Zgheib: Relatives of Aazaz Pilgrims Entitled to Take Escalatory Steps against Turkish Interests
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Sheikh Abbas Zgheib, who has been tasked by the Higher Islamic Shiite Council to follow up the case of the abducted Lebanese pilgrims in Syria, defended the right of the relatives of the captives to target Turkish interests in Lebanon in order to pressure Ankara to release them, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Anbaa on Sunday.
He said: “The relatives have every right to take any appropriate escalatory measure they see fit to harm Turkish interests in Lebanon.”
“Any action they take to that end will be legitimate and just,” he stressed.
On the abduction of two Turkish pilots in Lebanon on Friday, he said: “The Lebanese state has the right to intervene to resolve this issue, but it should in return fairly deal with this issue and not simply seek to appease Turkey.”
“The lack of any decisive official Lebanese position on the pilgrims' abduction prompted the kidnapping of the pilots by the Zuwar al-Imam Rida group,” Zgheib explained.
“The group cannot be blamed if its goal was to ensure the release of the pilgrims,” he stressed.
“The Turkish state is the only side that should be blamed and condemned for its attempts to stall the release of the captives,” he added.
He also said that the March 14 forces should be blamed as well because its positions have only encouraged the Turkish stances.
Asked if the pilots' abduction will harm General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim's efforts to release the pilgrims, Zgheib replied: “The members of the follow up committee on the pilgrims' kidnapping understand the good intentions of the Zuwar al-Imam Rida group.”
“The group realized that the approach of negotiations to resolve the case will not yield any results and it therefore abducted the pilots believing that a counter-kidnapping may pressure the captors to release the pilgrims,” he noted.
A Turkish pilot and co-pilot kidnapped by gunmen on Friday.
Six gunmen intercepted a van carrying the Turkish Airlines employees from Rafik Hariri International Airport to a hotel in the Ain Mreisseh seafront at dawn Friday, kidnapping the two pilots - Murat Akpinar and Murat Agca - but leaving the four other crew members behind.
The attack prompted Turkey to issue a travel warning urging its citizens to avoid unnecessary travel to Lebanon and those already present in the country to leave.
The relatives of the pilgrims held in Aazaz were quick to deny having any links to the abduction.
Eleven pilgrims were kidnapped in Syria's Aleppo region in May 2012 as they were making their way back to Lebanon by land from pilgrimage in Iran.
Two of them have since been released, while the rest remain in Aazaz.
Their relatives have held Turkey responsible for their ongoing abduction.
They have repeatedly vowed to take action against Turkish interests in Lebanon in order to pressure Ankara to release the captives.
11 August 2013, 09:21
08
go and push assad to release the women instead of creating more problems to the abducted Lebanese.
you are playing in the hands of hizbushaitan and assad in creating more issues and pushing away any solution for your loved ones.
11 August 2013, 20:00
04
Now they are threatening to disrupt aviation at the airport as a result of this arrest:)) The families, their women and children must all be locked up!
11 August 2013, 09:29
03
“Any action they take to that end will be legitimate and just,”... any action?
Sheikh Abbas, speaks like a criminal... these actions only harm Lebanon.
11 August 2013, 19:18
06
They are blaming everybody except the filthy militia. Sick people
11 August 2013, 19:49
11
Is it: Aba Abdallah, or Abou Abdallah, or Abi Abdallah ? I am forgetting my grammar.
11 August 2013, 19:49
14
Sheikh Abbas Zgheib, who has been tasked by the Higher Islamic Shiite Council to follow up the case of the abducted Lebanese pilgrims in Syria, defended the right of the relatives of the captives to target Turkish interests in Lebanon in order to pressure Ankara to release them.................
How about the relatives of Joseph Sader? Are they entitled to the same against HA until he is released?
11 August 2013, 19:51
02
“The Lebanese state has the right to intervene to resolve this issue, but it should in return fairly deal with this issue and not simply seek to appease Turkey.”...........
