Al-Jazeera
channel reported on Saturday that the
kidnappers of 11 Lebanese hostages in Syria released Hussein Ali Omar upon the
request of Muslim scholars.
Later in the day, Aazaz militants confirmed that Hussein Omar was handed over
to the Turkish authorities through Bab al-Salam crossing and broadcasted a Youtube video as a proof.
Accordingly, Omar will be taken to the Lebanese Embassy in
Ankara or to the Lebanese Consulate in Istanbul, to return afterwards to his
homeland Lebanon.
LBCI reporter in Turkey said that it is possible that the
rest of detainees will be released progressively.
Interview with Hussein Ali Omar
Hussein Ali Omar thanked, in an interview
conducted with him by al-Jazeera, the Syrian rebels for their hospitality
during 90 days.
The released hostage called on Arab people
in general and the Lebanese people in particular to help the oppressed Syrian
people and support the Syrian revolution.
Reactions following the release
The son of the released hostage told
LBCI that they hope that all the kidnapped will be released, noting that this
case is not over.
For her
part, Hajja Hayat Awali told LBCI she feels great
joy following the release of Hussein Omar, hoping that this good gesture lead
to the release of the ten other hostages.
In turn, member of the
Association of Muslim Scholars Sheikh Nabil Rahim stressed, in a statement to
LBCI, that the case of the Lebanese hostages is a humanitarian and a rightful
case, expecting the release of all the hostages soon.
In an statement to LBCI, member of the Association
of the Muslim Scholars, Sheikh Salem al-Rafeii thanked the Turkish scholars and
the kidnappers for responding to their request.
In this regard, Azaz rebels’ spokesman Mohammad
Nour said that today’s gesture does not annul their call on Hezbollah to
determine its position regarding the Syrian people and the revolution, noting
that the destiny of the other hostages will be defined after sending letters to
Syria’s neighboring countries.
In this context, Interior Minister Marwan
Charbel told LBCI, in a phone call, that Lebanon received a positive sign from Turkey
regarding the release of the other Lebanese hostages in Syria.
For his part, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
contacted Lebanese PM Najib Mikati and Speaker Nabih Berri and informed them of
the release of the Lebanese national Hussein Omar.
This as Interior Minister
Marwan Charbel and the Director General of the General Security Major General Abbas
Ibrahim will be heading to Turkey in the coming days to continue negotiations
in the case of the hostages.
Sheikh Abbas Zougheib told LBCI that the release of
Hussein Ali Omar is a good will gesture in order to end this case. “We are
grateful to Turkey for it recognized our humanitarian and moral message.”
It is noteworthy that the Association of Muslim Scholars had called on the kidnappers last July, to release the
Lebanese hostages, chief among them Hussein Ali Omar.
The
eleven Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped on their way back from Iran by
insurgents hoping to use them for a prisoner swap on the 20th of May.
LBCI was successful in establishing live phone contact with the 11 detainees and one of the kidnappers
known as "Abu Ibrahim" on Sunday 29th of July, whereby they confirmed
that they were in good health and that they were located in the town of
Aazaz, rural Aleppo.