L'orient le jour - Les pèlerins enlevés en Syrie, bientôt en liberté ?, July 31 2012

Le bruit a couru hier que les onze pèlerins chiites enlevés en mai dans la province d’Alep, en Syrie, alors qu’ils retournaient au Liban en bus, venant d’Iran, seraient bientôt libérés par leurs ravisseurs. Un certain Abou Ibrahim a annoncé qu’ils seraient libérés dès qu’une partie libanaise officielle sera désignée pour les accueillir. À la LBCI, Abou Ibrahim a dit qu’il préférerait qu’il s’agisse d’une personnalité parlementaire. Il a confirmé que le délai pour la libération des otages serait court, sans préciser s’il se limiterait à 48 heures (comme l’ont annoncé certains), affirmant que les otages ont été autorisés à appeler leurs parents au téléphone. Sur les causes de cette décision, il a souligné que la région où se trouve son groupe a été « libérée » récemment du régime en place.
Selon des sources citées par l’agence al-Markaziya, les parents des otages ont été « soulagés d’entendre leurs voix », mais « restent inquiets du fait qu’ils se trouvent à Alep, où ont lieu de grandes batailles actuellement ». Les parents, selon ces sources, « appellent les autorités libanaises à œuvrer directement pour la libération de leurs fils ».
Par ailleurs, un des pèlerins, Abbas Chouaib, aurait réussi, selon les informations de la LBCI également, à tromper la vigilance de ses gardiens et fuir pour quelques heures. Il a utilisé le téléphone portable de l’un de ses ravisseurs pour envoyer un SMS aux familles libanaises afin de leur demander de faire pression sur le gouvernement pour leur libération. Il serait resté plusieurs heures en liberté avant qu’on ne perde sa trace vers 3 h du matin. Entre-temps, alerté par les familles, le ministre des Affaires étrangères Adnane Mansour a appelé un responsable turc pour lui communiquer le numéro de l’otage en fuite. Chouaib a cependant été rattrapé par ses ravisseurs avant que toute intervention ne soit possible.

http://www.lorientlejour.com/category/Liban/article/771037/Les_pelerins_enleves_en_Syrie,_bientot_en_liberte_.html

L'orient le jour - Le TSL confirme sa compétence dans l’affaire Hariri, July 31 2012

Le Tribunal spécial pour le Liban (TSL) a confirmé hier sa compétence, contestée par la défense, pour juger les responsables de l’assassinat en 2005 de l’ancien Premier ministre Rafic Hariri, a annoncé le tribunal.
« La chambre de première instance confirme que le TSL a compétence pour juger les personnes accusées d’avoir commis l’attentat du 14 février 2005 et pour connaître des affaires connexes », a indiqué le TSL dans un communiqué.
La défense avait contesté en mai la compétence du tribunal, estimant que le Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies avait « abusé de ses pouvoirs » en créant le TSL, chargé de juger les responsables présumés de l’attentat ayant coûté la vie à Rafic Hariri et à 22 autres personnes.
« La chambre de première instance rejette toutes les exceptions soulevées par les conseils de la défense, qui affirmaient que le tribunal a été créé illégalement, qu’il viole la souveraineté libanaise, que sa compétence est sélective et qu’il ne garantit pas le droit des accusés à un procès équitable », poursuit le communiqué.
Les juges du TSL avaient ordonné, le 1er février, que les quatre auteurs présumés de l’attentat, membres du Hezbollah, soient jugés par défaut, c’est-à-dire en leur absence. Huit avocats avaient été commis d’office et la date provisoire d’ouverture du procès a été fixée au 25 mars 2013.
Les quatre accusés font l’objet de mandats d’arrêt du TSL transmis le 30 juin 2011 aux autorités libanaises et de notices rouges d’Interpol, mais n’ont pas encore été interpellés.
« Étant donné que l’Organisation des Nations unies a la capacité de créer une juridiction, un tribunal établi par ladite organisation ou par le Conseil de sécurité est valablement établi par la loi », a assuré le tribunal, rappelant avoir été créé en vertu d’une résolution du Conseil de sécurité, le 30 mai 2007.
Le TSL était entré en service le 1er mars 2009 à Leidschendam, dans la banlieue de La Haye. Il est le premier tribunal pénal international qui permet la tenue d’un procès par défaut au cours duquel l’accusé est représenté par un avocat.
« L’État libanais n’a jamais allégué une violation de sa souveraineté, a en outre soutenu hier le tribunal. La chambre de première instance ne peut par conséquent aucunement conclure à une violation de la souveraineté libanaise. »

http://www.lorientlejour.com/category/Liban/article/771027/Le_TSL_confirme_sa_competence_dans_l'affaire_Hariri.html

