October 19, 2009 - The Daily Star - Lebanon Baroud praises ISF after abducted Saudi girl freed

BEIRUT: Interior and Municipalities Minister Ziyad Baroud announced on Friday the release of a kidnapped Saudi girl and the arrest of her abductors, including her mother. Baroud was speaking at a news conference attended by recently freed Assil al-Ayoubi and her father Abdullah Yehya bin Abdel-Aziz al-Ayoubi, as well as the head of the Internal Security Forces (ISF), General Ashraf Rifi, and head of the judicial police Anwar Yehya.
“We often hear of crimes being committed but we rarely focus on when they are solved,” Baroud said.

Arabic newspaper An-Nahar reported on Saturday that the girl had been in her mother’s custody, who after a dispute with Ayoubi’s father, flew her daughter to Lebanon and agreed with a Syrian national living in the country to kidnap her and demand ransom money. Assil’s father contacted the Lebanese authorities after her disappearance on September 17. The two were reunited after her release on Friday. Both the Syrian and her mother have been arrested.

Baroud told reporters that ISF officials were performing their duties in spite of considerable pressure and a shortage of sophisticated equipment. He said he regretted that the successes of the ISF were not being highlighted often enough, citing as an example the rescuing of kidnapped boy Amin al-Khansa in April this year.

Baroud said he also hoped the kidnapping of Middle East Airlines employee Joseph Sader would also be solved. Sader was abducted on February 12 as he arrived for work at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport, allegedly by three unidentified assailants who forced him into a sport utility vehicle. Little information about the case has emerged since then.

During Friday’s news conference, Baroud also praised the security measures being implemented by the ISF, saying the force was there to protect the Lebanese people.

“We want people to see that the ISF is for everyone and not just a certain group,” he said.

Baroud also discussed the recently enforced ban on motorcycles, saying that people were starting to feel the change in the behavior of motorcycle drivers. The ban was being enforced in all areas and applied to everyone, even ISF personnel, Baroud said.

“This decision covers all Lebanese areas. The southern suburbs of Beirut are part of Lebanon and the decision is being enforced there with the full collaboration of those concerned,” he said, referring to the Hizbullah stronghold.

Baroud issued a decree Thursday banning the use of motorcycles between 6:30 p.m. and 5 a.m., though caterers, pharmacists and journalists are exempted. The ban came into force on Thursday and comes in the wake of a clash in Ain al-Remmenah last week involving young men on motorbikes that left one man dead and four others with knife wounds.

“Those wishing to obtain a permit to use their motorcycle after 6:30 p.m. should head to Liban Post offices where a free permit will be given to them after a few days,” Baroud said.

The minister then tackled a number of security measures and achievements, and announced that security patrols were being deployed throughout Lebanon to curb the number of car thefts, which have soared in recent months.

“The decision to fight car theft is final and we are enforcing it,” he said.