Zgheib: Hizbullah, Iran Do Not Meddle in Negotiations to Release Aazaz Pilgrims
Turkey will be held accountable for any harm incurred by the Lebanese pilgrims held in Syria's Aazaz region, said Sheikh Abbas Zgheib, who has been tasked by the Higher Islamic Shiite Council to follow up on the case of the pilgrims.
He said in a statement: “Hizbullah and Iran have nothing to do with the negotiations between the regime and the kidnappers.”
He made his remark in response to a call issued by the so-called Northern Storm Brigade..
The Brigade had urged on Sunday the families of the pilgrims to pressure Hizbullah to speed up the swap between the Lebanese captives and female prisoners in Syrian jails.
Zgheib added: “The kidnappers are responsible for stalling in providing the list of prisoners to the regime.”
The families of the pilgrims will respond in “the way they deem fit” to any harm that may be inflicted to the captives, he warned.
The pilgrims were abducted in Syria's Aleppo region in May 2012 as they were making their way back to Lebanon by land from pilgrimage in Iran.
Two of them have since been released, while the rest remain held in Aazaz.
The families of the captives have held Turkey mainly responsible for their ongoing abduction, vowing to target Turkish interests in Lebanon in order to pressure Ankara to exert efforts to release the pilgrims.
The kidnappers had demanded that female prisoners held in Syrian jails be released in exchange for the pilgrims.
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