Kidnapped Engineers Not Military Men: Iran Embassy in Damascus

Damascus, Jan 28, IRNA – Iranian Embassy Press Attaché Leva'a Roudbari in an interview released on Friday denied any relation between kidnapped Iranian engineers in Syria and armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Roudbari made the remarks in an interview with Syria's official TV network. “The kidnappers’ claims is baseless; Iran welcomes the kidnappers’ decision to free two of the kidnapped engineers,” Roudbari added. The official referred to the kidnapped engineer’s services to the Syrian nation and asked for their immediate release. “Iran’s policy is the immediate stop of violations in Syria and constructive negotiation between different groups,” the Iranian embassy's press attaché underlined. A group of armed Syria opposition has released a video showing seven Iranians kidnapped in Homs claiming that they are Iranian military personel. Last month, 7 Iranian engineers building a power plant in central Syria were kidnapped. On December 21, five Iranian electrical engineers were kidnapped on their way to a power plant in the troubled Syrian city of Homs by unknown gunmen. On Thursday, al-Jazeera, the Arabic-language satellite channel, broadcast amateur footage purportedly showing five of seven Iranians abducted by Syrian armed opposition in the besieged central city of Homs. A Syrian rebel who gave his name as Abu Bassem claimed that five of the men were allegedly Iranian revolutionary guard soldiers. Although the nearly 10-month-old US lead unrests in Syria, Damascus haves been relatively quieted in recent months, but violence in the capital has been on the rise in recent weeks. There are also reports on kidnap of more 11 Iranian pilgrims in Syria. Friday's report says a bus with 49 Iranians was stopped after leaving the town of Halab on Thursday. It says that gunmen abducted 11 young men from the group but let go the other passengers, who included women, elderly men and three children. Iranian pilgrims routinely visit Syria — Iran's closest ally in the Arab world — to pay homage to the Shi'a holy shrine of Lady Zeibab, Imam Ali's revered daughter. Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country. Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes. The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad. In October, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Bashar al-Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but the US and Zionist regime plots could spark some new unrests in certain parts of the country./end