Activists claim that dozens were killed in the Syrian city of Homs yesterday. It's a battle that shows no sign of abating - certainly not if the rebel group the Free Syrian Army get the weapons that they're looking for. Yaara Bou Melhem has been covering the rise of the Syrian opposition since last year. In recent weeks, she has gained extraordinary access as they gather the funds to buy the weapons they need - all under the leadership of a former human-rights lawyer. Lawyers, guns and money - all in her fly-on-the-wall report.
REPORTER: Yaara Bou Melhem
Cairo's Tahrir Square is again echoing with freedom's call. This time, for Syria. Just across the city, a building which is a hub of Syrian opposition activity in Cairo. I've come to meet Haitham Al Maleh, a leading opposition figure now in exile. He's someone that Syrian leader Bashar Al Assad probably wishes he had never let out of prison. The building is a work in progress, much like the opposition's plans to oust the Assad regime. Al Maleh tours the world lobbying for action on Syria.
HAITHAM AL MALEH, FREE SYRIAN ARMY COMMITTEE: Their business cards. People’s business cards.
REPORTER: They’re all the people you’ve met on this trip or in Cairo in general?
HAITHAM AL MALEH: In general, visitors. I'm preparing myself to be the new president of Syria. Do you think I will be? Or not?
The 81-year-old was Syria's first human-rights lawyer.
HAITHAM AL MALEH: I feel pain inside myself when I see the women and children killed by this - by the army of the Syrian regime, or by intelligence service. Sometimes I cry - myself, I cannot see the picture on the TV sometimes because it is so hard. For that, I ask God to protect me.
Driving past the Adra Prison, just outside Damascus - I first reported on Haitham Al Maleh just weeks before the uprising in Syria began. He was jailed for a third time by the Assad government over his comments in a media interview. In these rare images in the interior of the Syrian military court, the 80-year-old is under heavy guard. Al Maleh is granted a few moments to comfort his wife. It's their last embrace before he's yet again sent behind bars. Since being released last May, Haitham savers his freedom, but his opposition to the regime in Damascus comes with a heavy price.
HAITHAM AL MALEH: I fear that I'm in dangerous situation. But I don't care for that. The Syrian regime sends some hunting people to kill the opposition. Not only in Cairo - everywhere. I am number one in that killing bill.
REPORTER: You're on a hit list?
HAITHAM AL MALEH: Yeah.
His office is downstairs, where the meetings, phone calls and media interviews never stop. He's just announced his resignation from the Syrian National Council, the main political opposition group, saying they're undemocratic.
HAITHAM AL MALEH: They do not want to work as, really, a democracy situation. They want to keep everything for themselves. So I found myself must leave.
And now, he's created his own group - its sole purpose to arm the rebel Free Syrian Army.
HAITHAM AL MALEH: And in the end, to finish the Syrian regime.
And he wants to raise $1 million.
REPORTER: Why do you need $1 million?
HAITHAM AL MALEH: I want to buy weapons to send to Syria.
REPORTER: Where do you think you're going to get $1 million from?
HAITHAM AL MALEH: From some Syrian people.
REPORTER: Where do you buy the weapons from when you get these donations?
HAITHAM AL MALEH: This is not good question from media, because it's secret. I get weapons from everywhere. I have several sources - One of the sources inside Syria, from regime - from the army.
Al Maleh has already been funding some of the rebel fighters, and they've sent him this thankyou from the front.
REPORTER: You're a lawyer.
HAITHAM AL MALEH: Yes.
REPORTER: A human-rights lawyer. But now you're arming the revolutionaries.
HAITHAM AL MALEH: The time is changed. I'm a lawyer in Damascus, in Syria. Now I'm out. Now I'm asking for support in the revolution. Now only the way to finish the regime in Syria is to support the free army.
Getting money is one thing, but using it to buy guns is another. Haitham's German bank won't release his funds to Egypt. He's making a trip to his local bank to sort the matter out.
HAITHAM AL MALEH: They refuse to do it because the Syrian problem - they want to know what I will do with this money. I have no political way to finish this problem in Syria, and the only way to finish this regime is by force, to fight.
REPORTER: How did it go inside? How did it go?
HAITHAM AL MALEH: It's good! Yeah.
REPORTER: Are you getting your money back?
HAITHAM AL MALEH: No. I will send a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Germany to give me back my account. So this is the game now.
But there are no money problems at this gathering - a fundraiser on the anniversary of the Syrian uprising. When the distinguished guest takes the stage, he lashes out at the ruling Assad family in Damascus by describing a conversation with a government minister.
HAITHAM AL MALEH (Translation): This regime has mastered the art of lies and deception. He asked me when Bashar Assad came to power “What do you think of Bashar Assad?” I said “Does a snake beget anything but a snake?” How can Bashar Assad be different to his father?
CROWD (Translation): The people want to support the Free Army.
