Lebanese return home after 33 years in Syrian jails
A Lebanese man who had spent 33 years in Syrian prisons arrived Monday in his hometown Chekka, after being freed by Islamist-led rebels.
Salim Hamawi is the first Lebanese prisoner to return to Lebanon, but another man, Ali al-Ali, was filmed after being freed from a prison in Hama last week.
Ali had been missing for nearly 40 years, during Lebanon's civil war. His family was unable to reach him and a Syrian journalist in Hama said the man had totally lost his memory and could not recognize who he was.
Hamawi, who returned Monday to Lebanon, said he was arrested for being a member of the Christian Lebanese Forces party. He told journalists he had lost hope to return home.
Since Ali al-Ali's video circulated online Thursday, many Lebanese families started demanding to know the fate of their loved ones who are thought to be detained in Syrian prisons.
During 15 years of civil war in Lebanon, an estimated 17,000 people went missing. Many were held captive or were killed in detention centers operated by Syrian forces in Lebanon and Syria, but their fates remain unknown.
Source: Naharnet
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