The head of the Free
Syrian Army Riad al-Asaad accused Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah of
obstructing the release of the 11 Lebanese pilgrims “because he failed to
perform what was asked of him,” reported Voice of Lebanon radio on Sunday.
He said: “The release of
the remainder of the pilgrims will not be as easy as some believe because most
of them are Hizbullah officials.”
“Instead of complying
with the abductors’ demands, Nasrallah threatened the Syrian people and
announced a war against them,” he continued.
“We now see Hizbullah
members fighting alongside the Syrian regime against the people,” he added.
Nasrallah was demanded
to apologize for a May 25 speech addressed to the kidnappers in which he said
that his party would not change its position concerning the conflict in Syria,
declaring: "If this kidnapping is aimed at putting pressure on our
political position, it's a waste of time."
“The release of the
captives requires intense negotiations, which in the end will fall in the
Syrian people and revolt’s favor,” Asaad stated in what VDL said was the first
indirect acknowledgement by the FSA that it is linked to the pilgrims’
abduction.
Hussein Ali Omar, one of
the 11 pilgrims, was released from captivity on Saturday.
The pilgrims were
initially kidnapped in Syria’s Aleppo in May as they were making their way back
to Lebanon from a pilgrimage in Iran.
Commenting in Hassan
al-Meqdad’s kidnapping, Asaad stressed that the FSA has no information on him.
He suspected that the
Syrian regime may have been behind the abduction in order to tarnish the image
of the FSA and create strife in Lebanon “through Hizbullah’s cooperation.”
He explained that
al-Meqdad clan’s military wing’s swift retaliation to the abduction of their
family member in Syria is evidence of this claim.
The clan responded by
kidnapping several Syrian nationals in Lebanon.
It released a few of
them on Saturday as a goodwill gesture to Omar’s release.
Asaad called on the
Meqdad clan to exercise restraint, release the remaining captives in its
custody, and avoid “falling in the Syrian regime’s schemes.”
“The regime will not rest
until strife is created in Lebanon,” stressed the FSA head.http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/51287
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