Hezbollah accused of attemped kidnapping

March 14 MPs on Tuesday accused Hezbollah “militants” of attempting to kidnap a Syrian national in the town of Arsal in the Bekaa region and condemned the assault by a Lebanese army patrol.

MPs Mohammad Kabbara, Khaled Daher and Mouin al-Merhebi said that “a group of men… including members of the Hezbollah’s militia entered Arsal on Monday night and attempted to kidnap a Syrian national.”

Following their meeting at Kabbara’s residence , the MPs said that residents of Arsal “peacefully confronted” the group and thwarted the attempt to kidnap the Syrian national “who is not wanted by the Lebanese judiciary.”

The MPs also also accused the Lebanese Army Intelligence of participating in the attempted kidnapping.

Several Syrian nationals have also been kidnapped in Lebanon. On October 11, Al-Jumhuriya newspaper reported that Internal Security Forces chief Achraf Rifi told the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee that “members of the Lebanese security forces assigned to protect the Syrian embassy in Lebanon kidnapped Syrians using embassy vehicles.”

In March, Syrian National Jassem Merii al-Jassem and his three brothers Chedid, Ahmad and Ali were abducted in Lebanon.

The Syrian National Council said earlier this month that there are 13 cases of “abductions” of Syrian opposition figures in Lebanon.

Syrian national Shibli al-Ayssami a Baath Party co-founder was kidnapped last May during his visit to his daughter in Aley, a summer resort town in Mount Lebanon.. His son Bashar said during an interview with Al-Jazeera television last week that his father is currently being held in Syria.

Ya Libnan interviewed several people in Aley last week where Ayssami was abducted and where his daughter Raja Sharafeddine lives and all strongly believe that Hezbollah arranged the kidnapping and delivered him to Syria . Hezbollah currently dominates the current cabinet which is headed by PM Nagib Mikati