E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSPhotojournalist John Cantlie tells Krishnan Guru-Murthy of the UK's Channel 4 News about the terrifying week he was held captive in Syria by radical Islamist militants, some of them British.
LONDON -- A British photojournalist has described the terrifying week he was held captive by radical Islamist militants in Syria, where he and another photographer constantly feared for their lives at the hands of "disenchanted" young Britons.
Writing in The Sunday Times newspaper (site operates behind a pay wall), seasoned conflict photographer John Cantlie said he and Dutch photographer Jeroen Oerlemans were repeatedly told to prepare to die and at one point "we heard the worst noise we will hear in our lives: the sharpening of knives for a beheading."
It was not supposed to be that way.
The two men, along with their Syrian guide named in the article only as Mohamed, had entered the country on July 19 to cover the 17-month-old uprising in Syria, where fighters with the opposition Free Syrian Army have been battling to oust President Bashar Assad's regime and end his family's four-decade grip on power.
Syria premier defects to opposition, spokesman says
But after accidentally stumbling into an encampment of foreign fighters, the men quickly found themselves part of a different kind of war with unexpected combatants.
"I ended up running for my life, barefoot and handcuffed, while British jihadists -- young men with south London accents -- shot to kill," Cantlie wrote of the pair's attempted escape early in their captivity.
"They were aiming their Kalashnikov at a British journalist, Londoner against Londoner in a rocky landscape that looked like the Scottish Highlands," he wrote.
The British Foreign Office has said it was investigating reports of Britons taking part in the fighting in Syria.
The U.K. government "takes very seriously any claims or reports that indicate there are British nationals amongst foreign fighters in Syria," a spokesperson told the British Broadcasting Corp.
Stringer / Reuters
After months of protests and violent crackdowns, a look back at the violence that has overtaken the country.
"We are monitoring the situation as closely as possible. Clearly, the deteriorating security situation in Syria leaves a dangerous space for foreign fighters. The solution lies in securing robust international action to resolve the crisis," the BBC quoted the spokesperson as saying.
Foreign journalists freed after harrowing week with extremists in Syria
Cantlie was on assignment for The Sunday Times and Oerlemans for Britain-based Panos Pictures.
'Biggest risk was from the British'
The two men were immediately seized by around 30 fighters when they entered the camp, which they had thought belonged to the Free Syrian Army. The journalists soon realized none of the fighters was Syrian.
Al-Qaida may be trying to infiltrate rebel groups battling Syrian government forces. NBC's chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel tells about the evidence of the terrorist group's presence.
The fighters were from various places, Cantlie wrote, including Britain, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Chechnya. At least several women were among them, he wrote.
The captors were mostly in their 20s and varied in temperament, Cantlie said, but the two captives feared the dozen or so Britons more than the others.
PhotoBlog: Who are the Syrian rebels?
"The biggest risk was from the British," Cantlie wrote.
The Britons did not seem to be experienced fighters, Cantlie wrote.
"They were thrilled to be in Syria. All their talk was of how to take out a tank, how to advance across open ground and how to clear a building. The camp was like an adventure course for disenchanted 20-year-olds," he wrote.
Syrian family prays soldier son will defect
Cantlie quoted one man who claimed to be a former supermarket worker in Britain as threatening: "You are spies. You work for (British domestic security agency) MI5, you work for (British foreign intelligence agency) MI6. Prepare for the afterlife. Are you ready to meet Allah?"
Machine guns operated by motorcycle brakes? Get a glimpse at the rebels fighting against Assad's forces in Syria's mountainous Jabal al-Zawiya area.
Freed by rebel Syrian fighters
Cantlie, Oerlemans and Mohamed attempted to escape on the second day of their captivity, but both journalists were shot and wounded before being recaptured. Mohamed managed to flee the camp and raised the alarm with members of the Free Syrian Army, who later liberated the journalists after eight days in captivity.
The captors were not part of the Free Syrian Army, Cantlie wrote. When rebel soldiers freed the journalists, they showed their anger at the young Islamic militants for taking foreign journalists captive.
