REPORT: Relatives of Aazaz hostages stage another sit-in

          
Relatives of Lebanese hostages in Syria’s Aazaz staged on Wednesday in the afternoon another sit-in outside the Turkish airlines offices and the Turkish cultural center in Downtown Beirut, calling for the release of the hostages.     

Earlier, the protesters held a demonstration, cut off the road linking the Grand Serail to Downtown Beirut and reopened it later on.    

It is worth noting that the families of hostages deferred the meeting that was slated for today with Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, for the third consecutive time.      

In the details, the hostages' spokesperson, Hajja Hayat Awali, said that the statement issued by Mansour whereby he did not elaborate on the file of the Lebanese hostages “was the reason behind the meeting’s postponement”.     

Hajja Awali also noted that a meeting will be held with General Security Chief Abbas Ibrahim in the afternoon in order to tackle the said file following his visit to Turkey.       

In this regard, the hostages' spokesperson pointed out that the demonstrators will take escalatory measures after “the workers in the Turkish offices changed their work shifts”, leading the families to stage a sit-in before noon and in the afternoon.        

For his part, General Security Chief Ibrahim told LBCI that he did not provide the Syrian authorities with the list of the names of female prisoners, noting that he expects them to cooperate in this regard.

Eleven Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped on their way back from Iran by insurgents hoping to use them for a prisoner swap on the 22nd of May. Only two have so far been released.       

Their families have vowed to continue their movements until all their loved ones have returned home safe and sound.        

They accuse Ankara of sponsoring the kidnapping and the Lebanese government of inaptness in this regard.       

On April 10, they prevented several Syrian nationals who operate businesses in some Beirut areas from opening shop, stating that such movements symbolize their sense of desperation.        

They also held a major demonstration in Martyrs Square before the Turkish Airline offices whereby they announced that they would be calling for the boycott of all Turkish products in Lebanon since "Lebanon imports a billion dollars worth of products from Ankara on a yearly basis."       

Since then they have also prevented Turkish trucks from offloading shipments at the Karantina dock.


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