Suleiman Holds Talks in Turkey with Gul, Erdogan on Fate of 11 Pilgrims
President Michel Suleiman held talks with Turkish leaders on Tuesday about the fate of the 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims who were kidnapped in Syria two months ago.
"We told the Lebanese side that we will do our best to find the kidnapped pilgrims but our opportunities are also restricted," a diplomatic source told Agence France Presse after Suleiman's meeting with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ahead of his trip to Turkey, Suleiman told reporters earlier in the day that “there are some good signs” about the case of the 11 pilgrims.
“I am exerting all efforts and holding contacts and routine meetings to secure their release,” he added.
Their abduction is not a democratic act and does not serve any cause, the president said.
Separately, Suleiman shrugged off fears of a civil strife in Lebanon, saying protestors who are blocking roads throughout the country are only harming themselves.
“There won’t be civil war in Lebanon and those who are carrying out such acts are only harming themselves and won’t find any benefit in their actions,” Suleiman told a delegation from the Kuwaiti Journalists Association in Baabda.
“As long as we are committed to the Taef (Accord), there is no fear on Lebanon from wars or civil strife,” he added.
Protestors have recently resorted to blocking streets and major highways throughout Lebanon to vent their anger at the kidnapping of the 11 Lebanese pilgrims in Syria, severe power cuts and the arrest of Lebanese soldiers in the killing of two Sheikhs at an army checkpoint in Kweikhat in Akkar district.
Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir has also launched a sit-in in the southern city of Sidon, blocking its northern entrance, to protest the government’s failure to control non-state arms.
Describing it a “big mistake,” Suleiman said “there are efforts to reopen this road and hopefully the protestors would take the initiative to remove the sit-in at the start of Ramadan.”
On the situation in Syria, the president reiterated that the violence should stop.
The Syrian regime and the opposition “should agree on the (political) system, an electoral law accepted by everyone and head towards democracy,” he told the delegation.
“Eventually, there is no solution but through dialogue,” he said.
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