Rebel Group Shows Images of Abductees and Passports: No Negotiation before Nasrallah Apologizes
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
A previously unknown armed group calling itself "Syrian Revolutionaries - Aleppo Countryside" on Thursday claimed that 11 Lebanese pilgrims abducted in Syria on May 22 are in the group's custody and that they are in good health.
A statement carrying the group’s signature and sent to Qatar-based satellite news channel Al-Jazeera said negotiations to release the abductees “would only be possible after (Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan) Nasrallah apologizes for his latest speech.”
The TV network also aired images of the abductees’ passports, saying they were sent by the group.
“We have decided to keep the Lebanese abductees after we learned that some of them are involved in the crimes and massacres committed by the regime and they are currently under interrogation,” a man who identified himself as Abu Abdullah al-Halabi, the group’s spokesman, told Al-Jazeera.
“Our message to Nasrallah is that it is prohibited to enter Syria and shed the blood of Syrians,” al-Halabi added.
"Our problem is not with any particular community but with those who assist in the suppression of the uprising," the statement said, in allusion to the 15-month revolt against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Nasrallah is scheduled to make a televised address on Friday at 4:30 p.m. during a ceremony to commemorate the 23rd death anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Addressing the abductors in a speech on May 25, Nasrallah said: "If this abduction was aimed at putting pressure on our position (of support for Syria)," it failed.
“We condemn your act and the kidnapping of the innocent harms your cause,” he added.
Syrian state media has said the kidnapping took place near the Aleppo town of Aazaz, which sits along the border with Turkey. It said the 11 men were part of a group of 53 pilgrims on board two buses.
The women were allowed to go free and returned to Beirut by plane on May 23. In his speech, Nasrallah thanked Syrian authorities and President Bashar Assad for providing the plane that transported the women to Beirut hours after the abduction of the men.
He also condemned attacks against Syrian workers in Lebanon that took place in the wake of the kidnap.
On Sunday, the outgoing head of the opposition Syrian National Council, Burhan Ghalioun, said the pilgrims were still being held in Syria after, reports, later denied, that they had resurfaced in Turkey.
"We spoke with some parties who had contacts with the group and we offered our assistance to have them freed," Ghalioun said.
But the mainstream rebel Free Syrian Army, which has close links with the SNC, has denied any involvement in the kidnapping.
31 May 2012, 22:54
32
yallah khalli et3allam maykabber ras ma3 el mou3arada bi souriya..
31 May 2012, 23:44
45
I am surprised. Blatant, premeditated, sectarian provocation. I have nothing against sect X, but I kidnap foreign followers of this sect because most of them in another country support a party chief which I don't like. Well, AT LEAST, this leaves us without any doubt: after one year of alarming claims (the crazy regime is about to play the last card! the sectarian strife!) here's the revolutionary of Aleppo bringing back the nightmare of political kidnappings. In the name of democracy and peaceful coexistence, of course..
01 June 2012, 00:25
36
hassoun fell in the trap, he got information that the "pilgrims" were already in turkey and saado sent his plane to confirm that.. so he thanked bashar and fell in the net
01 June 2012, 10:01
33
The Syrian regime and its supporters from lebanon (aka Hizbshitan) were kidnaping for a while during this uprising (kidnaping along the broader and inside Syria)... it was bound to happen, that an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth was going to take place...
03 June 2012, 08:52
01
So what ur saying is two wrongs make a right? LOL. These are civilians.
01 June 2012, 00:47
09
Kidnapping is a criminal offense. The Syrians kidnapped Lebanese for years. For us Lebanese we don't care about the pro-regime or anti-regime, they were brothers when they occupied and pillaged Lebanon for years. Now that they are out of Lebanon they turned against each other. Even though the kidnapped Lebanese are not from my religion or political allies. WE ALL LEBANESE DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF ALL OUR BROTHERS.
01 June 2012, 00:58
50
No problem. Release the more than 1000 Syrian workers nationals missing in Lebanon during the same years.
01 June 2012, 12:44
33
Syrian National, if there are more than 1000 missing syrians from that period, look no further than your own army or its allies in lebanon. they are still the same people now.
