Clock is ticking in the hunt for Assad's stash of chemical weapons
Abdul Hamid walks slowly in a black Adidas tracksuit, head bowed, through a dusty graveyard. The cemetery, ringed by the remains of bombed-out buildings, bears silent witness to what unfolded in Syria.
The 36-year-old tradesman stops, murmurs a prayer and begins pulling weeds from the earth around the sun-bleached gravestones. He points to them one by one: 'My cousin, my wife Sana, both of my children — the twins — another cousin and his daughter, two more cousins and one of his sons, both of my brothers Yasser and Abdul Karim and their children.'
The list continues, an unrelenting rhythm of grief. Not a mass grave, but a mass death, all felled by a single, silent killer. On April 4, 2017, a sarin-laced rocket dropped
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Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Mother-of-four's warning to holidaymakers after husband is jailed for 10 YEARS after visiting popular tourist destination
The wife of a father jailed for 10 years over a 'tweet' has warned Brits to 'think hard about the risks' after her husband was 'abducted' at a popular tourist destination. Ahmed al-Doush, a senior business analyst at Bank of America, lived in Manchester before the day of his arrest when he was swooped on at an airport on August 31 last year as he prepared to fly home. The British citizen was held in a maximum security prison under strict anti-terrorism laws, on charges that included criticising the government on social media and associating with a London-based dissident. His distraught wife has spoken out to warn too many people are unaware of the 'dangers' of travelling to the country which hundreds of thousands of Brits frequent each year. Amaher Nour told MailOnline: 'For years my family and I have enjoyed travelling to Saudi Arabia for holidays and pilgrimage – that all changed in August 2024 when my husband was abducted at Riyadh airport. 'I would advise fellow Brits to think hard about whether it's worth the risk after my husband, a British citizen, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Saudi Arabia for what we think might be a deleted tweet – but we're not sure which tweet, the evidence or the exact charges. 'The UK Government doesn't know the charges either and has refused to demand answers from Saudi Arabia. 'For as long as the UK Government fails to warn Britons of the dangers of travelling to Saudi Arabia, and fails stand up for its citizens arbitrarily detained abroad, other families like ours are at risk of being torn apart.' Mr al-Doush was put in solitary confinement for 33 days after his arrest and denied consular assistance as well as access to legal representation for more than two months. He was then jailed for a decade, with a state-appointed lawyer initially telling Ms Nour her husband had been convicted of an offence at a hearing but that he could not tell her what it was. The case was discussed by the UK foreign secretary David Lammy alongside his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, though details of their call were not disclosed. Mr al-Doush had not met his baby son Youssef, after missing the birth in December due to his detention. Ms Nour said: 'The authorities asked for his documents and we thought it was just a problem with his visa. He called me from security and told me to fly with the children on to Turkey, our transit stop, and said, "I'll be with you shortly".' It was only once the family touched down in Manchester that they received confirmation Mr al-Doush had been imprisoned. He was reportedly blocked from having any contact with his family until November 17 2024 - almost three months after he was first detained. Mr al-Doush is believed to have been imprisoned in relation to a deleted Tweet from 2018 about the war in Sudan, his homeland, which provided military support for Saudi Arabia in its ongoing conflict with Yemen. He has not posted about Saudi Arabia on his X account and only had 37 followers. Dan Dolan, Interim Deputy Executive Director of civil rights group Reprieve, has written to the UK Foreign Office urging the government to 'update its travel advice to Saudi Arabia' so British nationals are 'fully informed of risks to their safety'. Mr Dolan said: 'The Saudi authorities have announced that they are investing $800 billion to transform their tourism sector to attract more visitors. 'Hundreds of thousands of Britons already visit the Kingdom each year. 'Few will be aware that an old, deleted social media post could lead to them being abducted, charged with terrorism offences and potentially sentenced to death. 'Few will know that there are currently foreign nationals on death row, at imminent risk of execution, after being caught with cannabis for personal use. 'Hundreds more have been imprisoned for similar acts, including Reprieve clients Hassan al-Maliki and Salman al-Odah, two scholars detained since 2017 and at risk of the death penalty for peaceful expression of their opinions. 'The UN has repeatedly condemned Saudi Arabia's 2017 counterterrorism law for violating international human rights standards and criminalising protected speech and association.' Ms Nour previously said night time is 'hardest' for her when she is 'alone and it's quite'. She added: 'I keep asking myself "why, why, why has this happened", and I can't get to the bottom of it because it's not rational in any way. He has no political associations.' The Foreign Office said: 'We are supporting a British man who is detained in Saudia Arabia and are in contact with his family and the local authorities.'
