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By Maher Zeineddine
ALEY, Lebanon: A sit-in was held
Tuesday in Aley to protest the disappearance of an 88-year-old Syrian
dissident believed to have been abducted in May 2011.
The family of former Syrian Vice
President Shibli Aisamy, along with politicians and civil society figures
from Aley, blocked the international highway at Aley’s roundabout in
protest at the alleged 10-month kidnapping of Aisamy, as part of a series
of moves to escalate their campaign for his release from Syrian prison.
Those participating in the
sit-in included MP Akram Shehayeb, officials in the Progressive Socialist
Party, a number of mayors and mukhtars, and residents in the area.
Aisamy’s daughter, Rajaa
Sharafeddine, spoke at the protest, saying: “Our pain for our people and
brothers in Syria has exceeded my pain and sadness for my father. Our
stance comes after the passage of nine months over the kidnapping of the
eldest of detainees in Syrian prisons, and after we exhausted all
diplomatic efforts.”
Shehayeb also called for the
release of Aisamy. He said the protest was part of a movement with brothers
in Syria in which all of Damascus’s coordination committees had called for
a day of solidarity with Aisamy.
“We stand here for 10 minutes to
stress that we will not abandon our detainees. We will continue to call for
the release of Aisamy, who has always fought for the Arab cause and Arab causes,”
Shehayeb said.
Shehayeb said a defected Syrian
intelligence officer, Hussam Iwak, had stated that Aisamy was in the
custody of the Palestine Branch, a Syrian intelligence body.
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