01 June 2012, 17:36
20
Rude.. Almost all of the workers came to Lebanon to work and they were not involved with any of the criminal militias or political parties. Thousands were killed and more than 1000 were kidnaped and never to be seen again. They were killed by Lebanese LF-Phalangists racist gangs simply because they were Syrians.
03 June 2012, 08:57
00
Release the 17000 Lebanese kidnapped! Look you person u can be sure that some of us Lebanese will go against each other with ur plots pro or anti regime but u can also be sure that there are those like me that will stand for all Lebanese against foreigners. We are Lebanese and we are all brothers. U want to fight ur own brothers do it in ur own country on ur own terms and keep us out of it!!
01 June 2012, 00:48
48
"Time to clean lebanon of all who would support this garbage called free syrian army"
thinks he is better than those he spits on but he wants to use the same actions: then he is no better...even stupider
01 June 2012, 01:04
33
M14 leaders still supported Mubarek when he was massacring hundreds of Egyptians in the streets. NO ONE asked them to change sides or to "apologize". This will only hurt what is left of the "Syrian Opposition" who have not abandoned them.
01 June 2012, 01:06
35
how did the kidnappers know that bus had pilgrims? it's not like the have an intelligence unit! think people.
01 June 2012, 01:12
03
Why are we Lebanese so concerned about the Syrian Civil War? By the way Mr. Ban Ki-Moon should realize that Syria is already in a catastrophic civil war after the death of 13K people. For us Lebanese we don't care about the pro-regime or anti-regime, they were all brothers when they occupied and pillaged Lebanon for years. Now that they are out of Lebanon they turned against each other. They terrified all Lebanese without any exception. The ones who allied themselves with them did that out of fear or to survive. We are not going to do what they did to us but we should distance ourselves from them as far as possible. Pro and Con Syrian regime are still the same for us, they are Syrians. We don’t care about either side.
01 June 2012, 13:11
02
@beerot
Thumbs up, man
wa akhiran ! 7adda fasshalli kel2i... instead of seeing all the lebanese divided and on the verge of war because what is happening in Syria.
13 k dead ! No one of the syrians gave a shit about us when 150 k from lebanese where killed ... most of them by Syrians
01 June 2012, 01:42
52
i don't care about those 11 pilgrims... whatever happens to them is of such little importance as I don't feel concerned. I'm actually so fed up with lebanon, Syria and politics that I don't care anymore. Everyone cann kill eachother if it makes them happy. Afterall, that's what matters most, being happy.
01 June 2012, 02:03
46
These rebels seem to have gotten Nasrallah's number quite well :-)
01 June 2012, 02:19
47
He [mous-ra-allah]also condemned attacks against Syrian workers in Lebanon that took place in the wake of the kidnap.
i thought illiterate shiaa and fpm supporters on this site used to always claims that it was march 14 who killed thousands of syrian workers! apparently it is the shiaaa who is attacking them workers... hmmm
01 June 2012, 03:14
38
So, Hezb'Shaitaoun, is now feeling what it is like to have THEIR people kidnapped. What goes around, comes around. Soon, hopefully, it will all be over for Nasrallah, Bashar and his boys and that clown in Tehran, as well...the clock is ticking louder...and faster....soon...
01 June 2012, 06:27
50
How about freeing over 1000 Syrian workers who have been kidnapped by Lebanese thugs since 1980???
01 June 2012, 13:02
00
@ Syrian National
7aram shoud zalamnehoun lal syrian since 1980.
with this mentality, btestehlo what's happening in Syria !
01 June 2012, 06:44
13
I'm against all kinds of violence. And want all kidnapped Lebanese citizens back home. But I think the game these rebels went into with Hezbollah is bigger than them. This will lead to more violence unfortunately. They should've just asked for money.
01 June 2012, 07:48
34
Most of you are so stupid it is pathetic. Your ancestors should not have had children. The truth is you wouldn't want to be kidnapped by ignorant killers and held hostage so you shouldn't cheer when it happens to someone else . These kidnappers/terrorists will meet the end they deserve. These 11 Lebanese probably will be die also. A good man or woman cannot be happy about that. It is a bad thing. If you are examples of educated Lebanese I wonder why Israel and Syria would even want to occuppy your ridiculous "nation". You desrve more time under the rule of Harari and March 14.
