New Syrian Rebel Faction Adopts Abduction, Regional Efforts Rise to Release Abductees
Fresh news regarding the 11 Lebanese abductees in Syria surfaced as a new rebel faction unveiled itself, adopting the abduction operation, and delivering a message with evidence that the abductees are still alive and in good health... so far.
Meanwhile, regional and international efforts are increasing in this regard, with Lebanese officials going abroad for talks, and foreign officials arriving to Lebanon for negotiations.
The major Lebanese dailies tackled these files in their Friday edition, highlighting hopes on positive outcome of the globally-discussed Lebanese concern.
Abductees Appear in Video, Kidnappers Demand Sayyed Nasrallah's Apology
More negotiations and discussions are taking place with regard to the 11 Lebanese kidnapped by Syrian rebels inside the Syrian territories. Lebanon blunders in internal discussions with international diplomatic representatives, and external discussions were launched with Prime Minister Najib Mikati's visit to Turkey to directly follow up on the issue.
Meanwhile, the new opposition faction that goes by the name of "Syria Rebels- Aleppo's Rural Area", adopted the abduction of the Lebanese, and published, via al-Jazeera satellite TV, photos of their passports and a video tape for them, as-Safir daily reported.
Through an exclusive message via al-Jazeera, the Syrian opposition faction listed a group of conditions to continue negotiations, including the release of opposition personnel held in the Syrian regime custody, and an apology from His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah for thanking the [Bashar] al-Assad regime in his latest speech.
Al-Akhar daily reported, according to the tape broadcasted by al-Jazeera, that the new Syrian opposition group believed it doesn't have any problem with any sect, but its only problems is with those who take part in oppressing the so-called Syrian revolution.
The "Syria Rebels" of Aleppo's rural area, delivered a message through its spokesman, Abu Abdullah al-Halabi, who claimed that "the abductees are still in custody after it appeared that some elements have taken part in oppressing the Syrian people." He added that "those who [appear] to be innocent from any crime after the investigations will be released, but those who collaborated will receive their penalty."
For the time being, Sayyed Nasrallah's "demanded" apology is under inspection, and as he is expected to deliver a speech on Friday, during the ceremony held to commemorate the demise of Imam Khomeini, he is also expected to tackle the recent updates in this regard, al-Akhbar daily added.
Mikati in Turkey, Tackles Abductees' File up Close
Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, stressed that Lebanon represents an example for the encounter of civilizations. During a speech he delivered in the "Civilization Dialogue" conference, held Thursday in Istanbul, Mikati called for convening the next conference in Lebanon, so that the attendees would see the Lebanese reality and coexistence between the various sects and religions, as-Safir daily reported.
"Our Lebanese experience is unique, and more than 20 sects interact, we acknowledge one another, and don't accept but to live together," Mikati asserted.
On the sidelines of the conference, Lebanese PM met with Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmad Davutoglu, during which both sides discussed the Turkish efforts to release the Lebanese abductees, and elaborated on the Lebanese-Turkish bilateral relations.
Moreover, al-Akhbar daily reported that Lebanon's PM met with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyeb Erdogan. During the 3-hour meeting, a joint statement was issued, clarifying that both sides discussed the file of the 11 Lebanese abductees held in Syria. On this level, Turkey's Erdogan stressed that Turkey will continue its intensive efforts to save them. For his part, Mikati expressed the need to hasten the direct engagement in this issue, demanding Turkey to continue its efforts in this regard, the daily added.
Also, Mikati met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in presence of Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, and Internal Minister Marwan Charbel. During the meeting, PM Mikati described the situation in Lebanon in light of the regional events, and tackled the latest updates regarding the Lebanese abductees.
In a related field, Lebanese informed sources told as-Safir daily that while the abductees' issue entered a huge regional and international blunder, Iran has stepped into the line of negotiations between Turkey and Syria, after a new abduction occurred, this time targeting two Iranian drivers also by armed Syrian rebels.
The sources expressed hope that the Iranian negotiations would lead to a solution that would include the release of the Lebanese abductees as well.
Annan in Lebanon
While PM Mikati was in Turkey, the UN-Arab Special Envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, paid a visit to Lebanon to follow up the latest updates and repercussions of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon.
As part of the intensive diplomatic efforts to tackle the issue of the Lebanese abductees, which seems to be the major issue of the Syrian trauma, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman received the UN Special Envoy to rub this issue and try to extract a possible solution, an-Nahar daily reported.
According to information provided to the daily, President Suleiman brought up the issue of the Lebanese abductees in the few last minutes of the meeting that lasted for almost one hour.
Suleiman asked Annan whether he has new updates on the aforementioned level; a question to which Annan's answer was negative, the daily indicated.
For its part, informed sources told al-Akhbar daily that Annan asked Suleiman about the arms smuggling from Lebanon to Syria. Suleiman asserted that the Lebanese Army is performing its duty, reminding of the "Lutfallah 2" ship that was confiscated.
Furthermore, President Suleiman believed that the escalating abductions and murders on the Lebanese-Syrian borders are unaccepted, and further asserted that needed investigations should be conducted by the Lebanese and Syrian parts, so that such violations won't be repeated.
Source: Lebanese Newspapers, Translated and Edited by moqawama.org
