1. Lt. General Husain Harmoush defects from the Syrian Army:
“I announce my split from the Syrian army and I am joining the Syrian youth alongside a number of the free Arab Syrian army. Our current aim is the protection of the protestors who are asking for freedom and democracy,” says the man on the video.
He gives three reasons for splitting from the military: The mass killings of Syrians; the raids on peaceful villages; the killing of women and children, especially what he calls the “massacre” in Jisr al-Shughour last Saturday.
The man calls on soldiers to “protect civilians and property as well as the government buildings from the criminal elements led by Bashar al Assad and his regime,” while assuring the people of Syria that “the free soldiers have vowed to protect the students of freedom and democracy in our beloved Syria.”
2. Harmoush disappears, following a meeting with a Turkish official in a refugee camp in Turkey:
On September 6, 2011, Lt. General Husain Harmoush, spokesman and the de facto leader of the Free Officers Movement (FOM), met with a Turkish Official in one of the refugee camps set-up for Syrians escaping the violence of Assad.
Shortly thereafter, he vanished and to this day his whereabouts remain unknown.
FOM is mostly comprised of Syrian soldiers who defected from the Syrian army after refusing to fire live ammunition at peaceful demonstrators.
Soldiers of the Movement are hiding in Jabal al-Zawya, a hard to reach or control mountainous region not too far from the Turkish borders in Northeast Syria. The Movement has been carrying hit-and-run operations against the Shabbiha of the Assad regime.
The Reform Party of Syria demands that the Turkish Government investigates fully the sudden disappearance of Lt. Gen. Harmoush and delivers the results of its investigation to the world community.
3. Harmoush’s brother claims that Turkey has handed him over to Syria:
Hussein al-Harmoush, the spokesman of the Free Syria Army, is in custody. There are conflicting reports about the circumstances of his arrest. According to Syria’s al Watan newspaper, he has been arrested at his Eblin village in Syria along with a number of wanted Syrians.
The daily conveyed Harmoush, who appeared on YouTube and announced the formation of the “free officers brigade” allegedly to liberate Syria, is responsible for booby-trapped Jisr al-Shughour area in northern Syria in addition to many other operations that targeted the Syrian army and security agents.
However, Harmoush’s brother Ibrahim provided claimed Turkish authorities handed over him to the Syrian army. According to him, his brother disappeared after a meeting with Turkish officers in a Syrian refugee camp located on the Turkish border. Ibrahim dismissed reports that Harmoush was found in Syrian territory
4. Harmoush is paraded on Syrian TV and the inevitable “confession” will be broadcast:
The Syrian TV will broadcast during the 8:30 PM news on Thursday the confessions of Hussein al-Harmoush, who appeared as a lieutenant colonel in a YouTube video in June to announce his deflection from the Syrian Army.
Al-Harmoush has been arrested at the Syrian northern city of Idlib along with a number of wanted Syrians, state sponsored al-Watan newspaper reported.
Turkey is committing genocide against the Kurds, and is illegally occupying a member state of the European Union.
