English 
فارسی 
العربية 
“He killed the killed and walked in his funeral”
The chief of Sepah Quds Gen. Qasem Soleimani has reportedly made a secret visit to Latakya to offer his belated condolences to the family of Hilal al-Assad, who was killed in Latakiya in March 2014.
Hilal al-Assad, a cousin of Syria’s dictator Bashar al-Assad, was the notorious chief in Latakiya of a Syrian paramilitary force called the National Defense Forces, but known more commonly among Syrians as the ‘Shabbiha’ (or ‘regime thugs’ in Syrian slang). The Syrian regime claimed Hilal al-Assad was killed by rebels during the Kasab battles this year.
But Syrian opposition sources told Naame Shaam that Hilal al-Assad was assassinated by Sepah Pasdaran and Hezbollah Lebanon, who blamed the rebels, because he had become a “loose cannon” and “did not obey all orders” of Sepah Pasdaran and Hezbollah commanders.
Sepah Quds is a division of Sepah Pasdaran, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, that now controls all major military operations in regime-controlled areas, in addition to controlling Hezbollah Lebanon and the Iraqi militias fighting in Syria.
The ‘shabbiha’ force was established, armed and trained by Sepah Qods, modeled on the Iranian Basij forces, shortly after the start of the Syrian revolution in March 2011. [1]
According to Al-Arabiyya TV on 24 May 2014, Soleimani’s visit to pay tribute to his brother in arms Hilal al-Assad came during a “secret trip” to Syria to follow-up in person on military and intelligence coordination between the Syrian and Iranian regimes. [2]
A picture showing an aging Gen. Soleimani sitting with Hilal al-Assad’s wife and son was circulated online without a date or source. A Syrian saying sums up the embarrassing situation: “He killed the killed and walked in his funeral” (قتل القتيل ومشى بجنازته)
EDITOR’S COMMENT:
Naame Shaam, which has called for Gen. Soleimani to be elected president of Syria, charged that his visit to Latakya was part of an ‘election campaign tour’. Gen. Soleimani seems to have liked Naame Shaam’s campaign in his favour. [3]
The de facto ‘supreme commander’ of all military as well as economic and political strategies in regime-held areas in Syria is Gen. Soleimani.
So, if presidential elections are forced upon Syrians in regime-held areas on 3 June 2014, then vote for the one who really has the power, and vote the puppet Bashar al-Assad as his deputy.
NOTES:
[1] http://www.naameshaam.org/en/iranian-general-admits-advising-syrian-regime-on-establishing-shabbiha-paramilitary-force/ [2] Al-Arabiyya TV, 24 may 2014: http://bit.ly/Sb6lZD [3] Read more about the #Vote_for_Qassem_Soleimani campaign, along with Soleimani’s ‘election programme’ at:http://www.naameshaam.org/en/vote_for_qassem_soleimani-president-of-syria/
As part of the campaign, Naame Shaam is calling for ‘election rallies’ at Iranian embassies and consulates around the world on 2 June 2014. More details at:
On Twitter