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Free Syrian Army Says Working to Locate Abducted Lebanese
[An Nahar] The rebel Free Syrian Army said on Thursday it is making "every effort" to locate and release a group of Lebanese Shiite pilgrims kidnapped in Syria's northern province of Aleppo...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... "The leadership is making every effort to find out where the abductees are, and to make sure they are freed," FSA official front man Colonel Qassem Saadeddine said in a statement. Saadeddine reiterated that the FSA had no involvement in this week's kidnappings, condemning "all kidnapping operations, regardless of their nationality or religious belief or sect." At the same time, he complained over the treatment of Syrian refugees and anti-regime figures in Leb. "Revolutionary Syrians in Leb have faced persecution, kidnap and murder," he charged. "We will no longer be silent on any action carried out by any Lebanese parties affecting Syrians in Leb." The FSA front man urged "the Lebanese state to take full responsibility in hosting and protecting Syrian refugees in Leb." Leb's state news agency on Tuesday reported that the FSA had kidnapped a group of Shiites in Aleppo on a bus returning via Iraq and Syria from a pilgrimage to holy sites in Iran. Syria's main opposition coalition has called for the prompt release of the group, blaming Assad's regime for a "security vacuum" in the unrest-swept country. The Syrian National Council "does not think it is impossible that the regime is involved in this operation," in order to sow "disorder" in neighboring Leb, the group said. News of the kidnappings prompted their families and thousands of supporters to pour out onto the streets of Beirut's mainly Shiite southern suburbs on Tuesday night to demand their release. Posted by: Fred 2012-05-25 |
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