The first redemption request came in a text message on Sami Al-Iizoo’s phone 10 days after witnessing his kidnapped brother, forced to a truck with dark shaded windows with six masked men.
Subsequently, a video arrived in which he said that his brother, Abdulrazaq Al-Iizoo, 60 years old, appeared with his hands tied and a black bag over his head, screaming while hit by a stick. Since then, videos and threats have continued to buzz Mr. Al-Iizoo’s phone while fighting to collect $ 400,000 that the kidnappers want.
Mr. Al-Iizoo is not rich and says he doesn’t know why his brother was targeted. He sold a couple of cars and is trying to sell his land, but doubts it will be enough to cover the huge sum. “If I sell everything I have, I will not reach this amount,” he said from his home to Talbiseh, a suburb of the city of Homs, in the central Syria.
The kidnapping is part of a series of kidnappings in Syria with a rebellious coalition that has ousted President Bashar al-Assad in December. One of his first acts was to fire – at least temporarily – all police and government security officials.
The security forces were instruments of the oppressive regime of Al-Assad, but some Syrians criticized the decision to dissolve them. Although the new government has replaced some of the officials with its members and has quickly trained the police officers, that force cannot cover the country sufficiently.
Seventy tensions, opportunistic crime and desire for revenge have converted into a security void that has left many Syrians to fear of going out at night. The kidnappings – for redemption or revenge – have occurred in over 13 years of civil war, but the situation represents an important test of the ability of the new government to keep the country stable.
The risk of upheaval has been further highlighted in the last few days when the clashes between the security forces of the government and armed men faithful to the Assad regime broke out in the coastal region of Syria, with dozens of people reported killed.
It is not clear how many people have been kidnapped in the last three months and who is behind the kidnappings. But family members and groups that monitor events in Syria have reported at least a dozen episodes across the country.
The Syrians ask for more police officers and checkpoints on the streets to repress.
“They must show their strength,” said Al-Iizoo of the new leaders. “They must affirm their authority and their presence.”
Mr. Al-Iizoo, who does not know who kidnapped his brother, said he had repeatedly asked the new local security forces in charge to ask for help but had not come anywhere. Talbiseh and Homs security officials declared to follow the kidnapping but did not provide further details.
The new leaders of Syria have sometimes played safety problems and said they were very worst challenges and security crimes and decades of dictatorship.
“Today there is security, although there are small accidents here and there,” said Ahmed Al-Shara, an interim president of Syria, in an interview last month with an independent Syrian television channel. But, he added, decades of “bad policies cannot be canceled in a few days or weeks”.
The security situation is aggravated by other problems, such as a serious deficiency of electricity that leaves some dark neighborhoods at night. In different cities, residents claim to have installed metal doors to protect from thieves and some parents have stopped sending their children to school.
“Does the situation still need work? Yes, “said Lieutenant Colonel Alaa Umran, chief of police for the province of Homs who was appointed by the new government.” Why? Because we completely dissolved the security apparatus and we are building a security apparatus again, but it needs time. “
The new leaders have ordered thousands of police officers, security agents and soldiers to undergo a “reconciliation” process, delivering their identity documents, weapons and vehicles while waiting to be investigated. For now, those officers will not be able to join the police ranks, the officials said.
Colonel Umran defended the decision to reject the safety forces of the regime, calling it “an enemy of the people”.
Officials claim to train new police recruits as quickly as possible, to graduate from 800 to 1,000 every few weeks. In a police training school in Damascus, the capital, last month, dozens of young people in dark blue uniforms marched in training for their degree after abbreviated training. Some kept their weapons freely, apparently not yet able to manage them.
The Ministry of the Interior said that the country needs 50,000 police officers in total and has much less, although it does not specify a number. All the new police internships will receive longer training in the future, he said in response to the questions.
The new government has inherited a chaotic situation, which makes the country’s guarantee particularly demanding, said Issam al-Reis, military adviser with Etana, a Syrian reporting and analysis organization.
“It is not fair to say that if they cannot establish complete safety within two or three months, this is an indication of the failure,” he said. “They need more time. They should be judged according to the size of the challenge. “
For now, many neighborhoods and cities have little or no police presence. At the Sunday, the streets of the Zahra district in Homs empty its residents while everyone is heading at home.
On a recent morning, customers and supporters turned into a vegetable shop to console its owner, Husam Kashi. Just a week earlier, he said, had been authorized and kidnapped by two masked men. “Thanks to God for your safe return,” said customers while sharing the news of other kidnappings.
His close-knit Christian community and the Church gathered a few hours after his kidnapping to collect 28 million Syrian-circle pounds $ 2,100-I was enough to ensure his liberation.
Since then he has been at the limit, looking regularly behind him.
“We want to feel safe again,” said Kashi, father of two children, while the customers around him chose lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers.
Come at 17:00 he will close his shop, which remained open until 22:00, because the street lamps are out. There are also no police patrols, the residents said, only a checkpoint at the entrance of the neighborhood managed by a couple of young people.
Some families never receive a demand for redemption. One night in February, the brothers Shadood, Amjad, 25, and Mohammad, 26, called their mother, Rania Shadood, after midnight to let her know that they were returning home from their restaurant works.
He remained standing on the threshold of their home keeping gold, but while the men approached the house, a large van came and stopped in front of them, said Mrs. Shadood. He believes that anyone in the van was armed.
“My children have not resisted at all, but I was able to see them reduced,” he said. “I ran to them. All I saw was a hand that stretched, grabbing and dragging my younger son in the van “, before his older son also entered.
The security forces combed the neighborhood but never found the van, he said. The kidnappers never contacted them.
About a week after their bodies were found alongside a highway in a close province, the family and the police said. The family is Alawite, a religious minority to which the Estromisca Assad family belongs. Under the Government of Assad, the Alawites dominated the class in power and the upper ranks of the army and now face attacks, threats and killings of revenge.
“What was their sin? They were returning home tired and hungry, “said Mrs. Shadood, 47 years old.” They never hurt anyone. “
Shadood’s extended family sat in a poorly illuminated room, mostly dressed in black after three days of mourning. Although the brothers had disappeared, they appealed to the government to make more to protect others.
“I don’t want another mother to cry like me,” said Mrs. Shadood.
Muhammad Haj Kadour Contributed relationships.