The Sun
11 hours ago
- The Sun
‘Time has moved on' – Man Utd wild child Ravel Morrison, 32, targeting Championship transfer as he puts past behind him
RAVEL MORRISON has pleaded for clubs to ignore his wild child past. The former Manchester United wonderkid is targeting a move back to the Championship - but wants to put the past behind him. Morrison was hailed as a whizz-kid of the Old Trafford youth system when Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge but he quickly earned the reputation of an unreliable 'bad boy'. He made what turned out to be disappointing move to West Ham and then Lazio, where he only managed eight appearances in 2015. Loan spells at Birmingham City, QPR, Cardiff City, Sheffield United, Derby County and Mexican side at Atlas also didn't work out. But Morrison is wiser than the kid who got into trouble, ended up in court and left Old Trafford on a sour note. Back in September, the 32-year-old signed for the 14th club of his rollercoaster career - Precision FC in Dubai in the UAE second division. He told The Athletic: 'Even now, I can guarantee that if I signed for a club in England, the headline in all the newspapers would be something negative. 'If another player at United gets into trouble, he's always 'the next Ravel'. Anything that anyone does wrong gets linked to my name. 'It pops up on my Instagram and I'm thinking, 'Oh, not again… how many years is this now?'. At West Ham, there were occasions when he missed training because he had been up all night on his PlayStation. And he was accused of attitude issues, timing problems and appeared in court for witness intimidation and criminal damage while at Man Utd in 2011. Ravel Morrison reveals he used to steal boots from Man Utd dressing room to sell and feed his family Morrison was also once fined £7000 by the FA for alleged homophobic comments made on Twitter. But homesick Morrison has set his mind on moving back to England and having one last crack at the second-tier again, where he has already played for six different sides. He said: 'I do believe I can play in the Championship — easy. The frustrating thing is I'm not getting the opportunity. 'My agent has spoken to a lot of sporting directors, chief scouts and heads of recruitment, and we've got really close to an agreement. 'Then they get the manager's opinion and it becomes, 'Ah, but he's done this, he's done that', and they are speaking about things that happened when I was a kid. 'Time has moved on, it's over a decade ago. But it's crazy sometimes how people don't move on.' 'So many people have formed an opinion about me, but those opinions are based on things that happened 10 to 15 years ago. 'I'm 32 now. I've played football around the world and had a good career. I'm not a kid of 16 or 17 anymore. 'But then again, I have to look at myself because it all stems from my own mistakes. I did some things that were wrong and I can't blame anyone but myself.' He has won 20 caps for Jamaica since switching allegiances in 2020. Morrison, who shares the same hometown as Marcus Rashford in Wythenshawe, has his eyes set on returning to where it all began at Carrington. Speaking on the Undr the Cosh podcast last month, Morrison said: "I've got my B licence now - I did it in the summer. '"I want to get into some type of coaching after I retire. That'd be good. I'd like to go back to United!" 2
The Sun
14 hours ago
- The Sun
Iran's unfathomably cruel execution regime is laid bare… by the man who's seen it first hand after 25 YEARS on death row
ONE of Iran's longest-serving prisoners has exposed the disturbing mechanisms the regime uses to put inmates to death. Saeed Masouri, who has spent 25 years behind bars, also revealed how the execution rate has spiralled in the last month in a harrowing letter written behind bars. 5 5 5 The regime's merciless killing spree has seen at least 176 inmates sent to the gallows in the past month. Insiders told The Sun the shocking spike in executions comes amid a barbaric attempt from leaders to crush dissent and act as a warning against it. Masouri, who was arrested for his affiliation with the resistance unit People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, has now told of the secret process behind executions. Psychological torture, threats against family and sham trials are all used as tools by the regime to condemn its enemies to death on trumped-up charges. Masouri's emotional letter was smuggled out of the notorious Ghezel Hesar prison in Iran and shared with The Sun from Iran Human Rights Monitor. "It is often said that every criminal act is preceded by criminal preparations, hidden beneath the surface," the 60-year-old wrote in a letter to the UN. "For instance, when an execution is carried out, the inhumane and rights-violating acts that preceded it remain hidden from view. "Formal steps like prosecution, indictment, and trial are mere facades. Every detail, from A to Z, is orchestrated by these security agencies." Masouri told how those accused are hauled into court with a "fabricated case file" to give a smoke screen of a fair and legal procedure. "These so-called 'judges don't even read the actual files," he said. Dad set to be executed in Iran shares powerful audio message blasting regime from behind bars "This is why there is no logical argumentation or credible evidence in the case files, no opportunity for defence (as trials rarely last more than 10 minutes), and no access for lawyers to review the case materials. "Verdicts are predetermined and simply announced. "Empty phrases about 'resolving disputes', 'equality before the law', 'prohibition of injustice', or 'delivering rights to rightful owners' are just lip service. "In reality, defendants are denied the right to a fair defense, and the courts are devoid of justice and even