Al-Zoubi: Nasrallah's statements hindered hostage release

The head of the Party of Free Syrians, which claims to have mediated between the abductors of the Lebanese pilgrims and Turkish officials, said Sunday that developments were on track until the abductors took issue with Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's statements, according to El-Nashra. In a statement, Ibrahim bin Abdel-Aziz al-Zoubi said, "Things had been moving in the right direction and the final touches were going to be put on the handover process if not for the abductors' reactions to Nasrallah's statements," said Zoabi. He went on to say that Nasrallah's criticism of the Syrian opposition and praise of the Syrian regime, including its head, President Bashar Assad, offended the kidnappers and affected the process at the last minute. Zoabi added that “The detainees were on Turkish territory near the Syrian border, as reported by those who’ve had contact with the group that abducted them, as well as what has been said by high-ranking Lebanese and Turkish officials.” Zoabi also denied that his own group, the Party of Free Syrians, had anything to do with the kidnapping of the Lebanese pilgrims, who were taken captive nearly one week ago in Syria while returning from a visit to Shiite holy sites in Iran. Zoabi said, “The Party of Free Syrians has nothing to do with the kidnapping, and is against the terrorizing and intimidation of unsuspecting civilians. In fact, it was playing the role of mediator and its role ended when the detainees arrived in Turkey.” The link, if any, between the Party of Free Syrians and the Free Syrian Army, which plays an active role in opposing the Syrian regime, was not immediately clear. Some of the Lebanese women briefly detained reported that their abductors were members of the Free Syrian Army. Zoabi criticized those who blamed the Syrian opposition for the incident and noted that information describing his party’s involvement in the case was related to its role as a mediator.