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Syria jihadists accused of 'execution' war crimes

Syria jihadists accused of 'execution' war crimes

Damascus (AFP) - Jihadist fighters were accused Friday of war crimes over the killing of 190 civilians from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite minority, in the largest atrocity attributed to rebels.

Meanwhile, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) tasked with eliminating the banned arms in Syria won this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on the killings of Alawite villagers said another 200 people -- the vast majority women and children -- were taken hostage in the rebel operations in August.

The report, which urged an arms embargo on groups suspected of war crimes or crimes against humanity, said at least 67 people were "executed or unlawfully killed".

It comes as NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he sees no military solution to the 31-month conflict which has killed more than 115,000 people.

HRW said the killings began on August 4, the first day of the Eid Al-Fitr holiday ending the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, in villages in Latakia province, a stronghold of the Alawites whose faith is an offshoot of Shia Islam.

"These abuses were not the actions of rogue fighters," said HRW's Joe Stork. "This operation was a coordinated, planned attack on the civilian population."

The 105-page report, based on interviews with 35 survivors, emergency personnel and fighters on both sides, said at least 20 groups were involved, but that five "are responsible for specific incidents that amount to war crimes".

It named them as Ahrar al-Sham, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Al-Nusra Front, Jaish al-Muhajireen Wal-Ansar and Suqur al-Ezz.

HRW said that, in some cases, opposition fighters who are mostly Sunni Muslims executed or gunned down entire families, or killed the elderly or infirm who had been left behind by those who fled.

It also said "some of the opposition atrocities... had clear sectarian motivation".

In one village, it said fighters intentionally damaged an Alawite maqam, a site where a religious figure is buried, and "appear to have intentionally damaged and dug up the grave".

It said they had also abducted and executed the area's Alawite religious leader, quoting Al-Nusra as saying he had been executed because he supported the regime.

'Chemical watchdog wins Nobel prize'

OPCW wins Nobel prize

HRW quoted opposition forces, including an officer involved in negotiations, as saying ISIL and Jaish al-Muhajireen Wal-Ansar were still holding 200 hostages, mostly women and children.

It called for them to be treated humanely and released immediately.

"We have documented abuses by opposition forces before, but never on this scale," HRW researcher Lama Fakih told AFP.

"Violators on all sides should be sent a message by the UN Security Council" which should refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.

The opposition National Coalition expressed "deep concern" about the reported atrocity and distanced itself from those responsible.

"The incident reported by HRW in today's report does not represent an effort by the true Syrian opposition, but rather a shameful one-time attack by outlier extremist groups that thrive under the hand of the Assad regime," a statement said.

In Athens, NATO's Rasmussen "there is no military solution to the conflict in Syria", emphasising a political solution was required.

On the ground, a second team of OPCW inspectors arrived in Damascus to help supervise the destruction of Syria's chemical arsenal under the terms of a UN resolution.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon paid tribute to the winners of this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

"This recognition occurs nearly 100 years after the first chemical attack -- and 50 days after the appalling use of chemical weapons in Syria. Far from being a relic of the past, chemical weapons remain a clear and present danger," he said.

The United Nations and the chemical weapons watchdog have now doubled to 60 the number of experts and support staff on the ground, a UN statement said.

The team "has made good progress in verifying the information submitted" by the Syrian government and inspected three sites in its first 10 days of operations.

"It has also overseen the destruction by Syria of some of its munitions stockpile, as well as some of its chemical weapons production equipment."

The Security Council in a letter to Ban on Friday formally approved the establishment of the joint OPCW-UN mission.

In fighting Friday, Syrian soldiers backed by the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah recaptured two localities in the southern suburbs of Damascus close to the Shiite holy shrine of Sayyeda Zeinab, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.