Tableau of male alleged casualties

A tableau of male alleged victims is presented from 03:02 to 03:19 in the BBC News report of 29 August 2013 (see above) and in re-edited form from 34:19 to 34:36 in Saving Syria’s Children (You Tube clip of this here).

The full sequence (see below) begins with the central figure (Mohammed Asi) and the boy in the white shirt (second from right) staring directly into the camera. At this point the group is static and quiet: the boy in the black vest (far right) is slumped against the wall; the boy in the red top (Anas Said Ali) is lying flat on his back on the floor.

Asi looks away from the camera, raises his left arm in the direction of the others, lowers it and then turns to look directly into the camera once more for several moments before raising his arm a second time and making a distinctive “V” finger gesture, at which point the group begins to writhe and groan loudly in unison. (This can be heard in the 29 August 2013 BBC News report, from 03:02).

Drooling, Asi then appears to swoon and proceeds to stagger and lurch. The boy in the black vest suddenly pitches over onto his side, rising up again some moments later and peering into the camera before slumping onto his front as if lifeless.

The boy in the white shirt rises effortlessly to his feet, loosely clutching his chest then switching to nurse his right elbow before reaching for a chair, pulling it towards himself and taking a seat. The BBC has conceded that this boy “appears relatively unscathed”.

Said Ali, in the red top, raises his head and peers quizzically around at his comrades before craning his neck to see past Asi in order to look into the camera.

As the camera pulls back a boy in a yellow ‘Super 9′ t-shirt (Lutfi Arsi) rises from an odd sprawling position and begins flailing his head and torso and rolling his eyes as a team of medics sweeps in. The medic to the right of screen immediately begins attending to Said Ali’s foot without examining it while Asi, apparently distracted from his distress, looms over and gazes at the procedure.

All the young men in the “tableau” scene appear preoccupied with the camera, most strikingly at this point. (Note too the position of the curtain, pulled back behind the window, facilitating good lighting conditions; in a scene filmed some days earlier the curtain hangs down straight in front of the window).

Below are composites of the full sequence, combining footage from the 29 August 2013 BBC News report and ‘Saving Syria’s Children’ (firstly slideshow, then thumbnails followed by larger images).

Mohammed Asi, Anas Said Ali and the boy in the black vest are filmed arriving at Atareb Hospital with another boy who can plainly be seen grinning into the camera.

In respect of all the alleged victims featured in ‘Saving Syria’s Children’, please note the existence and sophistication of HOSPEX “macro simulation” techniques and the personal connection which exists between Dr Saleyha Ahsan and an army officer in charge of running HOSPEX exercises.

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