BEIRUT:
One of the kidnappers holding 11 Lebanese pilgrims in Syria denied Sunday
reports that the men would be released before the end of the holy month of
Ramadan. Several of the kidnapped blamed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan
Nasrallah and the Lebanese government for delaying their release.
Abu
Ibrahim, an opposition leader in the Syrian province of Aleppo holding the men,
said, “it is possible that they will be released,” but added that reports on
the imminent release of two Lebanese were incorrect.
Speaking
to Al-Mayadeen television channel by telephone, Abu Ibrahim reiterated that all
the kidnapped pilgrims were in good health, describing them as guests in Syria.
In
a statement carried by Al-Jazeera TV on July 18, the kidnappers said they had
decided to release two hostages in response to calls by a committee of Muslim
scholars in Lebanon.
Two
hostages told LBCI television channel by telephone Sunday that the men’s
release was delayed as a result of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s
refusal to apologize to the Syrian people.
Ali
Abbas, one of the pilgrims, added that the Lebanese government is responsible
for the delay in their release because it does not know how to negotiate.
The
comments of Abbas, speaking on the telephone about his treatment, were also
played on Al-Mayadeen TV.
“We
haven’t been subjected to any torture,” Abbas said.
“Two
others and I were sick and the kidnappers brought a doctor to examine us, and
they have since provided us with medicine,” he added.
Ali
Tormos, Abbas Hammoud, Hasan Hammoud, Hussein Omar, Jamil Saleh and Hasan
Arzouni – all members of the group kidnapped on May 22 while returning from a
pilgrimage in Iran – also spoke of their experiences in brief audio clips.
Al-Mayadeen
broadcast the footage two days after the New Yorker magazine published an
account of one of its reporters’ visit to the kidnapped.
Abu
Ibrahim, who was a fruit merchant prior to the Syrian uprising, told The New
Yorker journalist that the kidnapping of the Lebanese pilgrims was a way to
send a message to the Shiite community to seek their support for the Syrian
uprising.
“Through
the people we are holding we are sending a message to the Shiite people to
support the Syrian people, not the regime,” Abu Ibrahim told The New Yorker.
When
asked by Al-Mayadeen about his motivation, Abu Ibrahim said, “We are just
sending a message to [the] Lebanese about Hezbollah’s position toward the
Syrian revolution and the statements by Hezbollah secretary-general Sayyed
Hasan Nasrallah supporting the Syrian regime.”
The
New Yorker article revealed the location of the pilgrims for the first time
since their kidnapping two months ago. According to The New Yorker, the
kidnapped were likely staying in the town of Azaz, located only three
kilometers from the Turkish border with Syria.
“We
and the [pilgrims] are in an area fully liberated from Syrian regime control,”
he said.
The
New Yorker reporter, who met three of the hostages – Ali Zagheeb, 44, from the
Bekaa, Awad Ibrahim, 46, from Baalbek and Abbas, 29, from south Lebanon – said
the encounter took place in the Baath Party headquarters in Azaz. According to The
New Yorker, Awad Ibrahim said that he would support the Syrian revolution upon
his return to Lebanon.
“As
God as my witness and I repeat it three times, I have never seen such a man as
this, and this experience has opened my eyes about the revolution in Syria.
When I go home I want to help support its revolution,” The New Yorker quoted
Awad Ibrahim as saying.
Abu
Ibrahim described himself as a civilian and part of the revolution but denied
being a member of the Free Syrian Army.
When
asked how he was able to support the 11 men in his custody, Abu Ibrahim said he
received large financial support from Syrian businessmen abroad.
“Thank
God, we are a big group. My group has large financial funding ... Our work in
the revolution isn’t just to resist the Syrian regime, but we act as police and
work at the civilian, economic and health levels. Syrian businessmen outside
and Europe ... have put large quantities of money at their disposal,” he said.
Abu Ibrahim said he had
received some 1.3 million euros ($1.6 million) in financial assistance from
Qatar, used mostly for food and medicine.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Jul-30/182592-abducted-pilgrims-not-heading-home-before-end-of-holy-month.ashx#axzz225PKpA6R
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