"I'm so sorry about what's happened to you. We've been looking for you for three days. We were waiting for the right time to get you out," Cantlie quoted one of their rescuers as saying.
"We know about these foreigners. There are about 40 of them. We didn't know they would do something like this. ... This is not the way of the Syrian people. This is our revolution. We don't want these people coming in here in our name," the man said, according to Cantlie's account.
Full international news coverage from NBCNews.com
Cantlie and Oerlemans, who were blindfolded for most of their captivity, have both returned home and are recovering from their injuries.
There have been increasing reports about foreign fighters in Syria, but it remains unclear how many are in the country and for what they are fighting.
The locus point of the fighting in Syria has shifted in recent weeks to the commercial hub of Aleppo, where rebels have been battered by heavy weaponry unleashed by Assad's regime, as well as the capital Damascus. The conflict has claimed an estimated 18,000 lives across Syria.
More world stories from NBC News:
Leave a Comment:
Critical times hard to deal with, will be here.
Morlack,I did not say that I belived that governmentstold the truth,only that reporters only published what their editors told them to report.So you can believe a damn lie by the reporter or a damn lie by the government.,your choice.
Why does anyone refer to them as British? They obviously do not have the least loyalty to Britain. They obviously hate Britain. When are you people going to wake up?
Shane - about the time it is too late.
We'll wake up when dual citizenship is outlawed.
If we don't stop turning on each other Syria will soon be sending reporters here to cover our next Civil War.
Tell me what you all think about the terrorists and hate mongers that we have raised and are still raising here in this country.We are doing such a wonder job of producing well balanced,thoughtful citizens that our terrorists don't leave our country they just stay here and murder their friends and neighbors.Do you really think that America has any room to criticize another nation when we can't even control what our citizens do in their own homeland.Unless you are writing your Congress person urging them to end the slaughter on the streets of America you are a hypocrit.
Well you all believe Richard Engel and his lies , now somebody trying to tell the truth and most of you do not believe , Well its normal for people in the US these days , they believed the WMD stories and they want Saddam out and killed , and then when they found out that it was a lie , well Saddam was a bad man and he should have been killed anyway , Now the Christians are getting killed in Syria by these thugs that attacked here on 9/11 and you all say , well its OK Assad a bad man , Assad is a bad man by who's standard ??? 50% OF THE American PEOPLE THINK Mr. Obama is a Muslim and he is working with the Muslim extremists , so is it OK to get rid of him ??? Who put you all people to judge others and close you eyes to killings of the innocents in Syria and act that its OK , These thugs are no Syrians and they are no freedom fighters , How about if they decided to come here to the US with the help of these Saudi and Qataris , Do you still say its OK ???? Freedom fighters my asssss these thugs are getting paid to kill the Syrians by terrorists governments and that's make me question which side of the fence we are on , we need to look deep into this and question our politicians , because they are taking us into a path that we do not belong .
Obama is on record claiming to be a muslim, in his writings, on his foreign visa that he immigrated to America with , and on video.
HE says he is a muslim. Are you calling him a liar? Because that is also well established.
yep,i will always believe he is muslim and do not trust him. this man needs to go,I'm not trilled with the other,but i will not vote for obama. yes,i believe he is a muslim and needs to be replaced. the constitution gives us the right to say what we want,in a orderly manner. something that this country seems to forgot and its leaders all so. we the people it say on the constitution not the elected officials. they work for us,and they need to be reminded of that in November.
Makes me nostalgic for Gengis Khan.
The actions of these misguided Londoners mirror exactly the ideals of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. All they want to do it fight someone, blow things up, kill people and cause mayhem. Maybe they will get to meet the actual rebels in Syria who will teach them an interesting lesson.
So now the truth comes out, foreigners coming into the country to Fight-Who.
How many of the so called atrocities were committed by imported fighters and then got blamed on the Syrian government? All along Assad has said that the rebels were not all Syrians. This just adds to the clams that foreign powers are trying to destroy the country. This just shows that in fact outside powers are leading this rebellion to overthrow a stable government just like Libya and Egypt.
