Relatives of Lebanese abductees escalate protests, threaten Turkey

The spokesman of the relatives of 11 Lebanese hostages in Syria, Sheikh Abbas Zoughaib called early Tuesday on Turkey to exert pressure to end the case of the hostages. “Turkish nationals will be guests in Lebanon in case our requests are not met”, he warned.                           

Speaking from outside the Turkish embassy, Zoughaib held Turkey, Qatar and all the countries supporting the Syrian opposition, responsible for the safety of the Lebanese hostages.                 

The airport road was reopened on Tuesday dawn after it was blocked on Monday night by the relatives of the 11 Lebanese hostages in Syria, in protest of the lack of government’s efforts in this case.               

In this context, sources told LBCI that the air traffic is back to normal; however, a number of flights were canceled or delayed.                   

The hostages’ relatives held a meeting at al-Sadr campaign headquarters in al-Salam Street, and decided to escalate their movement and move their sit-in to outside the Turkish embassy in Rabiyeh, and then to the Qatari embassy.        

The relatives stressed that there is a possibility of blocking the airport road once again, in case their message does not reach Lebanese authorities or related authorities in Qatar and Turkey.                                
On the other hand, the relatives apologized for the dispute that took place on Monday, which resulted in a broken LBCI camera.                    

Last night, the families of 11 Lebanese hostages erected tents on the Airport Road, hoping  to attract the attention of government officials to secure the captives’ release.                   

Sheikh Abbas Zoghaib, tasked by the Higher Islamic Shiite Council to follow up on the issue of the hostages, said that the sit-in would continue until the protesters’ demands are met and the pilgrims are freed.                    

He warned of escalatory moves by the hostages’ families if their loved ones were not released soon.“We are doing our best to keep the [hostages’] families patient. But if no results are achieved soon with regard to securing the release of the hostages, the families will resort to escalatory moves,” he warned.