Syria's main opposition coalition issued on Wednesday a call for
the prompt release of the Lebanese pilgrims in Aleppo, accusing the Syrian
regime of being involved in the kidnapping.
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 Lebanon, the group said.
But Lebanese women pilgrims who arrived in Beirut early on
Wednesday said the kidnappers presented themselves as belonging to the Free
Syrian Army. "They terrorized us," said one of them.
The FSA, which wants to overthrow President Bashar Assad's regime,
strongly denied abducting the Lebanese pilgrims.
"The FSA is not at all responsible for the operation,"
Mustafa al-Sheikh, a high-ranking FSA officer, told Agence France Presse by
telephone from Istanbul.
"This is an attempt to distort the image of the FSA. The FSA
does not believe in this methodology," said Sheikh, the head of the
group's military council.
Sheikh said the Syrian regime "treats the FSA as a scapegoat.
We condemn this abduction, which does not represent the values of the (Syrian)
revolution."
The kidnapping "is no doubt the work of the regime, which
wants to sow chaos in the region," Sheikh added.
The abductions of the pilgrims -- news reports put their number at
between 11 and 13 -- were feared to further fuel sectarian tensions in Lebanon
over the revolt in neighboring Syria.
They were kidnapped as they headed home to Lebanon from a
pilgrimage in Iran and the news prompted their families and thousands of
supporters to pour out into the streets of Beirut's mainly Shiite southern
suburbs to demand their release.
The case has triggered fears of sectarian tensions in Lebanon over
the revolt in neighboring Syria.
The news prompted their families and thousands of supporters to
pour out into the streets of Beirut's mainly Shiite southern suburbs on Tuesday
night to demand their release.
Protesters blocked several roads, including the old airport road,
with burning tires and garbage bins.
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http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/41131
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