Lebanese clan kidnaps 30 Syrian rebels

A Lebanese family clan said Wednesday it is holding 30 members of the Free Syrian Army because the FSA kidnapped one of its members. "We have more than 30 Syrian rebels, some of whom have been wounded in the confrontations with the Syrian regime," Maher Meqdad, a member of the Meqdad clan, told The Daily Star. Also Wednesday, Syrian state television reported that three people were hurt in a bombing outside a Damascus hotel used by the U.N. observer mission and Syrian military headquarters injured three people.. In Beirut, the Meqdad clan made what appeared to be threats against the embassies of some of the Syrian opposition's supporters in the region, The Star said. Security was tightened around the Saudi, Qatari and Turkish embassies as a result. Hassan Salim al-Meqdad's kidnappers said he was abducted because he was a sniper for the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which backs the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, The New York Times reported. The Star said the FSA denied being involved. His family said Hassan went to Damascus because he owed large amounts of money in Lebanon. Hezbollah denies any link to him. The FSA claimed responsibility for the Damascus blast. Initial reports said none of the injured was a member of the U.N. mission. CNN said the bomb was attached to a diesel tanker parked near the Dama Rose hotel, which houses U.N. personnel. FSA Lt. Abu al-Nour said eight explosive devices were placed inside a building where high ranking military officers loyal to Assad meet each morning, al-Arabiya reported. The building is near the hotel used by U.N. monitors. Deputy Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad called the bombing "a criminal act aimed at distorting Syria's image," the BBC said. The Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star said television footage showed the burnt out wreckage of a tanker and other vehicles in the area, cordoned off by security personnel. People were reported fleeing the north-central district of Qabun, fearing a military offensive, the BBC reported. Qabun was the scene of a reported massacre of 23 people in their homes three weeks ago. In Aleppo, regime forces fighting to reclaim Syria's largest city shelled several rebel-held areas, the regime and opposition forces said. None of these accounts could be verified because of the limits on reporting in Syria. The official Syrian Arab News Agency said a number of "terrorists" -- its term for rebel fighters -- had been killed or wounded. Wednesday's bombing occurred as members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation attended an emergency summit in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, where they were expected to endorse a decision to suspend Syria from the world's largest pan-Islamic bloc Wednesday night, Arab media reports said. The Daily Star said the move by the OIC, which represents 1.5 billion Muslims, is aimed at isolating Syria, but is viewed as a symbolic act that will have little effect on the Syrian regime. Iran opposes the move.