FNA: Al-jazeera report on syria fabricated

A report by the Arab Al-Jazeera TV network about the slaughtering of 20 families who had returned from Turkey to Syria proved to be fabricated and fake after the main witness in the report confessed that he have been paid for his anti-government remarks.In its report, the Al-Jazeera network quoted remarks by a Syrian eyewitness to prove the claim that the Syrian army had killed 20 families who returned home from Jisr al-Shughour refugee camp in Turkey to raise international sensitivity to the human rights situation in Syria. But in an interview with FNA on Tuesday , the Syrian eyewitness, a blind poor man, said he was paid for his remarks. Abu Heitham Qasqos, who was quoted by Al-Jazeera as an eyewitness, said that the network offered him $200 and a meal and asked him to say what they wanted him to say. "I did not know what to do. I was hungry and spoke against my country for a portion of gorgeous meal. But I find out now that was a mistake, and I announce here and now and very frankly that Al-Jazeera is just a liar," the blind man said. "Whatever it (Al-Jazeera) says about Syria and its developments is nothing but lies," Abu Heitham told FNA. After a series of unrests in Syria, about 3,000 Syrian nationals fled to the North-Western town of Jisr al-Shugour but they returned home shortly after Damascus confronted armed groups behind unrests in the country. Syria experienced unrest for several months with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country. The government blamed outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest was orchestrated from abroad. Last month, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Bashar al-Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but the US and Israeli plots could spark some new unrests in certain parts of the country.