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Source: http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=28142
Syrian Tribal Leader Praised Assad at Gunpoint
(Asharq Al-Awsat-UK) Mohammed Al-Shafey - Sheikh Nawaf al-Bashir, head of the 1.2 million-member Baqara tribe in Syria, revealed that the Syrian authorities forced him to conduct an interview with a Syrian satellite television channel "with a gun to his head" before releasing him. After he spent "72 days being detained by the Political Security Directorate in Damascus, including 20 days in solitary confinement," al-Bashir said "they allowed me to meet with one of my sons who informed me that my home in Deir Ezzor was surrounded by tanks." "A Political Security Directorate colonel assured me that my home would be turned to rubble unless I conducted an interview and spoke about the achievements and glory of President Bashar al-Assad." In a press conference on Tuesday in Istanbul, al-Bashir said, "I apologize to the Syrian people for the words I have said. I now declare that we want nothing but to topple the regime." Criticizing Russian and Iranian support for the al-Assad regime, he said "they are nothing but mafia; they are tyrants, sinners and murderers."