Three Arrested for Abducting and Killing Syrian Child

The army arrested Wednesday two Syrians and a Palestinian on charges of abducting and killing a Syrian child.

“The Intelligence Directorate arrested at noon the Syrians Qusay Moussa Ouweir and Youssef Faisal al-Hamad and the Palestinian Youssef Taha al-Zaydeh,” the Army Command said in a statement.

The three are accused of “kidnapping the Syrian toddler Hamza Yasser Hajjaj from (the Beirut area of) Cite Sportive on Tuesday before eventually murdering him and throwing the body in the outskirts of the town of Bchamoun,” south of Beirut, the army added.

It said the child was murdered after the father “refused to pay a ransom.”

“The toddler's corpse was found in the aforementioned location, while the interrogation of the gang's members is still underway under the supervision of the relevant judicial authorities,” the Army Command added.

On July 6, a kidnapped child was released for a $50,000 ransom after being abducted from the town of Amchit near Jbeil. Security forces later managed to arrest the head of the gang and to recover the money.

Y.R.