The Syrian plane carrying Lebanese pilgrims, most of
whom are women, landed on Tuesday, after midnight, at the Beirut airport after
they were kidnapped in Syria’s Aleppo by members of the Free Syrian Army upon their
return from pilgrimage in Iran.
One of the women told LBCI that they were kidnapped
by the FSA that is still abducting men, adding that approximately 40 people
were abducted and that they were informed by the army that it will engage in a swap
over the abducted men with the Syrian regime.
12 Lebanese citizens were abducted
by the Free Syrian Army in the region of Ajaj in Aleppo.
In details, the Free Syrian Army arrested the “Badr al-Kobra” bus that was carrying 50
Lebanese citizens coming back from a visit to the holy sites in Iran. The Army
pulled the 7 men off of the bus, leaving 43 women onboard, allowing them to continue their driving to Lebanon.
As soon as
residents learned of the incident, they closed several roads with burning tires in Dahiyeh, they rallied at the Bir al-Abed – Cinderella Intersection,
cut off a number of roads, burned tires in front of Mar Mikhael Church in
Chiyah and broke the windows of cars parked alongside.
The names of the abducted are
as follows: head of the “Badr al-Kobra” campaign Abbas Cheaib, Hassan Mahmoud, Mehdi
Ballout, Hussain al-Seblani, Ali Abbas, Abou Ali Saleh, Hussain Omar, Mustafa Yassin,
Ali Zgheib, Awad Ibrahim, Ali al-Ahmar, Ali Safa, Rabih Zgheib and Ali Termos. Preparations are underway to hold a sit-in outside the Imam
Al Kazem compound in solidarity with the abducted Lebanese citizens in Aleppo.
Commenting on the abduction, Hezbollah Secretary General
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that the commands of Hezbollah and the Amal
Movement are following up on this issue at the highest levels.
He stressed that he will spare no
effort to release the abducted, adding that the Lebanese state must do the
same.
Nasrallah called on everyone to
cooperate in order to solve this problem, urging residents not to cut off
roads.
Nasrallah warned that some may
capitalize on this abduction for their own purposes.
Loyalty to the Resistance MP Ali Ammar said that the women and some of the
men who were aboard the bus are safe under the protection of the Syrian
official authorities. He called on the government to contact influential parties
and figures to release the pilgrims immediately.
A Hezbollah source earlier told LBCI that the blood of Dahiyeh’s
residents is boiling, adding that the party began contacting key figures, calling
for the release of the 12 captured Lebanese.
For his part, the brother of the campaign’s organizer told
LBCI that the Free Syrian Army released the women in the region of Ajaj in
Aleppo, adding that the Free Syrian Army called on the Syrian army to release
some detainees in exchange for the release of the captured Lebanese citizens.
In a related context, the airport road was reopened after being cut off at Al-Rassoul Al-Aazam by relatives of the abducted Lebanese citizens.
Later in the evening, Syrian forces launched raids with tanks and other
armoured vehicles in the town of Ajaj, in Aleppo near the place where
the Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped.
Exclusive sources told LBCI that the Syrian army will take the Lebanese women by plane from Aleppo’s Airport to Beirut International Airport.
Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Adnan Mansour contacted
a number of officials including Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, Kuwaiti
Foreign Minister Khalid Al Hamad Al Sabah and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu. He urged them to exert all efforts to have the abducted Lebanese
citizens released.
In response, the 3 ministers pledged to spare no effort to
release the captured Lebanese as soon as possible.