A Syrian rebel commander on Sunday said that 11 Lebanese pilgrims
abducted in Syria on May 22 were in “good health” but stressed that they will
only be released “after the ouster” of Syrian President Bashar Assad, according
to media reports.
Al-Jazeera television aired Tuesday a video it said it received
from the abductors of 11 pilgrims.
“In response to the appeal of the Muslim Scholars Committee in
Lebanon, we will hand over two of the guests in our custody to their families
under the supervision of the Muslim Scholars Committee in Lebanon and the state
of Qatar,” the abductors said in what they dubbed “Statement Number 3.”
“We have informed the Turkish government in order to confirm our
good intentions,” the statement broadcast by Al-Jazeera added.
But the abductors rejected to “forget what was voiced in the first
statement: the demand of an apology from (Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed)
Hassan Nasrallah who was justifying for (Syrian President Bashar) Assad his
deeds while the honor of our women was being violated in Homs and who claimed
that what’s happening in Syria is nothing but media fabrications.”
“We do not have a problem with any sect and we are rather
struggling for the freedom and dignity of our people,” the presumed kidnappers
added in their statement.
The Lebanese men were on their way back from a pilgrimage in Iran
when gunmen intercepted their buses in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo.
The rebel Free Syrian Army has denied any involvement in the
operation.
In a previous video, the abducted pilgrims said they were “the
guests of the Syrian revolutionaries,” expressing support for “their revolution
against oppressors.”
Also on Tuesday, President Michel Suleiman held talks with Turkish
leaders about the fate of the 11 pilgrims.
"We told the Lebanese side that we will do our best to find
the kidnapped pilgrims but our opportunities are also restricted," a
diplomatic source told Agence France Presse after Suleiman's meeting with
Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ahead of his trip to Turkey, Suleiman told reporters that “there
are some good signs” about the case of the 11 pilgrims.
“I am exerting all efforts and holding contacts and routine
meetings to secure their release,” he added.
Their abduction is not a democratic act and does not serve any
cause, the president said.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/47454
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