L'orient le jour - EDL : le Centre de commande national laissé à l’abandon, July 31 2012

La fermeture du siège central d’Électricité du Liban à Mar Mikhaël, annoncée hier, aboutira à la coupure du courant dans les prochaines heures, selon le conseil d’administration de l’office.

Sandra NOUJEIM

Les portes entièrement fermées avec des chaînes, l’enceinte embrumée de pneus brûlés : le siège central d’Électricité du Liban à Mar Mikhaël est désormais considéré par le conseil d’administration de l’office comme étant « fermé de force » en raison du mouvement de protestation des journaliers qui « occupent » le siège depuis près de trois mois. « Cette fermeture se maintiendra jusqu’à la fin de cette occupation, sachant qu’elle aboutira à la coupure du courant, sur tout le territoire, au cours des prochaines heures. » C’est ce que décrète, sur un ton qui se veut menaçant, le communiqué des dirigeants d’EDL après leur réunion extraordinaire, hier début d’après-midi, à la centrale électrique de Zouk. Cette réunion fait suite à l’escalade menée par les grévistes qui avaient bloqué depuis le matin les entrées principales de l’office à Beyrouth, avant de lancer un appel à la fermeture de tous les établissements affiliés à EDL à travers le territoire libanais. 
La fermeture du siège de Mar Mikhaël est d’autant grave que le bâtiment comporte, en plus des bureaux administratifs, le Centre de commande national (CCN), chargé de « repérer les pannes sur le réseau et, surtout, de coordonner la distribution du courant sur tout le territoire », explique à L’Orient-Le Jour une source proche de l’administration d’EDL. 

Coupures qu’EDL ne saurait déterminer...
Signalons dans ce cadre que les deux employés en poste au CCN, dont la permanence devait s’achever à 7 heures du matin hier, après 12 heures de travail, n’ont pu sortir du bâtiment encerclé, l’un d’eux souffrant de troubles cardiaques. Ce sont les Forces de sécurité intérieure et la Croix-Rouge libanaise qui ont réussi à les évacuer quelques heures plus tard, laissant derrière eux un centre de commande vide. Interrogée sur les effets pratiques que cette fermeture aura sur l’électricité, la source précitée explique que « même EDL ne saurait déterminer la fréquence ni la durée des coupures auxquelles devront faire face les Libanais ». « Ce qui est certain, c’est que le travail d’EDL est un travail d’ensemble, et le centre de commande est essentiel pour distribuer le courant », note-t-elle. Estimant que l’office « s’est solidarisé avec les journaliers au début de leur mouvement », la source déplore « les méthodes employées, même après les solutions offertes en réponse aux doléances des grévistes ». 

« Coupures contrôlées par EDL », selon les journaliers
Certes, un projet de loi a déjà été approuvé pour l’embauche des journaliers d’EDL sur base d’un temps partiel, autrement dit leur inscription au cadre de la compagnie. Mais l’entrée en vigueur de cette loi est bloquée au niveau du Parlement, sur fond de tensions entre le mouvement Amal et le Courant patriotique libre. Dans ce contexte d’atermoiement politique, la journée d’hier s’annonçait de surcroît tumultueuse. C’est hier en effet que devaient être mises en application les deux mesures annoncées vendredi par EDL, à savoir que les factures devaient être livrées aux trois sociétés privées chargées par le ministère de l’Énergie d’en collecter le montant, et ensuite que les équipes de la compagnie devaient entamer les travaux d’entretien et de réparation dans toutes les régions, plus particulièrement au siège central d’EDL, à Mar Mikhaël. 
Fort mécontents de ces décisions, qu’ils perçoivent comme une volonté de la direction d’EDL de réprimer leur mouvement de protestation, les journaliers restent convaincus que leur mouvement « n’affecte aucunement le rendement de l’office ». Les coupures d’électricité seraient, selon eux, « orchestrées par EDL » pour exercer sur eux une pression populaire et les amener à arrêter leur mouvement. 

