Syrian Opposition Leader: Uproar over Kidnapping of Pilgrims Increased Demand for Ransom
The tumult following the kidnapping of 11 Lebanese pilgrims in Syria last month pushed the abductors to raise their ransom from $300,000 to $4 million, a Syrian opposition leader based in Paris said.
The leader, who refused to be identified, told As Safir daily published on Tuesday that the kidnappers first asked Hizbullah and the families of the 11 men for a $300,000 ransom.
The rebel Free Syrian Army has denied any involvement in the kidnapping that took place in the Syrian province of Aleppo as the pilgrims were returning home by bus after a pilgrimage to Shiite holy sites in Iran.
But the unidentified Syrian leader said the abductors belong to a group with close ties to the FSA and are based in the western neighborhood of Aazaz city that lies near the Turkish border.
He told As Safir that the “complicated case harms the essential cause of the opposition and shoves it into a labyrinth organized by parties that have nothing to do with political work.”
He alleged that he received an offer to mediate and hear the demands of the kidnappers to facilitate the release of the pilgrims after they asked for a $300.000 ransom.
But they began asking for $1 million after their case stirred a media debate and top Lebanese officials were involved to secure their release and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah called for restraint in Beirut’s southern suburbs where residents threatened escalation if the men were not freed.
The kidnappers were later divided into three groups and asked for a $4 million ransom to share the huge amount of money among them, the opposition leader added.
The pilgrims appeared in a video aired on Arab satellite television Al-Jazeera on Saturday.
The men, who appeared to be in good health, said they are fine.
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