Families of Abducted Lebanese Pilgrims Hold Sit-in Near Baabda Palace

Several families of the 11 Lebanese pilgrims abducted in Syria held a sit-in on Tuesday near the junction that leads to the Baabda palace.

The families warned that they would escalate their measures if the men weren’t released soon and chanted slogans condemning the government’s failure to achieve their release.

Head of the presidential guard Wadih al-Ghafari met with the protesters and pledged to relay their demands to President Michel Suleiman and the government.

He also negotiated with them to persuade them against blocking the road leading to the presidential palace.

The protesters were granted an audience with Suleiman, who vowed that positive developments will be revealed in the abduction before Sunday.

Head of the committee dedicated to following up on the case, Sheikh Abbas Zoghaib hoped that sufficient attention will be given to the case.

He added: “Our patience has run out and we have only been given empty pledges.”

One family member told LBC TV that President Michel Suleiman informed her that the authorities are exerting efforts to set them free.

The 11 pilgrims were abducted in Syria on May 22 by gunmen in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo as they were returning from a pilgrimage to Iran.

The abductors have continuously demanded Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to apologize if the men were to be released.

On Monday, Abbas Shoaib, managed to escape from his abductors for a few hours before being recaptured, media reports said.

On Sunday, Ali Abbas, one of the abductees, confirmed that the 11 kidnapped men are in the remote Aleppo area of Aazaz, blaming Nasrallah, without naming him, for their protracted captivity.

He told LBCI that the men are the victims of “futile state and officials.”