Relatives of Pilgrims Briefly Erect Tent near Turkish Airlines to Press for Action

The relatives of the abducted Lebanese pilgrims in Syria's Aazaz since May last year briefly erected on Friday a tent near Turkish airlines in al-Azarieh building in downtown Beirut, preventing employees from entering its offices.

On their second day of protests near the Turkish airlines offices, the families of the nine men called on President Michel Suleiman to take a firm stance concerning the matter and to press Turkish authorities to resolve this crisis.

“Suleiman should summon Turkey's ambassador (Inan Ozyildiz),” protesters reiterated.

They revealed that the abductees are in the custody of the Turkish intelligence.

“Our endeavors will not be halted and will escalate further,” they added.

Adham Zogheib, the son of one of the kidnapped men, told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) that protesters will keep on preventing Turkish refrigerated trucks from unloading shipments at the Karantina fish market, which began on Monday.

On Thursday, the relatives of the nine men vowed to obstruct Turkish interests in Lebanon, calling on the citizens to boycott all Turkish products.

They threatened to protest near Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport and to halt inbound and outbound flights.

Eleven men were kidnapped in May 2012 in northern Syria's Aleppo province as they returned by land from a pilgrimage in Iran. Two of them were released in August and September.

They were later taken to the Aleppo town of Aazaz.

The kidnapping was claimed by a man who identified himself as Abu Ibrahim and says he is a member of the rebel Free Syrian Army, but the opposition group denies any involvement in the abductions.

On Monday, the families scuffled with army troops during a protest they held near the Turkish embassy in Rabieh.

Last week, the families of the pilgrims stopped Syrian workers in Beirut and its suburbs from going to work in a bid to put pressure on those holding their relatives.