MP Saqr Reveals Demands by Rebels to Release Pilgrims as Reports Say Hizbullah Imprisoning Syrians
Al-Mustaqbal MP Oqab Saqr stressed that the abductors of nine Lebanese pilgrims in Syria are offering a deal to free the men in exchange for the release of Syrian political prisoners as media reports said on Monday that Hizbullah allegedly has set up a jail in the Bekaa for Syrians infiltrating the country.
Saqr said during an interview with al-Jadeed channel on Sunday night that the kidnappers of the Lebanese men, who were abducted on May 22 in Syria, demand the release of all Syrian political prisoners in Damascus and in Lebanon to free the pilgrims.
Ali Zgheib, who is among the nine men kidnapped by Syrian rebels, called last week in a tape released by the rebels in the Syrian town of Aazaz on Saqr to negotiate their release.
He pointed out that the Lebanese government “has set up secret camps for prisoners of conscience from Syria and Arab and Islamic states.”
According to Saudi al-Watan newspaper published on Monday, Hizbullah is detaining Syrians infiltrating into Lebanon in a ranch in the area of al-Qasr in the Bekaa region in eastern Lebanon.
Security sources told the daily that Hizbullah is coordinating with Syrian intelligence concerning the matter, in which detainees are being tortured to extract confessions on the reasons behind entering Lebanon and if they belong to the Free Syrian Army.
Zgheib said the prisoners are being treated the same way political detainees are treated in jails run by President Bashar Assad regime.
Abou Ibrahim, the head of the so-called Northern Storm Brigade, kidnapped eleven Lebanese pilgrims in the northern province of Aleppo in May as they were returning home from Iran.
One abductee was released in August and another was set free in September.
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