Interior Minister Marwan
Charbel expressed optimism on Monday that the release of one of the 11 Lebanese
pilgrims kidnapped in Syria would set the stage for setting free more abductees
this week.
In remarks to As Safir
daily, he hoped that a new batch of abductees would be released in the coming
days.
Charbel also stressed
keeping the negotiations away from the media and political bickering to
guarantee their success.
Media reports said Jamil
Amin Saleh, 63, could be released on Monday.
Saleh, who hails from
Bint Jbeil, is among the 11 held hostage by Syrian rebels.
But An Nahar newspaper
was not that optimistic, saying the release of Hussein Ali Omar by the Free
Syrian Army on Saturday would not set the stage for ending the tragedy of the
remaining 10 pilgrims who were seized by the armed rebels in the northern
province of Aleppo on May 22 as they were returning from a pilgrimage to Iran.
Omar’s freedom was only
a goodwill gesture by the Turkish mediator in an attempt to guarantee the
release of two Turkish nationals kidnapped in Lebanon, the daily said.
The first man has been
abducted by al-Meqdad clan in retaliation to the kidnapping of a family member,
Hassan al-Meqdad, by armed rebels in Damascus.
The fate of the second
Turkish citizen remains unknown as no group has claimed responsibility for his
abduction.
Free Syrian Army
commander Col. Riad Asaad stressed Sunday that the FSA has no information on
al-Meqdad.
He suspected that the
Syrian regime may have been behind the abduction to tarnish the image of the
FSA and create strife in Lebanon “through Hizbullah’s cooperation.”
Asaad also said “the
release of the remainder of the pilgrims will not be as easy as some believe
because most of them are Hizbullah officials."http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/51373
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