Aazaz Hostage Relative Held over Alleged Links to Kidnappers of Turks
Mohammed Saleh, a relative of one of the Aazaz abductees, was arrested on Sunday on charges of having links to the kidnappers of the two Turkish pilots.
“The (Internal Security Forces') Intelligence Bureau managed to identify all the kidnappers of the two Turks and it arrested Mohammed Saleh on suspicion that he's involved in the operation,” Future TV reported.
Earlier on Sunday, al-Jadeed television said Saleh was arrested after authorities “intercepted phone calls proving his links to the abductors of the Turks.”
“The families of the Aazaz abductees have given security agencies a one-hour deadline to release Mohammed Saleh, threatening to obstruct aviation at the Beirut airport,” al-Jadeed added.
But Adham Zgheib, another relative of one of the Lebanese abductees, told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) that the families have no intention to block the road leading to and from the Rafik Hariri International Airport and that they will rather stage a sit-in outside the headquarters of the ISF.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Abbas Zgheib, who has been tasked by the Higher Islamic Shiite Council to follow up the case of the abducted pilgrims, said a Lebanese security agency had arrested Saleh between 6:00-7:00 p.m. and that he was in a car with his family.
“Why was Saleh arrested and what are the legal grounds for his detention? If he was arrested over claims that phone calls were intercepted in the case of the abducted Turks, then they have to arrest all the honorable people in Lebanon,” said Zgheib in an interview with the National News Agency.
He noted that the families of the abductees were threatening to escalate their protests although he denied that they have set a specific deadline and said he was trying to pacify their anger.
Referring to the case of Salafist activist Shadi al-Mawlawi, Zgheib said: “All hell broke loose in the past over the arrest of a terror suspect and ministers and prime ministers were mobilized to release him and transport him in their cars, so what is the justification for the arrest of a person whose crime is that his relative was abducted more than a year ago amid total negligence (by Lebanese officials)?”
Later on Sunday, Zgheib told NNA that the abductees' families will not make any escalatory steps and that they will give a chance to mediations.
A Turkish pilot and co-pilot were kidnapped by gunmen on Friday on the airport road.
The attack prompted Turkey to issue a travel warning urging its citizens to avoid unnecessary travel to Lebanon and those already present in the country to leave.
The relatives of the pilgrims held in Aazaz were quick to deny having any links to the abduction.
Eleven pilgrims were kidnapped 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 in Aazaz.
Their relatives have held Turkey responsible for their ongoing abduction.
They have repeatedly vowed to take action against Turkish interests in Lebanon in order to pressure Ankara to release the captives.
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