Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 20 March 2018

Videos show an assured Assad driving himself to Syria battle

was behind the wheel of A white pickup seen in
the Honda sedan. several of the videos ap-
His low-profile trip was cap- peared to be his only es-
tured in videos filmed inside cort.
the car and released by Before the war, Assad was
his office late Sunday and known for driving in Da-
early Monday. They show mascus and Aleppo, Syr-
the president calm and as- ia's largest city, and dining
sured as his forces appear out with his wife. He has
close to clinching one of maintained a steady, so-
their most significant victo- phisticated propaganda
ries in the civil war. machine on social media
Syrian troops are on the throughout the war.
verge of retaking east- Half of Aleppo now lies in
ern Ghouta, the last major ruins after his forces, with
rebel bastion on the out- unsparing support from
skirts of the capital, where Russia and Iran, destroyed
residents took to the streets the eastern part of the city
against the Assad family's to drive out rebels in 2016.
decades-long rule in the Thousands of civilians fled
early days of the 2011 up- with them and have not
rising. been able to return.
This frame grab from video released Sunday, March, 18, 2018 by the official Facebook page of As he drove, Assad, wear- The scenario is repeating
the Syrian Presidency, shows Syrian President Bashar Assad driving himself to the newly captured ing sunglasses, narrated itself in eastern Ghouta,
areas of eastern Ghouta, near the capital Damascus, Syria. Assad's trip, captured in a remarkable his route to the camera where government forces
set of videos filmed inside the car and published by his office on Sunday, show the president calm
and assured as his forces appear close to clinching one of their most significant victories in the and gave his thoughts on are waging a fierce air and
country's seven-year long civil war. the battle he was going to ground campaign against
(Syrian Presidency Facebook Page via AP) visit. He said the images of a collection of suburbs that
civilians streaming out of have resisted returning to
By PHILIP ISSA into traffic at a large round- The traffic around him eastern Ghouta through a government rule through
Associated Press about in Damascus before and pedestrians making corridor manned by Syrian seven years of war. Close
BEIRUT (AP) — Smoothly and driving himself to the sub- their way across the busy authorities showed that his to 1,500 civilians have been
confidently, Syrian Presi- urbs where his forces are Umayyad Square gave no government was still popu- killed in a month of heavy
dent Bashar Assad merged battling rebels. indication of knowing who lar. shelling and airstrikes.q

Spanish aid group fears migrant trafficking charges in Italy

By FRANCES D'EMILIO just picked up in interna-
BARRY HATTON tional waters 70 nautical
ROME (AP) — The head of miles from the Libyan coast.
a Spanish aid group said Camps said as Libyan
Monday that he fears sev- coast guard members ap-
eral staff members could proached, some migrants
be charged with human panicked, began scream-
trafficking after they re- ing and jumped into the
fused to hand over rescued sea. The Libyan coast guard
migrants to the Libyan was "very aggressive" to-
coast guard and took them ward the Open Arms crew,
to Italy instead. he said, adding that his
Proactiva Open Arms organization had "a legal
founder Oscar Camps told duty" to rescue migrants in
reporters in Barcelona, the Mediterranean.
Spain, where the group is Mission chief Anabel Mon-
based, that Italy impound- tes, speaking by videocon-
ed his organization's rescue ference from the impound-
boat Sunday and he is wor- ed Open Arms vessel, said
ried the ship, Open Arms, armed Libyan coast guard
might not be returned. members made death
The case comes amid threats to the aid workers.
strong reluctance in Italy to “We had never reached
take in any more of the mi- such an extreme situation
grants who human traffick- like this one in which they
ers launch toward Europe were threatening us, saying
in unseaworthy boats. In- The Spanish NGO's Proactiva Open Arms vessel is seen at harbor at the port of Pozzallo, in the that they were going to kill
southern Italian island of Sicily, Monday, March 19, 2018. The NGO’s migrant rescue ship has
ternational efforts to curtail been put under sequester by prosecutors’ orders, Sunday, March 18 in Pozzallo, where the vessel us,” Montes said.
the flow have focused on brought 216 migrants it had rescued last week in the Mediterranean north of Libya. She and the Open Arms’
Mediterranean Sea cross- (AP Photo/Alessio Tricani) captain are under investi-
ings from Libya and other gation by Italian prosecu-
parts of North Africa. group for suspected crimi- Proactiva said the investi- day, when the Open Arms tors. A third person, who
Italian authorities say they nal association and aiding gation stems from a tense crew refused to relinquish hasn’t been identified, is
are investigating the aid illegal immigration. high-seas standoff Thurs- the 218 people they had also being investigated.q