Maintien de la grève
Le président du comité de suivi des journaliers, réuni avec le président de la Confédération générale des travailleurs du Liban (CGTL), Ghassan Ghosn, a annoncé sur ce plan le maintien de la grève « jusqu’au paiement par EDL des salaires dus aux journaliers », salaires qu’EDL estime inexigibles après « la rupture du contrat entre l’office et les journaliers ». C’est à ce niveau d’ailleurs que ressurgissent toutes les craintes des journaliers, pour qui l’accord conclu entre le ministère de l’Énergie et les trois sociétés privées porte atteinte à leurs droits salariaux et met en péril la pérennité de leur emploi. En attendant la résolution d’une crise dont les répercussions s’alourdissent sur le quotidien des citoyens (hier, les commerçants de Mar Mikhaël ont observé un sit-in symbolique dans la rue), les deux parties en conflit, journaliers et administration, en ont appelé hier à l’intervention du président de la République...

http://www.lorientlejour.com/category/Liban/article/771021/EDL+:_le_Centre_de_commande_national_laisse_a_l'abandon.html

The Daily Star - Sudanese surpass 50 days of hunger strike, hit impasse, July 31 2012

By Annie Slemrod

BEIRUT: The Sudanese refugees camped outside Beirut’s U.N. refugee agency are having an unusually challenging Ramadan.

On hunger strike for 50 days, the men have also abstained from liquids during the day since the start of the holy month. Their iftar consists mostly of juice. “It is difficult,” Mohammad Abdul-Latif said of the overlap between Ramadan and the hunger strike, crediting God for recent cloudy weather that has provided some holiday respite from the sun.

The 20 or so men have been refusing food and sleeping at the gates of UNHCR in protest of what they say is a lengthy process for determining refugee status, slow resettlement for those who are granted this classification, and the poor quality of assistance they receive while in Lebanon.

Last week, they moved closer to the building’s entrance. Previously sleeping across the street, they are now also blocking one of two entrances to the building with cardboard, blankets, a wire bed frame, and their bodies. Two young men were practicing their English in front of the black door Monday.

UNHCR issued a statement about the closure last week, calling the move an “escalation” that prohibits “staff from entering or exiting the building as needed” and constitutes a “serious safety concern.”

UNHCR spokesperson Dana Sleiman said that the building had two entrances, one for refugees and asylum seekers and the other for staff, media, and other visitors. The refugees are blocking the staff entrance. She said the agency was trying its best to “keep the channels of communication open” with the protesters, “but this [the closure] cannot continue, it is a matter of security and protection for the refugees who approach the office, for asylum seekers and employees.”

The strikers said that two UNHCR staffers came to speak to them after they blocked the entrance, asking about their demands and telling them that the closure was unacceptable.

The protesters were insulted by the question, taking it to mean that UNHCR had ignored their previous complaints. “We have given them thousands of papers stipulating our demands and after 50 days they asked what our demands are,” Abdul-Latif said. “This is clowning around.”

Another protester, Adam Adeem, said that the men were not concerned about possible arrest, as many have spent time in jail given that their refugee identification is not always considered acceptable to authorities.

UNHCR said it had counseled the strikers both on an individual and group basis, and The Daily Star has seen minutes of a meeting between the men, an NGO that supports them, and a UNHCR representative.

But the strikers have called the meetings unsatisfactory, saying the agency used them only to explain their general processes. Abdul-Latif, noticeably more agitated and thinner than several weeks ago, said he no longer even believes UNHCR has possession of his case file.

Sleiman, however, said the refugee agency had prepared letters detailing each striker’s situation, including personal details on their statuses.

She said the strikers refused to accept the letters.

After 50 days, the hunger strike seems to be at an impasse. UNHCR has said it is sympathetic to the strikers’ concerns, but cannot influence the time it takes for countries to accept refugees. After backing off a vow to completely refuse liquids, the protesters still believe the agency could exact more leverage on the countries where they are to eventually move.

Even with UNHCR urging the refugees to return home, the men appeared to be in it for the long haul Monday. For the hot days, there were children’s toys, books and playing cards scattered around their modest encampment. There were also cans of bug spray for the humid nights.

When the strike began, many of the men – who hail from both Sudan and the newly independent South Sudan – complained of discrimination in Lebanon and the difficulty of finding decent work.

