Mansour Says Contacts Ongoing for Release of Lebanese Pilgrims Kidnapped in Syria

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour stressed on Thursday that contacts are ongoing to release Lebanese men kidnapped in the Syrian province of Aleppo.

“The President, Speaker and Prime Minister are following up the incident with the competent authorities, but it needs time,” Mansour told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

Around 12 Lebanese were kidnapped as they headed to Lebanon from a pilgrimage in Iran.

The case has triggered fears of sectarian tensions in Lebanon over the revolt in neighboring Syria.

Asked if the Syrian regime might have carried out the abduction, Mansour said: “The Syrian regime doesn’t need to carry out such an operation because it directly affects it.”

He pointed out that armed opposition groups in Syria were behind the kidnapping.

“It is true and doesn’t need any testimony,” Mansour told the radio station.

The FM said that the matter is being followed up “accurately” and “confidentially.”

“We don’t want to reveal anything until the release of the abductees safely,” Mansour added.

He stated that there isn’t any demand for ransom in exchange for their release.

Mansour lashed out at reports saying that the bus carrying the Lebanese pilgrims contained arms.

“This is sarcastic, they have been in a visit to Iran,” he noted.

Lebanon is sharply divided between the March 14-led opposition, backed by Washington and hostile to the Syrian regime, and the camp of the March 8 forces, which dominates the government and is supported by Damascus and Tehran, over the yearlong crisis in the neighboring country Syria.