Audio Recording of Abductees to be Aired Soon, SNC Receives Information Pilgrims Include 'Hizbullah Members'
An audio recording for 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims abducted in Syria will be released soon, the International Human Rights Organization and a Syrian mediator said, as outgoing Syrian opposition leader Burhan Ghalioun announced receiving information claiming that the abductees might comprise non-civilian individuals.
Rebel Brig. Gen. Hussameddine al-Awwak, who described himself as a mediator, told LBC that the abductees comprise five Hizbullah commanders, including a man called Hussein Hammoud, noting that their bus was intercepted by the kidnappers for making several stops near Free Syrian Army bases and because the passengers had “suspicious surveillance binoculars.”
Meanwhile, Hammoud's brother strongly denied to al-Jadeed television that his brother is a Hizbullah member.
Hizbullah, for its part, later issued a statement denying claims about the presence of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's nephew or any of his relatives among the abductees.
Awwak said that he is seeking a happy ending to the six-day ordeal and that the commander of the brigade that abducted the Lebanese has contacted him.
Awwak said the commander has informed Lebanese parties of several demands, stressing that the Free Syrian Army is a “national army that is defending Syria.”
FSA chief Colonel “Riad al-Asaad is not interfering in this issue,” Awwak added, noting that the abductees will be released once the interrogations are complete and stressing that the negotiations are still ongoing.
Earlier on Sunday, Ali Aql Khalil, the ambassador of the International Human Rights Organization, met with the abductees’ families in Beirut’s southern suburbs and announced that “all the abductees are in good health.”
He said he is on contact with Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zohbi, head of the Syrian opposition al-Ahrar Party, who has informed him that an audio recording will be released “within hours.”
Zohbi had been mediating the release of the abductees since Wednesday, but on Saturday announced that he would stop his mediation efforts.
Khalil reassured that Zohbi has resumed his contacts with the abductors, adding that the abductees are in an area on the Turkish-Syrian border.
For his part, Ghalioun noted that the opposition Syrian National Council has no information about the whereabouts of the abductees or the identity of the abductors.
“We have received information claiming that the Lebanese abductees are not civilians but rather military trainers,” Ghalioun told LBC.
He also said that, according to the information received by the SNC, the abductees might comprise Hizbullah members and that they might be under interrogation.
Meanwhile,
Earlier on Sunday, LBC TV’s correspondent in Turkey said a Turkish official informed him that negotiations are underway to release the kidnapped Lebanese but stressed that the pilgrims haven’t crossed the border to Turkey.
However, the families of the victims told LBC that they were informed the abductees were in fact in Turkey although it was not clear yet when they will be released.
The TV station also quoted the families as saying that they would not exercise self-restraint for long if the abducted men don’t return home.
The pilgrims were kidnapped on Tuesday in the northern province of Aleppo as they made their way home from a pilgrimage in Iran.
Some accused the rebel Free Syrian Army of having kidnapped them. But the rebel army denied the claim and said it was making "every effort" to locate and release the pilgrims.
The Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Jihad al-Makdissi condemned on Sunday the kidnapping, saying the authorities would exert every effort to help them return to their families.
Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour canceled on Sunday a trip to Tunis where he was scheduled to participate in an economic forum.
Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said Mansour was making his contacts to reveal the controversial statements on the pilgrims. But officials at the ministry refused to give any details before the issue is officially settled.
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