BEIRUT: The Meqdad clan of east
Lebanon’s Bekaa region said Wednesday it had kidnapped over 30 Syrians it
described as being members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in retaliation for the
kidnapping in Syria of one of its kinsmen earlier this week.
Security forces in Lebanon tightened
security measures around the embassies of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey as
well as their diplomats’ residences, after apparent threats by the clan that it
could take action against these states for backing the Syrian rebels.
“We have more than 30 Syrian rebels,
some of whom have been wounded in the confrontations with the Syrian regime,”
Maher Meqdad, a member of and spokesperson for the family, told The Daily Star.
Beirut-based AlMayadeen aired
footage Wednesday of two of the men the Meqdad family claimed to have
kidnapped.
In the video, one of the Syrians
urged the FSA to release Hassan.
Members of the Meqdad clan claim
that their kinsman Hassan Meqdad was kidnapped by Syrian rebels Monday in
Damascus.
On Tuesday, Al-Arabiya television
reported that Hassan, whom it described as a member of Hezbollah, was detained
by the FSA in Syria. Hezbollah denies Hassan is a member of the resistance
group, as does his family.
The FSA also denied Wednesday
reports that it had detained Hassan.
“We have nothing to do with the
kidnapping of that man,” spokesman for the FSA Col. Fahd Masri told LBCI
television.
He said information made available
to the FSA indicates that Hassan was kidnapped Monday in Damascus near the
shrine of Sayyida Zainab.
Maher Meqdad, who said his family
fields an armed wing, told The Daily Star that the Meqdads had taken matters
into their own hands, as the government had taken no steps to free their
kinsman.
“We will do it ourselves, and we
have what you can call a regulated army to do the job,” he said.
Meqdad said that his family is
acting according to the “eye for an eye” principle, and no longer needs the
Lebanese government to intervene in order to secure the release of Hassan.
Asked about negotiations, Maher said
now was not the right time.
“It is not the right time to talk;
we still have to get some things done,” Maher said.
Maher said Hassan’s kidnappers had
initially tried to contact the family but that the clan is refraining from
pursuing negotiations.
He also said the Cabinet had not
exerted the required efforts to get back the eleven Lebanese kidnapped in Syria
in May.
“We also call for setting them free,
but our son remains the priority for us,” he said.
Maher said the Meqdads had set a
48-hour deadline for Hassan’s release but did not say what further steps the
clan would take.
Speaking to the media, the spokesman
also held Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey responsible for Hassan’s kidnapping
“because they support the FSA; therefore, we cannot guarantee that
undisciplined members of the family’s military wing will not do something
reckless.”
While security services took the
appropriate measures around embassies and diplomats’ residences, the embassies
sent out text messages to their respective nationals urging them to inform them
of their whereabouts, according to security sources.
Reports also emerged Wednesday that
a Turkish diplomat had been kidnapped in Beirut. The man was identified as
Aidan Toufan. However, security sources told The Daily Star that Lebanese
authorities had no records of an Aidan Toufan among the Turkish diplomatic
corps in the country.
Later Wednesday, LBC television showed an image
from a valid and current passport of Turkish citizen Aidan Toufan, born in
1948. The Turkish ambassador to Lebanon told MTV television that he cannot
confirm the abduction of Toufan.http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Aug-15/184759-syrian-rebels-kidnapped-in-lebanon-tv.ashx#axzz23dVigVXM
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