Sad news from Aleppo
The horses of Mustafa Jabri, located in rebel-held areas, were stolen and sold to Turkey, and so were the horses of Fouad al-Attar and other breeders. Half of the horses of Radwan Shabareq have died, not from starvation (plenty of grass there) but from inhaling strange and suspicious gases. The other are sick. Their caregivers has to endure countless ordeals to prevent the remaining horses from being stolen or confiscated. Sigh.
Oh, tears! I have been holding my breath, knowing something like this was coming!
I know people are doing their best to locate the stolen ones… Please give Radwan our sincerest sympathy. May he and the other breeders stay safe themselves!
The situation there is beyond horrible, and the area where Radwan’s horses are kept, to the east of Aleppo, is now controlled by small militias, splinter rebel brigades and local war-lords. The cost of shipping water tanks has soared, but there is plenty of grass right now.
Their caregiver (Zakkur, a Jubur Bedouin) is still resisting attempts by these militias to steal or confiscate the horses, but it is not clear how long he will be able to do so.
They came a first time and asked for certificates of ownership of the horses, and Radwan had to send someone to Damascus across front-lines to get copies of original records at the Ministry of Agriculture to show them.
Another group came a second time, were shown the certificates, and said that they didn’t recognize the government or any papers issued by it. They asked for several witnesses to swear that the horses were his (per Islamic law), which is what happened. They left, but said they were coming back to take the horses.
Of the twelve original Kuhaylat al-Wati horses he owned jointly with the Ghishm clan of the Shammar, including four mares, only one mare is left, three fillies, a stallion and a colt.
I am going to help him get these Asil horses out of there. I am not giving up. It will happen. It just will.
It is very sad to loose these Asil horses. I pray that Mustafa Jabri can get back his horses.
je suis effarée et je croise tous les doigts pour les hommes et les
chevaux.
This is so tragic. Words cannot express my deepest sorrow for these horses and their owners who were once our generous hosts. The anger of war so often tears deep wounds into the very soul of heritage.
One of the many prices for the Kurdian oilpipe to the Mediteranean …
Terrible things happen in Syria, both to men and animal, and no hope for peace at the moment. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims. May God turn the course of history in the Middle East.
This is heartbreaking news.
I can’t begin to imagine what so many of the fine and generous people I met in Syria are going through, and to add this loss on top of so much else…
This is all just so ugly. I so hope you can get the rest of the horses out of there.
My heart is aching for Syria. This news, like so much else coming out of that country makes me feel physically sick, it is just tragic beyond words.
I have the deepest affection for the people of Syria and can hardly bear to here the news each day. The chief executive of SPANA, a British equine charity who have worked in Syria for many years told me today that they have had to cease operating there now, at first the vet there battled on and was still able to offer a service but now things have gone too far.
We are trying to help a friend get out, but other than that feel utterly helpless.
One of the most horrible aspects for me is to think of all the lovely, truly wonderful people who helped and befriended us while we were there…Alawites, Sunni,Shia,Christian… are now potentially in bitter deadly conflict with each other, yet all and I honestly do mean that, ALL the people we met were just wonderfully kind.
I haven’t read this great blog for a while … last time I did a post about Syria made my heart break and here I am crying again… but bless you Edouard if you are able to do anything positive to preserve the living heritage for the day that peace returns to this lovely country.