 40-year-old, who was an active supporter of the Assad régime. 


Allegedly, Syrian rebels abducted her in the outskirts of Homs. Russian journalist Yelena Gromova, a close friend, told us that Kochneva often received threatening messages from the Syrian opposition on social networking sites.


Sergei Marov, spokesman of the Russian Embassy in Damascus, said that Ankhar Kochneva, a journalist kidnapped in Syria, was a Ukrainian national, noting, “It’s become known to the Russian Embassy that she’s a Ukrainian citizen. She wasn’t accredited to work here [in Syria]”. 


Mr. Markov said the Russian diplomatic mission was closely cooperating with Ukrainian officials looking for the journalist. Ankhar Kochneva went missing on 9 October. Her friend Darya Mitina said she was last seen 20 kilometres (@12 miles) from the city of Homs.


 PART TWO:
THE WESTERN-BACKED FREE SYRIAN ARMY 
HAS CROSSED THE LINE

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December 17, 2012

The Free Syrian Army has committed an affront to all humanity by kidnapping and threatening to execute a female Ukrainian journalist and announcing that they will kill all Russians and Ukrainians they find in Syria.  
This could be taken to be akin to a declaration of war, obviously the armed insurgents in Syria have been emboldened to a point that they have stepped into an area where they are beyond the law.
ED Noor: These NATO supported terrorists have shown, by their actions that they never respected international law in the first place.

With the terrorists also threatening Russian and Ukrainian Diplomatic Missions, this could set off a chain of events that may pull the Russian Federation directly into the conflict. If the lives of Russians are at risk Russia has the right to protect its citizens and to assist unaligned Ukraine if there is such a request.

The world knows the Free Syrian Army is supported by the US and the West and if the Russian Federation was forced to consider entering Syria militarily this would make such a decision extremely dangerous. The security, in this case for the diplomatic missions, lies with Syria as does the freeing of the hostage, but if the Syrian Government hypothetically requests Russian assistance, how will this affect the position of the US and the West who have battle groups poised to invade the country at a moment’s notice?

If you are pretending to be my friend but paying and supporting criminals who have threatened to kill my family and loved ones then wouldn’t it be logical to say that you are my enemy and that if I want to save my loved ones then I should neutralize the threat, including you?

Take this to a larger level and consider that Russia has dealt in a civilized manner with the backers of the so called Free Syrian Army, terrorists, killers and mercenaries operating in Syria and who openly threaten to kill Russians, Ukrainians and Iranians, attack and kill civilians and execute unarmed civilians, in reality what would the reaction be?
If the Free Syrian Army had kidnapped an American and threatened to destroy the US and UK Missions, what would the reaction be?
One might argue that the Free Syrian Army which has effectively declared war on Russia, Ukraine and Iran, and since they are backed by the West that
this might appear to be a proxy declaration.
The US of course would not declare war on Russia or Iran. Formal Declarations of War are not something the US does, just like they did not declare war on Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yugoslavia, Syria and Iran.

For all of the cowboy diplomacy of the West and their macho bravado and military might, the men hiding in their comfortable bunkers and command rooms and expensive suburban homes are slippery creatures who fight their battles by proxy and use pretexts designed and carried out in secret.

They will therefore provide material and financial support to terrorist organizations such as the Free Syrian Army when it is expedient, but will they back away from their proxies now that they have stated
“Let not a single Russian, Ukrainian or Iranian come out of Syria alive”?
The US Government has officially recognized an umbrella group of mainly foreign terrorist organizations, as the official representative of the Syrian people, and almost immediately the main US surrogate threatens to execute a Ukrainian woman journalist.

IF you had doubts before, have no doubt now, these are not “freedom fighters” they are coward criminals. Who would execute a woman?
Not even any self-respecting Muslim terrorist extremist would stoop so low.
The journalist who was kidnapped, Anhar Kochneva has been stationed in Syria for years and has been instrumental in getting the true picture out of Syria on many occasions, one reason why she is obviously a target for the West and its surrogates as they continue their information war to justify an invasion. She has done work for several Russian media outlets, including the NTV, RenTV and RT television channels and the Utro.Ru news portal and according to RIA Novosti has been a vocal supporter of President Bashar Al Assad.

According to the site Syria News online 
“That the joint statement of the Reporters Without Borders, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), ARTICLE 19, the International Press Institute also calls on the British, French and US governments as well as on the European Union (UN) to work with “their” external staged Syrian opposition in order to facilitate the release of the journalist Anhar Kochneva is also not surprising. It either shows who are the masterminds and supporters behind the “Free Syrian Army” (FSA) or who is really responsible for this (expletive) situation in Syria.”
In a normal world we might see Russian and Ukrainian Special Forces alongside Syrian Special Services launching a rescue operation and wiping out the Free Syrian Army for making the declarations they have made,
Surely if the same thing happened to America, that would be the case, but as we all know who is behind all of this we know that this would kick off what might well be World War III, something no one wants.
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Ukraine has called on the Syrian authorities to take decisive steps to free Ankhar Kochneva, a Ukrainian journalist kidnapped in Syria on October 10.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Dikusarov said Kiev expected more tangible results from regime’s action to secure a safe release of the Ukrainian.

“Ukraine demands an immediate release of Ankhar Kochneva and will take action to get the issue of violence against a civilian into international discussion,” Mr. Dikusarov said.

Ukraine hopes this act of rebel violence will be harshly condemned and punished by the international community, he added.

Ankhar Kochneva worked as an interpreter for a Russian TV crew when she was kidnapped by Syrian militants. The same day, Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovich gave instructions to the country’s foreign office to do everything possible to free the journalist.
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