And then, the money begins to flow.
HAITHAM AL MALEH: Assad and his family - they will face the same end of Gaddafi, because the blood invites blood.
REPORTER: What do you want?
HAITHAM AL MALEH: For myself, I want to arrest them all, put them in jail and start investigating them.
Back in the office, these men have turned up, saying they represent a rebel group and want funding. But in this murky world of arms dealing and spies, Haitham must tread very carefully. This is Zuhair Siddiqui, a man who gave false testimony accusing Syria of killing the late Lebanese prime minister, Rafiq Hariri. The killers are still at large, despite an international investigation. Haitham is immediately suspicious. The meeting is going badly, and Siddiqui starts getting edgy about my camera. The talk turns to Haitham's network that supplies the rebel Syrian fighters.
MAN (Translation): How can we become part of the equation?
HAITHAM AL MALEH (Translation): With time, once I can distinguish truth from lies. Sorry, but I don’t know you and the brother, sorry, but his reputation precedes him. I know you lie.
ZUHAIR SIDDIQUI (Translation): About what? Here is my ID. It’s seven years sine I showed it to a camera. It’s alright. Will I blacken your reputation? Why am I untruthful? Who assassinated Hariri?
HAITHAM AL MALEH (Translation): I don’t know.
ZUHAIR SIDDIQUI (Translation): Come on let’s go. I’ll make you laugh, I’m threatening you in front of everyone.
HAITHAM AL MALEH (Translation): Threatening me?
ZUHAIR SIDDIQUI (Translation): Yes. I promise you’ll hear from me Haitham Maleh! I’m Zuhair Siddiqui, you’ll hear something you have never heard before!
Al Maleh is taking a break in his apartment. With reports of abuses committed by rebel forces, and after what's happened downstairs, I'm keen to know how he decides who can be trusted with his money.
HAITHAM AL MALEH: I know from the people who connect inside Syria.
REPORTER: It's quite hard to define who the Free Syrian Army is. Is there some sort of order, some sort of hierarchy?
HAITHAM AL MALEH: No connection between all, because there's several groups inside Syria. We are trying to create one union - Syrian free army.
Later, he receives more visitors seeking money - rebel envoys have arrived from the battered city of Homs. They're discussing how to smuggle weapons into the country. Al Maleh has never met them before, and it's not until late that evening that enough checks have been made to sit down and talk specifics. I'm allowed to film as long as I don't show the face of the envoy. It's a rare insight into the Syrian uprising. After the greetings, the talk turns to weapons.
ENVOY (Translation): All the guys in Homs send you their regards. They have all types of weapons. He said if you want men, we’ll send you and he can deliver to us at any border point. The operation we are planning needs one million dollars, it will be a big operation that might bring down the regime.
They discuss how they'll run the country if the uprising succeeds.
ENVOY (Translation): We ask that the city councils be formed with a national council emerging from them within Syria exclusively and from that, a transitional government headed by Mr Haitham Maleh.
HAITHAM AL MALEH (Translation): How will they form it that is the question, is it possible?
ENVOY (Translation): It is.
HAITHAM AL MALEH (Translation): If they could actually form city councils that would control the action domestically. I am very concerned that we avoid lawlessness, lawlessness scares me a lot.
It's now very late, but the night isn't over for Haitham. He's ducking away for a TV interview.
REPORTER: How does it feel to always be on the run?
HAITHAM AL MALEH: What can I do?
This time, he's appearing in a special Al Jazeera discussion. He knows that, as well as funding the rebels, it's critical to keep publicising their cause.
HAITHAM AL MALEH (Translation): The regime stops at nothing. It’s not deterred by religion, by ethics or by law. It is a regime that is out of control. I’ve always said that Syria acts with no regard to the law, and I mean what I say. It’s an out-of-control regime, criminal one.
We have reached the early hours of the morning, and the strain of the last few days is beginning to show.
HAITHAM AL MALEH (Translation): The old man keeps on working, never stops. I went to bed at 1am. 1am. I couldn’t get up. I’m tired.
But the next day, Haitham has mustered the energy to continue his campaign. He's off to Germany, Poland and Vienna, with an equally hectic schedule.
REPORTER: You're not tired of this? This has been almost like a lifelong mission for you.
HAITHAM AL MALEH: No, no, I don't get tired, because I want to finish my job. I want to finish this regime. After that, I will retire.
MARK DAVIS: It's amazing they let her film some of those scenes, but I'm glad they did. Yaara Bou Melhem with the 81-year-old would-be president. She has written a blog for our website, and a photo montage of some of the most memorable images from the past year in Syria.
Reporter/Camera
YAARA BOU MELHEM
Producer
GEOFF PARISH
Editors
NICK O’BRIEN
MICAH MCGOWN
Translations/Subtitling
JOSEPH ABDO
DALIA MATAR
Original Music composed by VICKI HANSEN
27th March 2012