Lebanese Citizen Louay Mansour Goes Missing in Damascus

Lebanese citizen Louay Mansour, 23, has been missing since last week in Syria, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported on Wednesday.

In the Tyre District town of Maaroub, Louay’s father, Mohammed, told NNA that his son went missing while on his way to his family’s home in the Syrian capital Damascus.

“Louay was buying some stuff from one of the shops on Abbasiyyin Street in Damascus and he was not carrying any identification papers as he had left them home before heading to buy some items,” the father added.

He noted that the family “contacted all Syrian security agencies, especially the Abbasiyyin police station in Damascus,” adding that none of them had any information about the fate of his son.

Louay’s father urged President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Miqati to take steps and help unveil the fate of his son.

On Monday, a Syrian rebel group kidnapped Lebanese national Hassan Salim al-Meqdad in Damascus, accusing him of being a sniper belonging to Hizbullah. The party and Meqdad’s family denied the claims.

Al-Meqdad family announced on Wednesday that its military wing has so far kidnapped more than 20 Free Syrian Army members in Lebanon to try to secure the release of Hassan.

It later said that it had abducted near Beirut a Turkish national of the Soufan family.

Syrian rebel groups have frequently accused Hizbullah -- which is closely allied with the regime of President Bashar Assad -- of interfering in the violence, though the group has consistently denied this.

Eleven Lebanese Shiite pilgrims were kidnapped in the Syrian town of Aazaz in Aleppo province on May 22. They entered Syria from neighboring Turkey and were on their way home from pilgrimage in Iran.