After weeks of unemployment and no income, the men, who are starving by choice, said Monday that their families were now going hungry as well.

Dawood Dafallah said he had failed in his attempts to secure help from an NGO for his wife and 7-month-old daughter. With their daughter Aisha on her lap, his wife Embet said she feared becoming homeless this Ramadan.

She and the other wives work when they can, but Embet said she doesn’t have enough money for food.

Soon, she won’t be able to pay the rent on her apartment. Embet pointed at the sidewalk where the protesters were sleeping. When that happens, “we’ll move here,” she said. – With additional reporting by Wassim Mroueh

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Jul-31/182728-sudanese-surpass-50-days-of-hunger-strike-hit-impasse.ashx#axzz2259mU7Ab

The Daily Star - STL rejects all challenges to jurisdiction, July 31 2012

By Willow Osgood

BEIRUT: The Special Tribunal for Lebanon rejected all defense motions challenging the jurisdiction of the court in a decision published Monday, clearing another hurdle in the runup to trial, tentatively set to begin in March.

The defense counsel for the four men indicted in the attack that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others had argued before the court that it had been established illegally, violates Lebanese sovereignty, has selective jurisdiction and does not guarantee the accused a right to fair trial.

But the Trial Chamber of the United Nations-backed court dismissed the motions, confirming that it had jurisdiction to try the men accused of the 2005 attack.

The decision can be appealed.

On arguments that the court violates Lebanese sovereignty because it was not approved by the president or Parliament, the judges said that “[U.N. Security Council] Resolution 1757 is the sole basis of establishing the tribunal,” and Lebanon, as a member state of the U.N., had complied with its obligations under the resolution.

Because of this, the Trial Chamber said it was not necessary to examine any issues in the defense motions alleging that Lebanese law was violated.

Furthermore, the judges found that Lebanon has never claimed that its sovereignty had been violated.

“To the contrary, as a member state of the United Nations, Lebanon has honored its obligations specified in the annex to the resolution by taking all required steps,” the decision said, citing evidence of this cooperation including a list of potential judges Lebanon presented to the court, memoranda of understanding it made with the court and Lebanon’s substantial contribution to the court’s budget and its compliance with requests for assistance.

The Trial Chamber also said it had no power to review the actions of the Security Council and that “no other judicial body possesses such a power of potential judicial review of the Security Council.”The judges rejected that the court was illegal – rather than without jurisdiction – because the challenges didn’t fit under the definition of a preliminary motion.

The court earlier dismissed a pretrial motion asking it to reconsider a February decision to proceed to trial in absentia. It has yet to rule on defense motions filed in late June on alleged defects in the form of the indictment.   

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Jul-31/182746-stl-rejects-all-challenges-to-jurisdiction.ashx#axzz2259mU7Ab

The Daily Star - Lebanese hostages' families demonstrate near presidential palace, July 31 2012

BEIRUT: The families of 11 Lebanese pilgrims kidnapped in Syria two months ago held a rally Tuesday near the presidential palace in Baabda, northeast of Beirut, to protest the government's failure to secure their release.

Around a dozen men and women gathered outside Bou Khalil Supermarket, some four kilometers from the presidential palace, in a bid to pressure government leaders meeting in Baabda to redouble their efforts to secure the release of their loved ones.

The pilgrims, all Shiites, were kidnapped on May 22 after crossing into Syria from Turkey. They were on their way back to Lebanon following a pilgrimage to Iran.

A previously unknown group calling itself "Syrian Rebels in Aleppo" claimed responsibility for the abduction, saying five of the hostages were members of Hezbollah. Hezbollah and their families deny the claim.

The group demanded that Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah apologize for comments he had made in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Nasrallah, a staunch ally of Assad, said the abduction would not change Hezbollah’s stance on the events in Syria.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Jul-31/182793-lebanese-hostages-families-demonstrate-near-presidential-palace.ashx#axzz22GWCoYal

Naharnet - Trial Chamber Confirms STL’s Jurisdiction to Try those Accused of Committing Hariri Assassination, July 30 2012

The Trial Chamber confirmed the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's jurisdiction to try those accused of committing the February 14, 2005 attack and connected cases, in a decision published on Monday, it announced in a statement.