He is acknowledging and defending the kidnapping, put him in the slammer along with the relatives of the pilgrims.
11 August 2013, 20:03
12
Turkey has only recently signed an agreement to allow Lebanese citizens to apply for a visa at the border, instead of going through the consular service; they have been providing nearly half of the Lebanese electricity in the past months, while Lebanese tax-payer money goes through the hands of Basil and into the coffers of the economically choked Iranian and Syrian governments. Yeah, we Lebanese sure give a lovely impression of ourselves to our benefactors. And under what pretext? Because Erdogan was the first to condemn the murder of a 13-year-old graffiti sprayer at the hands of Baschar's criminals-in-uniform!
11 August 2013, 20:04
01
Turkey has only recently signed an agreement to allow Lebanese citizens to apply for a visa at the border, instead of going through the consular service; they have been providing nearly half of the Lebanese electricity in the past months, while Lebanese tax-payer money goes through the hands of Basil and into the coffers of the economically choked Iranian and Syrian governments. Yeah, we Lebanese sure give a lovely impression of ourselves to our benefactors. And under what pretext? Because Erdogan was the first to condemn the murder of a 13-year-old graffiti sprayer at the hands of Baschar's criminals-in-uniform!
11 August 2013, 20:04
11
Turkey has only recently signed an agreement to allow Lebanese citizens to apply for a visa at the border, instead of going through the consular service; they have been providing nearly half of the Lebanese electricity in the past months, while Lebanese tax-payer money goes through the hands of Basil and into the coffers of the economically choked Iranian and Syrian governments. Yeah, we Lebanese sure give a lovely impression of ourselves to our benefactors. And under what pretext? Because Erdogan was the first to condemn the murder of a 13-year-old graffiti sprayer at the hands of Baschar's criminals-in-uniform!
11 August 2013, 20:10
02
الحاجة حياة عوالي للـLBCI: السلمية مع الاتراك بدءاً من الغد انتهت ونحن من بيئة المقاومة وليس الارهاب ويا "ليت لدينا جناحا لنطير من الفرح جراء خطف التركيين"
19 minutes ago Al-Jadeed: The families of the Aazaz abductees have given security agencies a one-hour deadline to release Mohammed Saleh, threatening to obstruct aviation at the Beirut airport.
Are these people for real? Is this a State where a sect claiming resistance takes the nation hostage??
11 August 2013, 21:37
03
Southern, when did the US become an enemy of Lebanon? You and the rest of your filthy Iranian sponsored Shi3a terrorists might consider the US an enemy just like others considers the Syrian government that occupied Lebanon for thirty years an enemy. But you're both wrong, Israel is the only enemy of Lebanon. But if you and the rest of your filthy Iranian sponsored Shi3a terrorists insist on calling the US an enemy they should reciprocate and deport every man women and child living in the US and supporting the filthy Iranian sponsored Shi3a terrorists back to the filthy sty they use to live in in the south, Bekaa and Dahieh. They can do what the rest of you guys do, live on the three daily stale ka3eket rations provided by the filthy Iranian sponsored Shi3a terrorists or sell drugs and rob people.
12 August 2013, 00:35
02
More BS piled on top of BS. Who the hell is this Imam to be adjudicating matters of state? To say what is justified and what is not? Who is he to say what is justified under the law and what is not? What law is he talking about Sharia? The law of the Jungle?
This is the dysfunctional state when clerics and imams who have no position in the government, no authority at all in public affairs, come out with these justifications and rationales that allow people to do what they will in violation of the law.
12 August 2013, 01:29
02
Southern, what the hell are you on, what have you been smoking! At least I hope you are smoking something funny or at least in an altered drug induced state. Otherwise I shudder at the thought that you are posting this incoherent rubbish completely clearheaded, sober and unmedicated. My God man please urgently seek help before the damage becomes permanent! And please I beg you, till further notice no more Ashura parades or if you feel you must join one use a NERF® axe and Ketchup nobody has to know.
