Student at Aleppo University Relates Details of His Abduction by Terrorists

Qussai al-Yousef, a student at the Engineering Faculty at Aleppo University, related the details of his abduction by a terrorist group whose members forced him to record videos announcing his joining the so-called “free army” as a prelude for using his name after reporting his death to manipulate the feelings of his family and friends for the benefit of malicious media and the opposition abroad.

Al-Yousef, born in Hama in 1988, told the Syrian TV that in June 2011 and while he was on his way to a friend’s house to study, he was intercepted by a car near al-Martini Hospital, and that two armed men came out of the car and forced him into the car at gunpoint before going to Salah Eddin area in Aleppo.

He said that he was taken into a house where his hands and feet were bound and then he was beaten by his abductors who forced him to say in a video that he’s a member of the “free army” and discuss operations they allegedly performed and threaten security forces.

Al-Yosuef said that after five days they took him away in a car and threw him in al-Hamadaniye area, and upon returning to his home where he lived with some fellow students they were shocked to see him, telling him that there’s a video featuring him on social websites that claims he was injured in al-Qusour area and died.

He noted that while he was abducted, there were protests in Homs, Hama and Aleppo in which protestors carried photos of him, turning him into a hero for them, adding that his parents held funeral ceremonies for him based on his alleged death as reported by the internet.

Al-Yosuef said he tried to go back to his normal life, but certain internet sites learned that he’s alive so began lauding him as a member of the “free army” which prompted opposition figures to make him into a ” symbol of the revolution.”

He added that when he was abducted, the gunmen stole his laptop and used it to access his Facebook account and emails, connecting with people abroad to have money transferred to them in his name, and he indeed received massive money transfers from countries including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait.

Al-Yosuef went on to say that al-Jazeera’s correspondent contacted him when terrorists entered Aleppo as did the channel, and they offered him to work as a reporter for them in hotspots in exchange for AED 1,200 per week, but he refused and reported what happened to him to the security forces to keep them informed.