The Daily Star - Syrian forces hand over kidnapped Lebanese man, June 13 2012

BEIRUT/BEKAA: Syrian forces handed over a Lebanese man to the army Wednesday hours after they kidnapped him from the Bekaa border town of Arsal, the town's mayor told The Daily Star.

Lebanese security forces told The Daily Star that Syrian forces entered Arsal’s environs early Wednesday and snatched Mohammad Khaled Hujeiri.

“A Syrian force infiltrated two kilometers into Lebanese territory and opened fire at Mohammad Hujeiri. We are not sure what happened after that,” the mayor told The Daily Star.

He said the same Syrian force torched his farmhouse, which had been vacated over the crisis in neighboring Syria, before it pulled out of the area.

The opposition March 14 coalition held the government responsible for the Syrian incursion, Hujeiri’s abduction and the torching of the mayor’s farmhouse.

“This deliberate attack is [one in a series] by the Syrian regime, which has been violating our sovereign territory east and north ... in the complete absence of the Lebanese government, which disassociates itself from protecting unarmed Lebanese and clearly allows those who ensure its survival to intervene in the Syrian crisis,” March 14 said following its weekly meeting.

March 14 said the Future Movement-led coalition will coordinate a response to Syrian violations through democratic means.

The recent spur of kidnappings near Arsal began on May 14 when pro-Syrian regime Lebanese took 60 Syrian men hostage in the hope of exchanging them for three Lebanese who were kidnapped by members of the Syrian opposition a week earlier.

The kidnappings were accompanied by armed clashes between the two sides.

Most cases have ended with the release of hostages, though others are ongoing.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Jun-13/176674-syrian-forces-kidnap-lebanese-man.ashx#axzz1xaZDFUkH