01 June 2012, 08:28
32
why is it that the kidnapping of those pilgrms can trigger strife, and the death of other chiite pilgrims in Irak a few days earlier not? Simply because there weren't ' Saints' among them ! This is a disguised military operation, destined to kill more Syrians and train those mass murderers the ' Shabiha ' ! WHy would I pity those guity Hizbollah operatives, and not pity the family of innocent Lebanese thrown for years in the syrian nazi-style prisons? Those guys should know, they could be at the receiving end of the dirty tricks they helped spread in the world (think of the foreign hostages abducted by Islamic Jihad -same hands different faces- in Beirut, in the eighites: Anderson, Seurat, Waite..) !
01 June 2012, 08:56
13
And so this is a revolution worthy of respect. mabrouk to the Syrians. From bad to worse.
01 June 2012, 10:06
23
Lets clean the hizbshitan out... Stupid mfawaz!!! you happy that Im chatting like this?... you like that I'm chatting like this?... Im not!!! so you relax and try to work on cooperation so we can have a strong social and economic society.
01 June 2012, 10:19
24
Ahhh nope ... checked my thoughts .... ammmm yup I'm free thinking NOT a sheep like you. here is the fact!!! Hizbshtian is a fanatic terrorist tyrannical black hole organization ....FACT!!!! Tell the that Pr..k Hassi to stop kidnapping too ... OK!!!
01 June 2012, 10:25
33
Ok what I do is I read and watch CNN, Aljazeera, RT russia, Future, LBC, Manara.... and other mixes and make up my own observation and opinion ... Try it, it might free your sheep brain.
P.S. try media that is not so mainstream ... they usually report news that might not make mainstream news...
02 June 2012, 09:02
01
WOW who would ever thumb me down for my suggestion to be their own person and also be free and in depended objective thinker...
03 June 2012, 09:01
00
Your thinking style does not come off as being objective. Take ur own advice please.
01 June 2012, 11:49
22
I blame everyone for this abduction:
1. The pilgrims for venturing to go through a country that is in a state of war knowing full well that they could be targeted. I also could not confirm or refute the claims of the abductors that some of the hostages were Huzbullah operatives that are allegedly involved in the war in Syria in support of the Assad regime.
2. The abductors who are using the Lebanese as a way to get back to Assad in the hope of toppling him. This way is extremely precarious and could cost them dearly.
3. The Lebanese authorities for their blinded support of the Assad regime and the inhumane treatment of the displaced Syrians who are simply fleeing a war zone because they don’t want to die. Can you blame them? Certainly not.
In a nut shell: Lebanon should remain neutral to the civil strife in Syria. Otherwise, the war might spread into Lebanon.
01 June 2012, 11:55
23
From the picture above you coudl easily see that the hostages are most in their 60s and hence could not have been engaged with Huzbullah which allegedly is involved in killing the Syrian people. people in their 60s are mature and could not be operatives of Huzbullah. What remain is the fact that the Syrian opposition is using the hostages as a means to pressure Huzbullah into apologizing to the Syrians for killing them which will not happen because this would be like a proof they're involved in the Syrian war which they emphatically deny. So, the hostage ploy would ultimately back-fire on the Syrian opposition. In releasing the hostages, they will prove to be unlike the regime in Syria that massacre his people for nothing. The opposition in Syria should not use the Lebanese to get back at the regime.
01 June 2012, 12:54
11
abbas shouaib ,the shabiha trainer is in his 40
ghassan hammoud the explosive spcialist is in his 50(he participated in preparing the truck for hariri)
dont rush and fall in the trap like nasrallah, the negotiations havent stated yet..wait for the chapter of the four saints hidden by the farsis from the court in the hague and.......
01 June 2012, 19:41
00
maybe the cleanup should start should be with lebanese shiites living in the usa supporting the iranian terrorist militia in lebanon operating all over the world, don't forget to keep your khoneini distributed plastic keys to heaven handy
03 June 2012, 09:02
00
Whats funny is u still find a way to blame others. If everyone took responsibility for what they did, we would have justice. But apparently u tonyfarris dont want justice and prefer to cause problems.
