A SYRIAN man living in Brentwood has spoken of his sadness and anger at the decline of his country into civil war, laying the blame firmly on the ruling regime.
Paul Sabbagh, of Brentwood, has returned to his homeland many times since coming to Britain 30 years ago.
On his most recent trip, the Aleppo-born businessman found a divided city, torn apart by shells and fighting.
Mr Sabbagh said: "It is sad, yes, to see my country and my home plunged into war. Half of Aleppo is rebel-held and you risk your life to enter there.
"There could be a shelling at any minute and snipers hide on the streets all over the city. It could be anyone, a regime sniper, a rebel sniper, it could even be a sadist.
"In every war you get people who just enjoy the killing, Syria is no exception. There are sadist snipers who shoot anyone dead for no political reasons at all.
"The regime made the decision early on to try to beat the rebels with force, but it was already too late.
"The majority of Syrian people support the rebels – the regime is not democratic. It pretends to be, but it is an oppressive regime. It has long used force against its own people and that is not right; it has made people angry."
The Christian, who is part of the minority in the predominantly Islamic state, made it clear that there was only one way President Bashar Al-Assad would fall.
"He will not run, he will not surrender and he will not make peace. The only way his regime falls is when he dies and his son can't take the presidency," he said.
"It is like a royal family but with real power, his father was in power before him and he will only stand down to hand it over to his son. At the moment, his son is far too young to take power."
Regarding the recent use of chemical weapons, Mr Sabbagh was in no doubt who was responsible: "There is only one person who decides if they use the chemical weapons, Assad decides if they use them.
"The attack in Damascus came just days after the assassination attempt on his life. It was a fight back against the rebels.
"It was saying to the rebels 'get out of Damascus'. The city is the centre of the regime and all the main government buildings and institutions are there.
"The rebels want what everyone wants – they want a real democracy. I know that when there is one, which won't be for many years, an Islamic party will win.
"I am not happy with this, but it is what the people want, which is how democracy works. People should be allowed to choose their government in free elections."
Mr Sabbagh, a father of two British-born children, believes that, as in Libya, military intervention will help in Syria.
He said: "The regime has the chemical weapons – it drops these from planes and helicopters. The rebels don't have the planes and helicopters.
"A no-fly zone, where they shoot down the planes, will help the rebels. It will stop them being shelled in their homes. It would stop Syrians being shelled in their homes.
"It isn't right, it is wrong, it makes me angry that Assad uses weapons on citizens. In a war, you kill people on the other side. He isn't just doing this, he is killing the citizens. As a Syrian this makes me sad."
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