Aleppo , Syria ( CNN ) -- With the precision of a master chef , Sheik Omar adjusts the intensity of the flame under his pan . He mixes table sugar with a noxious chemical , letting it hiss and crackle . `` It 's almost ready , '' he says , as the syrupy liquid darkens . Sheik Omar keeps his face hidden . Bomb makers always work in secret . He looks at us and his eyes are friendly and calm . Our crew is unafraid . He 's clearly been at this for many years . He has all his fingers . A Syrian , he grew up existing with death and violence and a government that made people live in fear . So would n't a young man naturally fascinated with putting things together end up constructing weapons for a living ? While he works in the kitchen of his family home in Aleppo Province , Sheik Omar tells us that he 's a man of peace . Read more : What will 'recognizing ' the opposition accomplish ? He believes he does n't have a choice but to make bombs . Foreign countries are n't helping the rebels enough to overtake the heavily armed forces that President Bashar al-Assad commands . The rebels need all the help they can get . Those men across the country , he says , have abandoned their regular lives teaching or selling clothes or being lawyers to come together and fight to get rid of that man . It 's been nearly two years . They 've lost their lives and families . At least 40,000 Syrians have died . Someone with his skills should do what he can . Sheik Omar shouts out the window to his kids playing in the yard . Bring your father more sugar , please ! The kids bounce into the house , helping him , handing him ingredients . There are half-made bombs and rockets around the house . His wife is in another room . She is n't talking to us , which is n't strange . This is his interview , and she 's showing deference . Sheik Omar tells us as he cooks that he used to work with an assistant . That was years ago when he was less experienced . There was an explosion , and the assistant died . Better to work alone , he says . Besides , he does n't make much money at all doing this . He does this because he believes he has a purpose , and he 's good at it . Sheik Omar tells us he trained in Libya in weapons making and fought alongside the Palestinians against the Israelis in the 1980s . He 's always believed that Israel is the oppressor , and no matter what , the Palestinians have a right to their land . In his time as a soldier for the Palestinian cause , the Israelis caught him twice and detained him . What do you imagine happens to a man in that circumstance ? But that was nothing , compared to what al-Assad is doing , he huffs . The Israelis , they had more mercy , Sheik Omar insists . Read more : U.S. branding of al-Nusra as terrorists may backfire . Human rights workers , journalists and Syrians fighting to oust the longtime president claim al-Assad has established torture centers around the country , chaining prisoners by their wrists for days , beating them and inflicting unspeakable pain . There have been reports of children being shot by regime snipers , stories of al-Assad 's forces going door to door and murdering whole families . Al-Assad has claimed for these many months of violence that `` terrorists '' are attacking Syria , and the country has a right to defend itself . Sheik Omar shows us one of his latest creations . It 's a sleek rocket that stands about three feet off the ground . The thing looks sophisticated . It 's hard to tell he 's cobbled it together from bits and pieces of unexploded ordinances fired by al-Assad 's forces . Sheik Omar gingerly holds the rocket . `` From here to here , for example , '' he says , tracing his fingers along its body , `` It 's our adjustment , as are the fins . '' It 's a crude device , like many of the ones he makes . Sometimes he would construct something and it would , mid-flight , turn around and shoot back at him . But these are the hazards he 's willing to deal with . Sheik Omar uses the word democracy . Syria could be democratic , he believes . First the al-Assad regime must go . But that wo n't be the end . There will be a revolution after this one . There will be more bloodshed . Revolution begets revolution , he insists . It will take several cycles of violence before Syria can hope for peace . What other choice do people like him have ? he asks . How else to get rid of the extremists ? U.N. envoy : Political solution to Syria crisis 'still possible ' CNN 's Arwa Damon reported from Syria . CNN 's Ashley Fantz wrote this story in Atlanta .
With help from his kids , Sheik Omar makes bombs in his kitchen for Syrian opposition . He grew up in Syria and was , from a young age , fascinated with weapon construction . He insists that he 's a man of peace , and his bombs are killing the right people .