BEIRUT:
Efforts to release 11 Lebanese hostages held by Syrian rebels are now
restricted to Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Turkish officials, ministerial
sources told The Daily Star Tuesday.
The
prime minister also said Ankara's role in mediating an end to the crisis is of
“special significance.”Speaking at the beginning of a Cabinet session he
chaired at the Grand Serail, Mikati said that contacts with the Turkish
government to secure the hostages’ release are ongoing “whether directly or
through diplomatic channels.
“This
is because we believe that Turkish support in this regard is of special
significance,” he said.
“What
I can say today is that there is a fixed will on the part of all political and
spiritual leaders in Lebanon to address this matter calmly and with
responsibility,” Mikati said.
The
11 Shiite male pilgrims were kidnapped last week in the northern Syrian
province of Aleppo on their way back from a religious pilgrimage in Iran. Women
and elderly men were allowed to return to Lebanon shortly after their
abduction.
Mikati
said that the issue of the pilgrims does not a single sect, “but all the
Lebanese, without exception.”
The
prime minister added that he will soon visit Turkey to speak with officials
about efforts to follow up on the issue.
Prior
to the Cabinet session, Administrative Development Minister Mohammad Fneish
said that no new information on the case has emerged.
Turkish
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Selcuk Unal told The Daily Star that the ministry
has no evidence about whether the hostages are alive.
“Despite
our continuous efforts to receive information regarding the kidnapped Lebanese
in Syria, we have no confirmation of whether the kidnapped are still alive,” he
said.
Unal
said that Turkey will continue daily efforts to reach out to those who have
information about the hostages, but added that this remains difficult.
“Syria
has become a highly unstable country and even Turkish citizens are being
abducted and sometimes killed in crossfire between the opposition rebels and
the regime forces,” Unal said.
He
added that “once we have credible information of the transfer of the kidnapped
[Lebanese] to Turkey, our borders will be open to them.”
One
Syrian opposition figure, who said he had spoken to the kidnappers, told the
Associated Press that the hostage-takers decided not to release the men after
Syrian forces began attacking rebel areas in Aleppo.
Now,
he said, the kidnappers are demanding Syrian authorities release 500 opposition
detainees, including Lt. Col. Hussein Harmoush, one of the first officers to
defect after the uprising began. Harmoush was later arrested by the regime
during a special operation.
The
opposition figure spoke on condition of anonymity.
Nabatieh
MP Mohammad Raad, who heads Hezbollah’s Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary
bloc, said that his party had not been informed about any conditions the
captors may have set in return for the hostages’ release.
“We
were not informed about any political condition or demand and the issue of the
kidnapped is being addressed with extreme delicacy given its sensitivity,” Raad
told reporters after meeting with former President Emile Lahoud.
Raad
said it was better to distance the matter of the hostages from the media
spotlight, and not to tackle efforts to release them in the press. He said
“this is because media outlets circulated several reports which turned out to
be totally unfounded.”
Later
Tuesday, Raad discussed Turkey’s efforts to mediate the release of hostages
with its Ambassador to Lebanon Inan Ozyildiz, who visited him in the Beirut
southern suburbs.
Ozyildiz
also discussed his country’s efforts during meetings with Mikati and Speaker
Nabih Berri.
Syria’s
Ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdel-Karim Ali, said that coordination was ongoing
between Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, his Syrian counterpart Walid
Moallem and other relevant officials to secure the hostages’ freedom.
“The
kidnapping group has revealed its identity, and you [reporters] announced it,”
Ali told reporters after meeting Mansour at the Foreign Ministry, referring to
reports that the kidnappers were members of the Syrian opposition.
Ali
said that given this knowledge and that “the side which influences this group
is trying to secure their release ... strands [of information] are clear by
now.
“We
hope that the picture will be clear and good results are reached,” he added.
The
Future Movement bloc of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri condemned the
kidnapping again Tuesday.
“The
Future bloc clearly says that it cannot accept these practices from any side,
especially that [the kidnapping] targets innocent Lebanese civilians,” the bloc
said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting at Hariri’s residence.
The statement said the bloc
hoped for the safe return of the hostages and called for enhanced unity, which
was emerging as Lebanese of various groups rejected the operation.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/May-30/175082-mediation-on-hostages-down-to-mikati-turkey.ashx#axzz1wFjVYzRg
