Anti-Assad men ‘abducted’ in Bekaa

A previously unheard of group calling itself "The Brigade of al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi" has claimed responsibility for kidnapping Syrian opposition members in Lebanon with the aim of swapping them for 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims abducted in Syria on May 22, al-Mayadeen television reported on Monday. The Beirut-based, pan-Arab TV network did not mention how many Syrian activists were nabbed or the Lebanese area they were allegedly kidnapped from. A Syrian rebel commander on Sunday said that the 11 Lebanese men were in “good health” but stressed that they will only be released “after the ouster” of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Al-Jazeera television aired Tuesday a video it said it received from the abductors of the 11 pilgrims. “In response to the appeal of the Muslim Scholars Committee in Lebanon, we will hand over two of the guests in our custody to their families under the supervision of the Muslim Scholars Committee in Lebanon and the state of Qatar,” the abductors said in what they dubbed “Statement Number 3.” “We have informed the Turkish government in order to confirm our good intentions,” the statement broadcast by Al-Jazeera added. But the abductors rejected to “forget what was voiced in the first statement: the demand of an apology from (Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed) Hassan Nasrallah who was justifying for (Syrian President Bashar) Assad his deeds while the honor of our women was being violated in Homs and who claimed that what’s happening in Syria is nothing but media fabrications.” “We do not have a problem with any sect and we are rather struggling for the freedom and dignity of our people,” the presumed kidnappers added in their statement. The Lebanese men were on their way back from a pilgrimage in Iran when gunmen intercepted their buses in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo. The rebel Free Syrian Army has denied any involvement in the operation. In a previous video, the abducted pilgrims said they were “the guests of the Syrian revolutionaries,” expressing support for “their revolution against oppressors.” Also on Tuesday, President Michel Suleiman held talks with Turkish leaders about the fate of the 11 pilgrims. "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 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.