ABBOUDIEH, Lebanon: The border village of Abboudieh, where
Sunnis and Alawites live side by side, has been largely untainted by sectarian
strife.
So it came as a surprise to residents when two of the village’s
farmers, Sunni Mohammad Merhebi and Alawite Mahdi Hamdan, were kidnapped
Wednesday while working their land. Merhebi and Hamdan were whisked away into
Syria, and the reasons for their abduction are unclear.
Residents of Abboudieh and a nearby border village, Arida,
blocked the highway that links Akkar to Tripoli with burning tires Wednesday
night, and family members began protesting at the border crossings of Abboudieh
and Arida.
Through the intervention of influential locals and political
figures, protesters were persuaded to reopen the highway, but tent sit-ins and
mounds of sand are still blocking the two border crossings.
Sitting in one of the tents pitched by protesters, Akkar MP
Mouin Merhebi told The Daily Star the sit-ins would continue and escalate until
Merhebi, Hamdan and two other local men abducted several months ago return.
“We have already called for the Lebanese Army to be deployed to
the border, and this has not been done. There are repeated violations at the
border [by the Syrian army], without any [government] response.”
Merhebi said nothing had been heard about the fate of one of the
men who disappeared several months ago, Mahmoud Ibrahim. There have been
several cases of kidnapping along the Lebanese-Syrian border, as well as
shootings that have resulted in the deaths of both Lebanese and Syrians.
“Our security forces are not taking any action on the border,”
Merhebi said. “All they are doing is sending forces to set up checkpoints
inside the villages of Akkar, while the borders themselves are open, but people
are unable to make a living there.”
The Parliament member called on the United Nations to protect
the Lebanese-Syrian border, “since our Army Command is reluctant to deploy the
national Army to protect our residents and their property.”
“Every day we have a shooting,” Merhebi added. “We can no longer
be silent about this.”
He hoped the U.N. would intervene to “limit the violations by
the Syrian army against innocent Lebanese who have no relationship to politics
or parties. They simply happen to live near these borders, and farm their lands
in an attempt to make a living and feed their children.”
Despite their frustration, some family members of the kidnapped
are trying to keep other locals calm. Khaled Abboud Merhebi said that while he
managed to help re-open the roads, the border sit-ins would continue.
He urged all political figures, particularly former Prime Minister
Saad Hariri, “to work on controlling the border, because it should not remain
an arena for Syrian Army violations.”
Merhebi also called for the U.N. to be deployed at the border,
and the Lebanese Army in villages where there are legal border crossings.
For his part, Sheikh Lubnan Merhebi explained that the village’s
families had been surprised to hear of the abduction, given that they had been
working in their fields and Hamdan was considered to be a leading figure in the
community.
“Every day, we’re subjected to random shootings at our homes,
parents and children wake up in panic,” Merhebi said. “Despite the events [in
Syria], there have been no disputes among [Sunnis and Alawites in the village].
Our only demand is that the Army deploy at the border to protect our homes and
families.”
Merhebi added that “all of us, Sunnis and Alawites, have agreed
not to open the border crossings until the [four] hostages return. Before, when
Mahmoud Ibrahim was kidnapped, the police promised to return him within days, but
he hasn’t come back.”
He said that the residents are drafting a statement to Prime
Minister Najib Mikati, asking permission to set up a tent near his Tripoli
home.
“We say to him that we are his sons, and he must realize our
demands. Otherwise we will have to block the roads from Akkar to Tripoli
again.”
Trucks and
cars were stranded on the roadside near the border crossings Thursday, waiting
for them to reopen.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Jun-01/175332-kin-of-abducted-citizens-close-border-crossings.ashx#axzz1wQjup3K6
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