Hes practically a one man band, but Rami Abdurrahmans influence extends far beyond his modest home in this small English city. The bald, bespectacled 42-year-old operates the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights from his house in the cathedral city of Coventry — and a review of recent media coverage suggests its running tally of killings and clashes is the most frequently cited individual source of information on Syrias civil war for the worlds leading news organizations. Hes just everywhere, said Joshua Landis, the director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Hes the go-to guy for figures. ... I cant think of anybody who comes close. Abdurrahman, who says he makes his living from a local clothing shop, says the Observatory relies on four unnamed activists in Syria and a wider network of monitors across the country to document and verify clashes and killings. But as the Observatory has increasingly found itself at the center of Western reporting on Syrias civil, some say his figures — and his sources — need more scrutiny. Opponents say Abdurrahman is in cahoots with the opposition forces bankrolled by Gulf Arab states, skewing casualty figures to keep the spotlight off rebel atrocities. Others contend that Abdurrahman is in league with the Syrian regime. They accuse him of overplaying incidents of sectarian violence to blacken the reputation of those trying to topple President Bashar Assad.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 22:47:02 +0000
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