basic adherence to their own laws. "Meanwhile, the stripping of civil rights is carried out to the fullest extent possible." Defendants - and their lawyers - are often even denied access to their own files, making it near impossible to be cleared. Masouri said this is true in the cases of Mehdi Hassani and Behrouz Ehsani, who both face imminent execution. "When the so-called evidence in a case has no real basis or credibility, the only way to keep it hidden is to declare the entire file confidential," he wrote. Haunting message of dad behind bars Exclusive by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital) A DAD set to be executed in Iran blasted its brutal regime in a powerful voice message recorded behind bars. Mehdi Hassani, 48, was handed a death sentence on trumped-up charges and has been tortured in jail. He now faces imminent execution after his appeal to be spared death was rejected by Iran 's merciless rulers. But defiant Hassani has unleashed a blistering put down of Iran's 'cruelty and oppression' in a voice message to his daughter Maryam that has been shared with The Sun. The dad-of-three said: 'This regime has for the past 46 years spent the country's wealth on warmongering and suppressing the people of Iran. 'If I'm in prison today and have been sentenced to execution, it is only because I could not tolerate seeing such cruelty and oppression against this nation and against the children of my land and I stood up against oppression. 'They have no evidence against me and they didn't even allow my lawyer to access and study my file so that he could expose the contradictions that exist.' Hassani - who was arrested in September - vowed the regime is 'doomed to perish'. "[This allows] the system to coerce forced confessions, such as televised admissions or baseless claims presented as 'documentaries'. "In return, the accused is promised clemency or a reduction in punishment. In this way, the defendant is forced to choose: either confess to lies or face execution. "Lawyers - stripped of any ability to defend their clients - are left to weigh between refusing to participate in injustice and doing something, anything, to save their client's life. "Often, the only path left is for the accused themselves to express remorse, seek forgiveness, or act in whatever way they think may help." But Masouri warned even if inmates decide to "confess" to fabricated charges, it does not put them in the clear. "The accused's family is summoned and threatened: if your loved one does not repent, if they do not write a confession, if they do not seek a pardon - then execution is inevitable, and nothing can stop it," he said. "If the execution happens, the blame lies with them—and with you. "Thus, when families and lawyers are left with no means of defense, they may blame themselves, one another, or even the defendant. 5 5 "The government and judiciary, meanwhile, are absolved of any responsibility. It comes amid a staggering rise in executions - which sources told The Sun came as the eyes of the world were on Iran's nuclear talks with the US rather than its human rights record. More than 1,100 state executions have taken place Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei 's stooge came to power. According to figures from the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), that marks more than a 20 per cent increase compared to 2023, when the regime executed 853 Iranians. Hossein Abedini, deputy director of the NCRI offices in the UK, said paranoid rules were hellbent on stamping out repression. He told The Sun: "Executions under the clerical regime contravene all internationally recognised standards and norms of due process and are fundamentally used as a political instrument of repression. "Faced with deep-rooted crises stemming from illegitimacy, corruption, and incompetence, and driven by fear of popular uprisings and nationwide protests, this regime has resorted to increasing executions. "It employs inhumane pressures on political prisoners, torturing and harassing them and their families. "As a result, the rate of executions in Iran is rising at an unprecedented level in recent decades, with death sentences issued even for political prisoners arrested during the September 2022 uprising." Iran ramps up executions by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital) PARANOID Iranian leaders are hellbent on ramping up repression on home turf in a dramatic bid to stamp out rebellion, insiders say. It comes as Iran's regime has been left red-faced by the downfall of Syria 's dictatorship as well as severe defeats of its terror proxies. Executions are said to be taking place every couple of hours as Iran slaughters its people in "unprecedented numbers". Iran has one of the most horrific human rights records in the world, and according to campaigners also holds the harrowing title for the highest execution rate. The Sun previously revealed how dozens of people had been sentenced to death by stoning just for adultery. Harrowing records leaked from Iran's torturous prisons also showed how thousands were holed up on death row for petty crimes. In 2024, the Iranian regime ramped up the executions of its own people - including women, children and political prisoners. Official records show that the number of executions last year reached 1,000 - the highest number in 30 years and 16 percent higher than the previous. Of those on record, 34 were women and seven were under 18 at the time of their so-called crimes. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) fears the true toll is much higher as many of the deaths are kept secret, however. Most of the surging executions are by hanging, but there is also evidence of other medieval torture punishments including public flogging, limb-removal and eye-gouging.
