MP Aoun: Efforts should be exerted to release nuns held captive in Syria

Change and Reform Bloc MP Alain Aoun said on Tuesday that prominent church sources informed the bloc on the circumstances of the incidents taking place in the Syrian Christian town of Maaloula, expressing his hope that efforts be exerted to release the nuns who were held captive on Monday.

Following the bloc’s weekly meeting, MP Aoun stated that deputies discussed the situation of tourism in Lebanon as well as the issue of the internet in North Lebanon stating that Ogero Director General Abdel Menhem Youssef is preventing companies from carrying out works of reparation on the internet network.
                 
A Syrian mother superior on Tuesday accused opposition fighters of abducting 12 nuns from a predominantly Christian village near the capital that was overrun by rebels, and Syria's Greek Orthodox patriarch appealed for their quick release.

Febronia Nabhan, head of nearby Saidnaya Convent, said the nuns and three other women were taken the day before from the village of Maaloula to the nearby rebel-held town of Yabroud, which also has a large Christian population.