C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000850
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA
LONDON FOR LORD, PARIS FOR NOBLES
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2019
TAGS: PTER, PBTS, PINR, PGOV, PHUM, PREL, SY, IZ
SUBJECT: SYRIAN SECURITY COURT HEARINGS: AL-QAEDA AND
FOREIGN FIGHTERS
Classified By: CDA Charles Hunter for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
1. Summary: A November Syrian Supreme State Security Court
(SSSC) session heard two separate cases on individuals
accused of belonging to al-Qaeda or al-Qaeda affiliated
organizations, and participating in or supporting foreign
fighter operations in Iraq. In a third case, one accused
individual confessed before the court he had been recruited
by Israeli intelligence operatives. End Summary.
2. (C) During a November 22 SSSC session, six individuals had
hearings related to their alleged roles in assisting or being
foreign fighters in Iraq, according to a report from
Candadian Embassy and European Commission observers. In one
hearing, Abdullah al-Hussein, Shahin Abd Rahman, Ibrahim
Darwish, and Ali Hussein were reportedly accused of having
"Salafi-Takfirist and jihadist tendencies," and illegal
associations with foreign states. In addition, Abdullah
al-Hussein was accused of having connections to Jund al-Sham
through his relationship with Muhammad Shaher. The
prosecutors' case against al-Hussein alleged he recruited
young men to fight in Iraq and had rented apartments in
Hasaka to house foreign fighters. Hussein denied his role
and added he believed in the Wahabi doctrine, but was not a
Takfiri. Shahin Abd Rahman also denied association with any
extremist groups. Ibrahim Darwish and Ali Hussein admitted
they had planned to join fighters in Iraq, but were
apprehended by Syrian security agents in Hasaka before doing
so. The four men's cases are slated to continue on December
13.
3. (SBU) Two brothers, Ahmed and Riad Shabrish, were accused
of being members of al-Qaeda. Riad confessed to the court of
having joined al-Qaeda in 2004, and of then spending three
months split between Falluja and Baqubah, Iraq. He denied
participating in any fighting, claiming heavy bombardment of
the area at the time had precluded the possibility of
conducting any operations. (Note: no further information on
the exact time Riad was in Iraq was reported.) Ahmed made no
admissions of guilt, according to the EC reporting. The two
men's trials were expected to resume on December 14.
4. (C) In another hearing during the aforementioned session,
Radwan Ali Mesud confessed to having worked for the Israeli
intelligence agency, Mossad. He told the court he had been
approached by a relative living in Hungary who had put him in
contact with Mossad agents. He eventually traveled to Tel
Aviv and was trained in the Naharya settlement on how to
transmit coded messages. Upon his return to Syria, he said
he only transmitted a single coded message, purely as a test
and that this was the extent of his activities. The
observers reported Mesud's interrogation during the hearing
appeared a bit orchestrated. No information was ever
presented on Mesud's past that would make him a worthy
recruit. Throughout the questioning Mesud appeared confused
and unable to recall details about his training in Israel,
the delegate noted.
5. (C) Comment: The observers' suspicion of courtroom theater
in the Mesud case may very well extend to the other
al-Qaeda/FF hearings. Whether the staging is merely a case
of coerced testimonies and kangaroo jurisprudence, or an
attempt to shape the perception of western diplomats who
attend the trials, is difficult to tell. What is noteworthy
is that these hearings appear to focus on very low-level
operatives. Even if the aforementioned individuals were
guilty as charged, we would not be convinced that their
hearings before the SSSC represent a concerted SARG effort to
police border transgressions on foreign figher facilitation
activities in Syria.
HUNTER