‘We’re the armed men in Syria’s propaganda’

SYRIA has been accused of using old video filmed in Lebanon to back up claims that its forces are fighting foreign terrorists.

Seven Lebanese men held a press call yesterday in Tripoli and showed what they said was the original video they had shot and posted on Facebook.

“The footage aired by the Syrians is fabricated and full of lies and we urge the Lebanese government to protect us,” said Ahmad Said, who looked like one of the men in the video.

Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moallem on Monday showed journalists in Damascus gruesome images of charred bodies and bearded gunmen which he said was filmed during the unrest in Syria. In one segment, a group of armed, bearded men are shown making their way through some bushes and trees, with the caption “Footages [sic] of the members of the terrorist armed gangs, at training” in the Syrian coastal city of Latakia.

The seven Lebanese said the segment was in fact footage they themselves filmed in 2008 during clashes in Lebanon.

“This video was filmed on our phones behind Luqman school at the northern entrance to Tripoli where we were defending our families and our districts in 2008,” said Ahmad Issa, identifying himself in the footage.

He was referring to sectarian clashes that May which left more than 100 dead across Lebanon. He added: “Now that the regime has come out and falsely claimed this footage, we now have to stand up and defend ourselves: I have never been to Syria, nor have any of us.”