March 8 Parties Express Solidarity with Aazaz Abductees, Say Solution Looming as Kidnappers Demand Release of Syrian Women Detainees
The relatives of the nine Lebanese Shiite pilgrims abducted in Syria's Aazaz on Wednesday staged a sit-in at Beirut's Martyrs Square, amid a noteworthy participation by March 8 politicians and reports of an imminent swap deal.
Later on Wednesday, the kidnappers of the pilgrims, the so-called Northern Storm Brigade, issued a statement on its official Facebook page declaring that “after interrogating the Lebanese who are in our custody, it turned out that they are members of Iran's party in Lebanon and not pilgrims like the party is claiming because there are no holy shrines in Aazaz.”
“We would have preferred to begin negotiations over our detainees in Assad's prisons months ago, but the interference of Iran's party impeded the negotiations, and now is the right time to announced our legitimate demand, which is the release of the innocent women held in the prisons of the Assad regime,” the statement added.
The Brigade confirmed media reports circulated in Beirut that “an international mediation committee has been formed, comprising Turkey, Qatar and Lebanon's Muslim Scholars Committee” and that “the names of the women have been submitted to this committee.”
“We, the revolutionaries of Syria, don't have a problem with any sect or religion. Our problem is with Iran's party in Lebanon which is taking part alongside the Assad regime in killing our children and raping our women,” the Brigade added.
For his paer, caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told MTV: “The conditions for the release of the Aazaz abductees will be announced soon and the agreement contains stages that involve the release of a number of detainees from the Roumieh prison.”
MTV said among the conditions for the release of the abductees is the release of “women and men held in Syrian prisons.”
Charbel told al-Jadeed television that the kidnappers will broadcast a video Wednesday night that contains three conditions for the release of the Lebanese hostages.
According to information obtained by OTV, accusing the pilgrims of being Hizbullah members "will not impede the positive course their case has taken."
"We come today in the name of the gathering of national parties and forces and after the remarks of the secretary-general (of Hizbullah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah) yesterday it is unacceptable anymore to stand idly by," said deputy head of Hizbullah's politburo Mahmoud Qmati at the Martyrs Square sit-in.
"We will witness positive results in the coming days and there are promising indications but publicizing them does not serve the cause," Qmati added.
On Tuesday, Nasrallah revealed that he had told Lebanese officials about his willingess to visit Damascus to discuss the issue with the Syrian regime if the abductors had specific demands.
Meanwhile, the Beirut-based, pan-Arab television al-Mayadeen reported that "the abductors of the Lebanese in Aazaz have demanded the release of 282 women detainees from Syrian prisons in return for the release of the Lebanese."
It noted that the kidnappers have submitted a list of the names of women detainees to "a high-ranking diplomatic figure and a Turkish official handed the list to a Lebanese official who has arrived in Beirut a while ago."
Later on Wednesday, OTV identified the Lebanese official as Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, the chief of General Security, adding that "the indications are increasingly positive."
Ibrahim told OTV that “a new mechanism has been reached in the negotiations over the release of the abductees.”
Al-Jadeed television said Ibrahim will receive a list containing the demands of the abductors in the next few hours.
Speaking at the sit-in, Daniel Shoaib, the brother of the hostage Ali Shoaib, said "the snowball has started to grow and we will continue our pressure on Turkish interests and politicians are also required to practice pressures," urging all the Lebanese to "boycott Turkish goods."
Sheikh Abbas Zgheib, who was tasked by the Higher Islamic Shiite Council to follow up on the case, announced that "no party can resolve the issue other than the Turkish state," calling on Lebanese politicians to "pressure Turkey."
He also thanked politicians for their presence at the sit-in alongside the relatives of the abductees, but noted that the step is a bit late.
"It's better late than never," Zgheib went on to say.
The relatives of the abductees have stepped up their protests in recent days, blaming the Turkish government for the failure to release the pilgrims who are being held hostage by Syrian rebels near the Turkish border.
Ankara is a staunch supporter of the rebel Free Syrian Army that is fighting regime troops.
Eleven pilgrims were kidnapped in May 2012 in northern Syria's Aleppo province as they returned by land from a pilgrimage in Iran. Two of them were released in August and September.
They were later taken to the Aleppo town of Aazaz.
The kidnapping was claimed by a man who identified himself as Abu Ibrahim and says he is a member of the rebel Free Syrian Army, but the opposition group denies any involvement in the abductions.
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