One son in Syrian jail, one hiding, father flees to Turkey | Reuters

One son in Syrian jail, one hiding, father flees to Turkey | Reuters
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With one teenage son in a Syrian jail and another in hiding, 45-year-old jeweler Abu Mohammad knew President Bashar al-Assad's secret police were on his tail, so two weeks ago he said goodbye to his wife, shut his shop, and fled to Turkey.

Mohammad is just one of thousands of Syrians who have escaped across the border since the start of a bloody crackdown on anti-government protests by Assad seven months ago, and his story is not unique.

"I came because they started looking for me," Mohammad said, referring to Assad's security forces.

"There are no young men left in Syria, they are either in prison or have fled to other countries. Only the women and the elderly are left in the villages."

Since he left his home in Latakia on Syria's northern coast near the Turkish border, Mohammad has not spoken to his wife, he says, because the telephone lines have been tapped. His 13-year-old son is in hiding somewhere in Syria.

Mohammad said he had no choice but to escape after security forces arrested his other 16-year-old son during an anti-government protest, and tortured him.

"They took my child, and I have only been allowed to visit him once. His face was unrecognizable because of the torture they have inflicted on him. I was forced to flee to Turkey," Mohammad said. [ read more at link ]