Relatives of abducted Lebanese Shia pilgrims, kidnapped in northern Syria, hold a Hezbollah flag as they wait for their arrival at Beirut International Airport on 25 May 2012. (Photo: AFP - Joseph Eid)
Negotiations are ongoing for the release of the 11 kidnapped Lebanese pilgrims in Aleppo after Friday's gaffe which saw official announcements that the men had been freed and were en route to Lebanon from Turkey.
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri sent a private jet to Turkey on Friday to bring the abducted Lebanese home, only to return empty, creating confusion between the Turkish and Lebanese governments.
Official Lebanese sources had told Al-Akhbar that the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu reiterated the same expression to all the Lebanese officials he spoke to on Friday: “The abductees have been released and they are in good health. They will reach Lebanon in a couple of hours.”
Trusted sources informed Al-Akhbar that Hariri had offered to pay a ransom to facilitate the release process. He also allegedly told the Turkish government that he considered the issue of the abductees “a national Lebanese issue which must be resolved in any possible way to sustain the Lebanese civil security.”
Hariri has been exerting great effort to pursue the release, including threatening to halt personal donations to the “Syrian revolution.”
Another round of negotiations took off last night between Turkish officials and a representative of Hariri on one hand and representatives of the abductors on the other.
Al-Akhbar has discovered that the abductors – who do not belong to the same political front – have divided their hostages into five groups in a bid to make it more difficult for Syrian authorities to locate them. They are also reportedly raising their political and financial demands with every passing hour.
Nazier al-Hakim, member of the Istanbul-based Syrian National Council, told Al-Jadeed TV on Sunday that the kidnappers are an armed group headed by Ammar al-Dadakhli, who had “asked for a ransom at the beginning to release the abductees, but later rescinded and decided to release them without any conditions.”
“However, the latest stand of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah concerning the Syrian leaders made the abductors change their minds,” he said.
Al-Hakim added that there has been no contact with the leader of the kidnapping team since Sunday morning.
Burhan Ghalioun claimed that not all the abductees were civilians, saying: “We received news indicating that the abductees are not 100 percent Lebanese, but they participated in trainings at some point. We are still waiting for the results of the investigations. We did not communicate directly with the abductors, but we are deploying all possible efforts to release the abductees.”
Mansour Hamoud, brother of the abductee Hassan Hamoud, denied his brother's connection with Hezbollah or any other party while Hassan Nasrallah asserted that no one related to him was among the abductees.
Amidst confusion and conflicting stories concerning the safety and release of the abductees, the families issued a report holding the Turkish government “completely responsible for their return to Lebanon safe and sound, the soonest possible.”
“We totally refuse any talks outside this frame and put them in the category of organized governmental terrorism,” they added.
Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Adnan Mansour, canceled a trip to Tunisia on Sunday, given the current circumstances.
The Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council of Hezbollah, Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, asserted yesterday that the party “supports the majority of the Syrian people who are with the reforms and resistance in Syria.”
He added: “The party did not and will not fight in Syria. The battles in Syria did not claim the lives of any martyrs from the party nor did they lead to the injury or detainment of anyone.”
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
(Al-Akhbar)
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri sent a private jet to Turkey on Friday to bring the abducted Lebanese home, only to return empty, creating confusion between the Turkish and Lebanese governments.
Official Lebanese sources had told Al-Akhbar that the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu reiterated the same expression to all the Lebanese officials he spoke to on Friday: “The abductees have been released and they are in good health. They will reach Lebanon in a couple of hours.”
Trusted sources informed Al-Akhbar that Hariri had offered to pay a ransom to facilitate the release process. He also allegedly told the Turkish government that he considered the issue of the abductees “a national Lebanese issue which must be resolved in any possible way to sustain the Lebanese civil security.”
Hariri has been exerting great effort to pursue the release, including threatening to halt personal donations to the “Syrian revolution.”
Another round of negotiations took off last night between Turkish officials and a representative of Hariri on one hand and representatives of the abductors on the other.
Al-Akhbar has discovered that the abductors – who do not belong to the same political front – have divided their hostages into five groups in a bid to make it more difficult for Syrian authorities to locate them. They are also reportedly raising their political and financial demands with every passing hour.
Nazier al-Hakim, member of the Istanbul-based Syrian National Council, told Al-Jadeed TV on Sunday that the kidnappers are an armed group headed by Ammar al-Dadakhli, who had “asked for a ransom at the beginning to release the abductees, but later rescinded and decided to release them without any conditions.”
“However, the latest stand of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah concerning the Syrian leaders made the abductors change their minds,” he said.
Al-Hakim added that there has been no contact with the leader of the kidnapping team since Sunday morning.
Burhan Ghalioun claimed that not all the abductees were civilians, saying: “We received news indicating that the abductees are not 100 percent Lebanese, but they participated in trainings at some point. We are still waiting for the results of the investigations. We did not communicate directly with the abductors, but we are deploying all possible efforts to release the abductees.”
Mansour Hamoud, brother of the abductee Hassan Hamoud, denied his brother's connection with Hezbollah or any other party while Hassan Nasrallah asserted that no one related to him was among the abductees.
Amidst confusion and conflicting stories concerning the safety and release of the abductees, the families issued a report holding the Turkish government “completely responsible for their return to Lebanon safe and sound, the soonest possible.”
“We totally refuse any talks outside this frame and put them in the category of organized governmental terrorism,” they added.
Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Adnan Mansour, canceled a trip to Tunisia on Sunday, given the current circumstances.
The Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council of Hezbollah, Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, asserted yesterday that the party “supports the majority of the Syrian people who are with the reforms and resistance in Syria.”
He added: “The party did not and will not fight in Syria. The battles in Syria did not claim the lives of any martyrs from the party nor did they lead to the injury or detainment of anyone.”
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
(Al-Akhbar)
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