It said: “The Trial Chamber dismissed all the motions of the defense counsel, who argued that the tribunal was set up illegally, violates Lebanese sovereignty, has selective jurisdiction and does not guarantee the accused a right to fair trial.”

The Trial Chamber’s decision may be appealed, it added.

The challenge to the tribunal's jurisdiction is a preliminary motion that must be dealt with before trial begins, explained the statement.

“The Trial Chamber found that the Defense motions are not challenges to jurisdiction but rather challenges to legality, or the validity, of the tribunal. The challenges therefore do not fall within the definition of a preliminary motion,” it said.

The Trial Chamber found that the United Nations Security Council established the STL when it passed Resolution 1757 in May 2007.

“Resolution 1757 is the sole basis of establishing the tribunal," the judges wrote in their decision, and Lebanon, as a member state of the United Nations has complied with its obligations under the resolution.

Because of this, the Trial Chamber found that it was not necessary to examine any issues in the Defense motions alleging violation of Lebanese domestic law.

Furthermore, the Trial Chamber found that the state of Lebanon has never claimed a violation of its sovereignty.

"To the contrary, as a member state of the United Nations, Lebanon has honored its obligations specified in the annex to the resolution by taking all required steps, including; presenting a list of 12 persons to be appointed as judges by the secretary general, appointing a deputy prosecutor, recognizing the juridical capacity of the tribunal to enter into agreements with states by concluding the Memoranda of Understanding with the tribunal, contributing significantly to financing the tribunal, facilitating establishing the tribunal's Beirut field office, complying with requests for assistance from the tribunal, and deferring to the tribunal's jurisdiction the cases related to the February 14, 2005 attack," the judges said.

"The Trial Chamber thus cannot make a finding of any violation of Lebanese sovereignty."

The Trial Chamber found that had it no power to review the actions of the U.N. Security Council in establishing the tribunal and that "No other judicial body possesses such a power of potential judicial review of the Security Council”.

Further, the Trial Chamber found that, because the United Nations may establish a court, a tribunal established by the United Nations or Security Council, such as the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, has been validly "established by law".

In addition, the Trial Chamber found that the limited jurisdiction of the tribunal did not infringe any of the accused’s fundamental rights to a fair trial.

"Criminal investigation and prosecution is unavoidably selective in any system” the Trial Chamber held.

And such “selectivity” is a normal part of international criminal jurisdictions such as the STL’s “and an inevitable consequence of establishing an international criminal court or tribunal," the Trial Chamber found.

The Trial Chamber found that the tribunal’s procedures under its Statute and rules and its obligation to strictly apply the principles of international human rights law guarantee the accused, “all relevant and necessary rights to a fair trial”.

The establishment of the tribunal does not violate the rights of the accused to a fair trial, it stressed.

Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen recently set March 25, 2013 as the tentative date for the start of trial.

The defense counsel in the Ayyash and others case filed motions in early May challenging the legality and jurisdiction of the STL.

The Trial Chamber later held a hearing on 13 and 14 June to hear oral arguments from the Prosecution, the defense counsel and the legal representatives for victims.

Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Oneissi, and Assad Sabra are wanted for the February 2005 suicide car bomb attack in Beirut that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others, including the suicide bomber.

Ayyash has been named in the indictment as coordinator of the assassination team.

The court has said Lebanon must try harder to apprehend them.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said he doubted the four indictees will ever be found and has branded the tribunal a U.S.-Israeli conspiracy aimed at bringing down the party.

Ayyash and Badreddine face five charges including that of "committing a terrorist act by means of an explosive device" and homicide, while Oneissi and Sabra faced charges of conspiring to commit the same acts.

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/48323

Naharnet - Report: Abbas Shoaib Escapes Captors for Few Hours, July 30 2012

Abbas Shoaib, one of the 11 abducted Lebanese Shiite pilgrims in Syria, has managed to escape from his captors for a few hours before being recaptured, LBCI television reported on Monday.

“On Wednesday evening, one of the relatives of the hostages received an SMS from a Syrian mobile phone number in which the sender identified himself as Abbas Shoaib,” the TV network said.

In the message, Shoaib urged the families of the abductees to “pressure the state into securing their release.”

“Fearing that he could be busted, he managed to escape from the place of detention by climbing a fence and running for hours in an uninhabited area,” LBCI said, adding that Shoaib also managed to nab the cellphone of one of the guards.

