Bekaa Roads Blocked over Risha Kidnap as Aoun Says 'All Security Forces Mobilized'
Several key roads in central Bekaa were blocked for a second consecutive day on Friday in protest at the abduction of 74-year-old merchant Saad Risha.
“The Furzol-Zahle road was blocked with bulldozers near the town's intersection, in the presence of Furzol municipal chief Melhem al-Ghaddan, Saad Risha's son Jimmy, the businessman Michel Daher, and residents and dignitaries from the region,” state-run National News Agency reported.
The Riyaq-Terbol road and the al-Fayda-Zahle road were also blocked by protesters.
Members of Brital's municipality and a number of dignitaries meanwhile staged a sit-in on their town's public road in solidarity with the family of the abductee and to protest the recurrent abductions in the region.
The captors have been identified as five residents of Brital and the army has been carrying intensive security measures in and around the town in search for the kidnappers and the elderly abductee. Speaker Nabih Berri has also dispatched an envoy to the town to help in the case.
“The kidnappers only represent themselves because Brital is the land of martyrs and will always stand in the face of takfiris,” Brital municipal chief Ahmed Ismail said, demanding the release of Risha.
President Michel Aoun meanwhile reassured a northern Bekaa delegation that the presidency is following up in the case.
“All security forces have been mobilized to return him safe to his family,” Aoun added.
MTV meanwhile reported that rumors were spreading in Zahle about “counter-abductions within hours” should Risha remain abducted.
Risha was abducted Wednesday in the Bekaa town of Qab Elias as he was closing his wholesale foodstuffs shop.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/224096 |