Sheikh Abbas Zgheib, who has been tasked by the Higher Islamic Shiite Council to follow up the case of the abducted Lebanese pilgrims in Syria, defended the right of the relatives of the captives to target Turkish interests in Lebanon in order to pressure Ankara to release them, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Anbaa on Sunday. He said: “The relatives have every right to take any appropriate escalatory measure they see fit to harm Turkish interests in Lebanon.” “Any action they take to that end will be legitimate and just,” he stressed. On the abduction of two Turkish pilots in Lebanon on Friday, he said: “The Lebanese state has the right to intervene to resolve this issue, but it should in return fairly deal with this issue and not simply seek to appease Turkey.” “The lack of any decisive official Lebanese position on the pilgrims' abduction prompted the kidnapping of the pilots by the Zuwar al-Imam Rida group,” Zgheib explained. “The group cannot be blamed if its goal was to ensure the release of the pilgrims,” he stressed. “The Turkish state is the only side that should be blamed and condemned for its attempts to stall the release of the captives,” he added. He also said that the March 14 forces should be blamed as well because its positions have only encouraged the Turkish stances. Asked if the pilots' abduction will harm General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim's efforts to release the pilgrims, Zgheib replied: “The members of the follow up committee on the pilgrims' kidnapping understand the good intentions of the Zuwar al-Imam Rida group.” “The group realized that the approach of negotiations to resolve the case will not yield any results and it therefore abducted the pilots believing that a counter-kidnapping may pressure the captors to release the pilgrims,” he noted.
[ed notes:i completly agree,no harm is done,this is trade..and negotiations to secure release of pilgrims for their families,period..without such actions,turkey will give families run around....
No comments:
Post a Comment