Flurry of hostage releases in Lebanon and Syria

There were signs of a breakthrough in the case of the Syrian hostages in Lebanon after the Meqdad family clan said Saturday that it would release all but four of its captives. Meanwhile, the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) freed one of 11 Lebanese pilgrims it kidnapped in Aleppo three months ago. The FSA said that Hussein Ali Omar’s release came in response to a request by head of the Committee of Muslim Scholars in Lebanon Sheikh Hasan Qaterji. The Committee’s press officer, Moneer Rokia, expressed gratitude to the rebels. “We thank them for releasing Omar, although the move came late,” Rokia told The Daily Star. He expressed disappointment that the rebels did not keep their promise in freeing two of the hostages as in the first batch. The scholars issued a statement later Saturday urging the abductors to release the 10 remaining pilgrims. The committee has been involved in efforts to win the release of the Shiite hostages, who were snatched in Syria on May 22 while on their way home from a pilgrimage to Iran. Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu telephoned Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to inform them that Omar would be flown to Beirut aboard a private Turkish plane later Saturday. "I wasn't kidnapped and was not a captive; I was a guest of the rebels," Omar told Al-Jazeera satellite channel upon his release. Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Omar’s release was a goodwill gesture and thanked all the parties involved in efforts to secure the pilgrims’ freedom, including the Committee of Muslim Scholars. Lebanese security sources told The Daily Star that head of Lebanon’s General Security Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim had been informed by the Turkish intelligence Saturday of the FSA’s intention to release Omar. The sources said news of the release was relayed to Ibrahim during a meeting he held Saturday morning with the Turkish ambassador to Lebanon and was also conveyed to Omar's son and Sheikh Abbas Zogheib, a spokesperson for the families of the hostages. The Meqdads’ announcement that they would set free all but four of the more than 20 Syrians they hold came shortly after news of Omar’s freedom. However, it has not been established that there was a link between the two acts. “We have started releasing the Syrians in our custody. We will keep only four,” Maher Meqdad, the family spokesman, told The Daily Star by telephone. Maher did not reveal the specific reason the family decided to release the bulk of the hostages, but said that the clan had noticed the “seriousness” of the Lebanese government in ending the hostage crisis. He vowed that the Meqdads would cooperate with the state until the matter was resolved. He added that the four men the Meqdad clan planned to keep were leading members of the FSA, identifying them as Hammad Rajab Allawish, Ibrahim Yeyha al-Ahmad, Qassem Mohammad al-Dsouki and Maher Mustafa Abboud. When asked how the Syrians were being released, Maher said the Meqdad clan was driving each one home. Security sources have identified those released so far by the Meqdads as Maher Rabih, Nawwaf al-Hamad, Nasser Allawish, Mufid al-Zabel, Mohammad al-Latif Musa and Ayman al-Muslimani. The clan kidnapped the Syrians in retaliation for the mid-August abduction of kinsman Hassan Meqdad in Damascus. The family is also holding Turkish businessman Aydin Tufan Tekin. Tekin was snatched upon arrival in Beirut on Aug. 15 to pressure Turkey to help ensure Hassan’s release. Another Turkish citizen, Abdulbasit Arslan, was kidnapped on Aug. 17, but the Meqdad family has denied involvement in his abduction. The clan has accused the FSA of Hassan’s abduction, but FSA commander Riad al-Asaad has denied that the Syrian rebel group is holding him. From DailyStar