NBC News’ Richard Engel Recounts Five Days Of Captivity In Syria

[DonViejo]

Source: TPM

DAVID TAINTOR DECEMBER 18, 2012, 9:40 AM

After being ambushed, kidnapped and held captive in Syria for five days, NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel and his production crew were freed after a firefight between the kidnappers and a rebel group and were safely escorted back to Turkey Tuesday morning, according to an NBC News report.

Engel and his team were kidnapped Thursday morning shortly after entering Syria, according to an NBC News report. In a live TV appearance with his crew from Antakya, Turkey, on Tuesday, Engel told the Today show that they were driving with Syrian rebels in what they believed was a rebel-controlled area, when more than a dozen gunmen wearing ski masks jumped out of the bushes. “They dragged us out of the car. They had a container truck positioned, waiting by the side of the road,” Engel said. One of the rebels they were traveling with was shot and killed during the confrontation, he said.

Engel and his crew were then taken to several safe houses and interrogation locations. They weren’t physically tortured, but they were bound, blindfolded and threatened, he said. “They made us choose which one of us would be shot first,” Engel said. “When we refused, there were mock shootings.”

Late Monday in Syria, Engel and his crew were being moved when they came across a rebel checkpoint, controlled by the Ahrar al-Sham brigade, according to an NBC News report. A firefight ensued. Two of the kidnappers were killed. Engel and his crew climbed out of the vehicle. They spent the night with the rebels and were escorted to Turkey Tuesday morning.

-snip-

Read more: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/12/nbc-news-richard-engel-syria.php?ref=fpb

[sasha031]

1. So relieved he is alive, so worried yesterday

[PatrynXX]

3. very relieved

at least two of us here are elated. but fairly sure Richard will go back..

[coldbeer]

2. I've watched Richard Engel on MSNBC

I've always thought about his bravery and have been
expecting his demise. He is a very brave man. I wish
he would go to a safer haven. Great job Mr. Engel!

[TDale313]

4. So glad he and his crew are all ok.

The reports that he was missing had me really worried.

[cyberswede]

5. Very relieved!

I'm glad they're all ok.

However, this is awful:

“They made us choose which one of us would be shot first,” Engel said. “When we refused, there were mock shootings.”

I wonder what kind of effect this has on a person?

[Lucinda]

6. Thank you. So glad they are safe. n/t

[Cooley Hurd]

7. It begs the question - did the Gawker story force the kidnappers to try to move their captives?

And, was it during this move that the kidnappers came across the rebel brigade that freed the captives?

Hmm. If so, it would be a welcomed, if unintended consequence of the Gawker story.

[CarmanK]

8. I am so glad. Been praying for him! Good guys win this one!

[AntiFascist]

9. K&R....

need to keep this kicked so that people see it!

[ProudProgressiveNow]

10. K&R nt

[NewsCenter28]

11. So relieved that he is safe

I was fearing and almost convinced of the worst yesterday! Joyful news this morning.

[Alamuti Lotus]

12. Richard Engel comes off as a gullible hack..

from your article:

NBC News said in a statement Tuesday that the crew was held by an “unknown group.” But Engel said he has a “very good idea” of who the captors were. “This was a group known as the Shabiha. This is a government militia. These are people who are loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. They are Shiite. They were talking openly about their loyalty to the government, openly expressing their Shia faith. They are trained by Iranian Revolutionary Guard. They are allied with Hezbollah.”

How wonderful for him to remember to recite the proper talking points of the day! I must remind myself to continue not reading his work, since it is obviously just the barely disguised (if that) recital of "rebel" (friendly terrorist) talking points that dominates the US papers at the moment. This nonsense is already being challenged by knowledgeable writers:

On the captors of Richard Engel: the plot thickens

So who kidnapped Mr. Richard Engel? A knowledgeable Western journalist sent me this:
"there is a Shiite village in Idlib called Fu'a, and every time a journalist gets kidnapped in Idlib at first the opposition activists blame Shiites or even Alawites (!) as happened three weeks ago with a different group, anyway Fu'a is surrounded by armed opposition supporters so its unlikely its men could just drive around as is described in the official account, and they would probably not say they were shiites let along brag about their alleged training (and there is no way they got revolutionary guard training)
then this video came out:
and it has since been removed, what it showed is Engel and his team in a bare room saying who they are, on the walls in green spray paint are written fresh looking pro Assad graffiti like al Assad or we will burn the country, and something about dhulfiqar which is obviously Shiite
it seems very much like a setup, like the kidnappers wanted him to think he was taken by Shiites
and if he was taken by Shiites or regime loyalists he would not have been released so quickly so its a bullshit story
maybe....
i think they took down the video because Engel is made to say something anti-American
PS here is the video"

PPS Now this is me, Angry Arab. I looked at the video and it is so clearly a set up and the slogans are so clearly fake and they intend to show that they were clearly Shi`ites and that they are savages. If this one is believable, I am posing as a dentist.

PPPS Of course, I am not saying that Engel was on this plot. I think that they were really kidnapped but that the kidnappers of the Free Syrian Army typically lied to them about their identity, which has happened before.

[Tx4obama]

13. Kick! n/t