“He remained in contact with the families for around four hours, reiterating his demand that they pressure the Lebanese state, which he said was negligent in communicating with the negotiators,” LBCI added.

Meanwhile, the families contacted Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour to inform him that Shoaib had managed to escape, the TV network said.

Mansour, for his part, telephoned the Lebanese consul in Turkey and gave him Shoaib’s number. The consul contacted Shoaib and told him that he will provide the Turkish intelligence with the number and that they would call him, locate his position and rescue him.

“Shoaib waited for the Turkish intelligence agents after running for hours, but his cellphone was turned off at 3:30 a.m.,” said LBCI.

“The families did not hear from him until Sunday, July 29, when some media outlets contacted Abu Ibrahim, the leader of the abductors, and managed to interview Shoaib and other hostages,” LBCI added.

On Sunday, Ali Abbas, another abductee, confirmed that the 11 kidnapped men are in the remote Aleppo area of Aazaz, blaming Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, without naming him, for their protracted captivity.

“We are the victims of a futile state and useless officials,” Abbas told LBCI.

Asked whom he was referring to, the abductee answered: “I'm referring to the person who has refused to apologize and I'm speaking in the name of everyone here.”

A previously unknown armed group calling itself "Syrian Revolutionaries - Aleppo Countryside" on May 31 claimed the 11 Lebanese pilgrims were in its custody, noting that negotiations to release the abductees “would only be possible after (Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan) Nasrallah apologizes for his latest speech.”

Speaking to the Beirut-based, pan-Arab al-Mayadeen television on Sunday, Shoaib hoped he would return soon to his family and saluted his children.

The 11 Shiite pilgrims were abducted by gunmen in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo on May 22 as they were returning from a pilgrimage to Iran.

The rebel Free Syrian Army has denied any involvement.

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/48350

Naharnet - Report: Abbas Shoaib Escapes Captors for Few Hours, July 30 2012

Abbas Shoaib, one of the 11 abducted Lebanese Shiite pilgrims in Syria, has managed to escape from his captors for a few hours before being recaptured, LBCI television reported on Monday.

“On Wednesday evening, one of the relatives of the hostages received an SMS from a Syrian mobile phone number in which the sender identified himself as Abbas Shoaib,” the TV network said.

In the message, Shoaib urged the families of the abductees to “pressure the state into securing their release.”

“Fearing that he could be busted, he managed to escape from the place of detention by climbing a fence and running for hours in an uninhabited area,” LBCI said, adding that Shoaib also managed to nab the cellphone of one of the guards.

“He remained in contact with the families for around four hours, reiterating his demand that they pressure the Lebanese state, which he said was negligent in communicating with the negotiators,” LBCI added.

Meanwhile, the families contacted Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour to inform him that Shoaib had managed to escape, the TV network said.

Mansour, for his part, telephoned the Lebanese consul in Turkey and gave him Shoaib’s number. The consul contacted Shoaib and told him that he will provide the Turkish intelligence with the number and that they would call him, locate his position and rescue him.

“Shoaib waited for the Turkish intelligence agents after running for hours, but his cellphone was turned off at 3:30 a.m.,” said LBCI.

“The families did not hear from him until Sunday, July 29, when some media outlets contacted Abu Ibrahim, the leader of the abductors, and managed to interview Shoaib and other hostages,” LBCI added.

On Sunday, Ali Abbas, another abductee, confirmed that the 11 kidnapped men are in the remote Aleppo area of Aazaz, blaming Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, without naming him, for their protracted captivity.

“We are the victims of a futile state and useless officials,” Abbas told LBCI.

Asked whom he was referring to, the abductee answered: “I'm referring to the person who has refused to apologize and I'm speaking in the name of everyone here.”

A previously unknown armed group calling itself "Syrian Revolutionaries - Aleppo Countryside" on May 31 claimed the 11 Lebanese pilgrims were in its custody, noting that negotiations to release the abductees “would only be possible after (Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan) Nasrallah apologizes for his latest speech.”

Speaking to the Beirut-based, pan-Arab al-Mayadeen television on Sunday, Shoaib hoped he would return soon to his family and saluted his children.

The 11 Shiite pilgrims were abducted by gunmen in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo on May 22 as they were returning from a pilgrimage to Iran.

The rebel Free Syrian Army has denied any involvement.

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/48350