By Wassim Mroueh
BEIRUT: Relatives of the 11 Lebanese
hostages held by Syrian rebels for over two months said Sunday they were
informed that their loved ones were fine, a day after media reports indicated
their residence had been attacked.
Meanwhile, the captors’ leader
refused to negotiate the release of the 11 with Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, head
of the Lebanese General Security, over the body’s recent deportation to Syria
of 14 Syrians, including opposition activists.
Mona Abbas, whose husband Ali Tormos
is among the kidnapped, said she was informed Saturday that her husband and the
other 10 were all safe.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Abbas
said Abu Ibrahim, the head of the kidnappers, had informed Ali Akil Khalil, the
ambassador of the International Organization for Human Rights, that he was
still holding the hostages and that they are fine.
Khalil confirmed the news to The
Daily Star. “He [Abu Ibrahim] said that the 11 are okay,” he said.
Reports emerged Saturday indicating
that the location where the 11 Lebanese are being held had been attacked by
another opposition group after a dispute broke out between rebels, and that two
of the hostages managed to flee during the altercation.
Khalil said Abu Ibrahim had told him
such reports were “inaccurate,” but added that “three men close to him [Abu
Ibrahim] confirmed the reports.”
Khalil also said that Abu Ibrahim
has refused to discuss the release of the kidnapped with General Security.
“He refused to negotiate with Maj.
Gen. Ibrahim, whom President Michel Sleiman tasked with handling the issue, as,
he said, Ibrahim ordered the deportation of the 14 Syrians,” Khalil said.
The General Security deported 14
Syrians last week, including Syrian opposition activists, a move that outraged
the March 14 opposition.
Khalil said that Abu Ibrahim had
demanded that he hold negotiations with Zahle MP Oqab Saqr, from the Future
Movement, or Col. Wissam Hasan, the head of the Internal Security Forces
Information Branch.
“When I asked him if he wants money,
he said ‘No, I can give the abductees money if they want,” Khalil added.
LBCI aired a videotape Saturday
evening showing Lebanese journalist Fida Itani sitting with Ali Zogheib, one of
the kidnapped. The channel broadcast Zogheib talking for a few seconds, saying
that he was fine.
But Abbas voiced skepticism over the
video tape’s date, “as Zogheib said today is Friday.”
The 11 Lebanese were kidnapped in
the northern Syrian province of Aleppo shortly after crossing from Turkey on
May 22 while on their way back to Lebanon from Iran, where they had been on a
pilgrimage. Women and elderly men who were with them were released.
Khalil said Abu Ibrahim promised him
he would allow the hostages to speak to their relatives by telephone Saturday
after iftar, but added that the rebel could not be reached at that time.
“I tried calling him today [Sunday]
but his bodyguard picked up and told me Abu Ibrahim was not in the area.”
Abbas criticized the Lebanese
authorities for neglecting the kidnapping case. “No one has asked us whether we
need help or support,” she said. “We are unable to sleep or enjoy iftar [with
our lived ones].”
“How is it possible that journalists
are reaching the kidnapped and interviewing them and the state cannot reach
them?” she asked. “Do they want us to go and negotiate with the kidnappers
ourselves?
“We have no state here!”
Abbas also slammed Turkey, saying
the country’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had abandoned the Lebanese
after they showed solidarity with Ankara when Israel stormed a Turkish vessel
carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza in 2010.
“The Syrian opposition receives its
arms and all it needs from Turkey and Turkey has a strong say in this
[kidnapping] case,” she said. “It seems only thugs can gain their rights in
this country,” she added, promising escalatory steps soon.
However Sheikh Abbas Zogheib, who is
tasked by the Higher Shiite Council to follow up on the case, said that
relatives were not planning to escalate matters soon.
“We are communicating with Maj. Gen.
Ibrahim and he is working on the case,” he told The Daily Star, urging Qatar
and Turkey to make efforts to secure the captives’ release.
Separately, premier Najib Mikati telephoned
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu Saturday, asking if he had any new
information on the case. Media reports indicated the Turkish official said he
had no new information.http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Aug-06/183529-relatives-say-pilgrims-held-in-syria-unharmed-still-captive.ashx#axzz22kAg3sDl
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