Nour Rida

Lebanon has witnessed tense atmosphere during the past days as the Lebanese abductees case is still unresolved, in light of contradicting information on where they are and when will they be released. Yet, non-stop effort has been on the go since the very first moment of the unfortunate incident, in an attempt to free the Lebanese civilians who were abducted while coming back from their religious visit to the mausoleum of Imam Reda in Iran.

Their families suffer the bitterness of holding their fire, hoping to hear certain news about the well-being of their beloved ones.
Meanwhile, Lebanese and Turkish leaderships assured the abductees are safe and in good health.
Easing the tension was the return of also Lebanese pilgrims who were targeted by an explosion while in Iraq to visit the Holy sites in Karbala.

In light of the pending abductees case, the Lebanese cabinet holds two sessions this week on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning respectively, in order to discuss the repercussions of the abductees issue and the 2012 budget. This coincides with President Michel Suleiman's preliminary consultations on returning to the dialogue table by the second week of June.

Abductees Case Pending...

As-Safir Lebanese daily reported on Monday that the Lebanese Prime Minister Najb Mikati remained intin contact with Foreign Minsiter Adnan Mansour, who for his part was in 24 hour contact with the Turkish leadership, particularly Turkish Foreign Minsiter Ahmad Davut Oglu. Mansour, according to the paper also contacted the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem twice following up on the case.

Well-informed sources told as-Safir that the abductors do not belong to any of the parties or sides being discussed in media outlets, stressing the sensitivity of the situation and noting it is important to keep the identity of the abductors in the dim light. The source reiterated the importance of secrecy surrounding the ongoing negotiations to win the abductees freedom.

The Lebanese daily also pointed out that some were trying to steer the hostage issue in an unhealthy, internal direction after the nation's rally behind the hostages contributed to softening partisanship in the political arena and almost opened a new page for the Lebanese. Also, the sources had told as-Safir that the abductors are trying to exploit the matter for political reasons, such as a swap deal that includes Syrian opposition figures the Syrian government has arrested earlier.

Berri Warns from Strife, Chaos

On a related note, Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri assured to An-Nahar Lebanese daily that the abductees are in good health, denying rumors that had said "Mujahed Ammar Dadikhli's company in rural Aleppo executed Lebanese hostages." Berri confirmed to An-Nahar that the hostages are still alive.

Also, in a statement to As-Safir Lebanese daily, Berri called on the families of the kidnapped to set a deaf ear to the rumors leaking from different sources. He warned from some attempts that aim at sowing strife and causing chaos, reassuring that Hizbullah and Amal movement are putting their utmost efforts to keep discipline.

Mansour: Working in Secrecy to Achieve Positive Results

Also, Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour told As-Safir newspaper that "there was a state of chaos because of imprecise information on the release of the abductees last Friday. Therefore, we preferred to work in total secrecy until reaching positive results.
Mansour denied rumors that the abductors had contacted the Lebanese state, warning from listening to gossips on the issue.

US-Qatar Interference in Abductees Case

In parallel, al-Akhbar Lebanese daily reported that Turkish intelligence has located the place where the 11 Lebanese citizens were kidnapped.
Sources closely following the issue told al-Akhbar that the Turkish government and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri are putting all their might into resolving this issue, particularly after the failure to obtain the abductees' release has tarnished their image.

Sources familiar with the negotiations told al-Akhbar that Hariri offered a ransom for the release of the Lebanese hostages, which resulted in an agreement last Friday, before the deal was blocked at the last minute for reasons that were not disclosed. Hariri, as reported the sources, was even ready to stop funding the Syrian opposition.
Also, sources anticipated that there has been a US-Qatari pressure which in fact led to the quick Turkish declaration of ending the issue. The same sources noted that the captors divided the abductees into 5 groups, to prevent the Syrian government from freeing them all at once in case it was able to track them.

Visitors targeted in Iraq Arrive to Lebanon

The surviving Lebanese pilgrims whose bus was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq last week arrived in Lebanon Sunday night.

Sources reported that among those who arrived at Beirut airport were nine people who were wounded by the bomb, which killed three Shiite pilgrims near Ramadi, a city west of Baghdad.
The bus was carrying more than 40 people who had traveled through Syria and were on their way to visit southern Iraq. Their trip was organized by the Islamic travel agency Shams al-Doha.

Call for Dialogue Resumes

In the meantime, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman resumed calls for returning to dialogue particularly on the internal level. As first reaction, Speaker Berri, Hizbullah, the Phalanges and MP Walid Jumblatt had positive response yet Head of the Free Patriotic Movement Gen. Michel Aoun's stance is still unclear. Still, Head of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea saw that dialogue should take place after the resignation of the current government and the formation of a new one.


Source: Lebanese Newspapers, Translated and Edited by moqawama.org