Baronfergus It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out what you saying , But the people here keep believing our corrupt and paid off media and their fabricated stories , and in Syria's case every body want to believe it , because they hate Syria simply because Syria does not like Israel , and in the US Israel is God chosen people and every body that does not like them should die , and these poor Christians in Syria and Iraq and even EGYPT THEY DOING JUST THAT, Assad is no Angel , but he is not the brutal man as they are describing him , hell if I was him I will turn my air force and special forces free to bomb the hell of these thugs , because they are destroying the country and killing the news media and every body that works for the government even janitors , and we call these people freedom fighters , Just ask Hillary , McCain , Lieberman , Graham and all these paid off hawks we got here in our country , they want to send our troops to fight these thugs fight , the same thugs that attacked us on 9/11 and their cronies the Saudis and Qataris and all these no good Gulf states .
Don"t worry about them. They are just boys,soon they will be tired from killings and will come home
for Christmas.
Ya can these thugs do not believe in Christmas , they hate anything belongs to the christians , and that;s what they doing in Syria killing and destroying every thing Christianity about .
In wars, very many different groups fight for very many different causes.
Way to go msnbc nbc or whatever you are ... "Glorified Gossips" ... stirring the pot of lies usual for your own benefit ... "British Militiants" ... LOL and BLAH BLAH BLAH ... wonder when you will run into some of these American militants~ selah GOODMORNING JOE ... sorry I stepped in it with my pink toenails and it made me ANGRY :)
"Roland was a warrior from the Land of the Midnight Sun
With a Thompson gun for hire fighting to be done;
The deal was made in Denmark on a dark and stormy day;
So they set off for Biafra to join the bloody fray."
~~"Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner, Warren Zevon
There have been mercenaries for centuries; some of them overt and some of them covert. Roland's fate was decided by the CIA. "Crazed" zealots taking up arms with whom they see as fighting for their cause? Of course. Though if we believe in their cause (Hessians against the British) it is seen as patriotic.
Granted, this example isn't the best, but at least there is one shining light. These young men aren't in Great Britain anymore.
Did you start reading this because the headline claimed "British" fighters were involved? These are middle eastern muslims whose parents immigrated to the UK to insult the British way of life and take Britain over from the inside. They are no more British than that jackass that slaughtered soldiers at Fort Hood was American.
Murdering muslims are murdering muslims. Don't let them in your country and then be "surprised" that they act just like you knew they would.
STEVE THE DOG MAN.....dude you are so right on this. like the "old saying goes,keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer"!
So you can choke them.
the us should be more watchful of all the aliens it allows to come this country . lets not forget all the illegal aliens of los angeles! this kind of crap could happen at your back door in your secure community. thats why, and many reasons i believe in the 2nd. admendment. i believe in having a weapon that can reach out and touch you.
SEMPER FI
DANNY P
RETIRED
Any war zone is a confusing mess. A reporter in one area will see and interpret something they see and then a reporter in another area will see and interpret something they see which is totally different from the first report. Given that the rebels are not a single unit, what one group is doing may have nothing to do with what another group is doing. Of course there are foreigners. Don't forget that bin Laden (a Saudi) fought with the Taliban in Afghanistan against the Russians. Muslim extremists go where the fighting is and join in. I'm not sure, much of the time, if they even know what they are fighting for. Often, the net result of their involvement is chaos and anarchy. The Syrian rebels probably don't want them, but how do you get rid of them? I doubt that the rebels are fighting for the same reasons as the foreign fighters. It's a mess.
The British policies on immigration are based on former colonies having received British citizenship. So, technically, these people are not immigrants, but British citizens exercising their right to travel to the home country. I don't think that this policy was formulated by the Labour government as it is a long-standing policy arrived at many years ago. But I'm a little hazy on this, so there may be a lot more detail of which I am unaware.
Its a symptom of a larger problem, the elephant in the room - multiculturalism a cancer that wont go away. You wont pay the price it will be your kids and grandkids who will. The boomers have really @!$%#ed us over and its only going to get worse.
This story or one just like it was on the BBC news site over 3 weeks ago.
News about newsmen, Ho-Hum!
muslims, probably the worst people on the planet. should just let them all fight and we sit back and watch while eating popcorn.