Nasrallah Condemns Abduction Of 12 Shia Pilgrims

Beirut, May 23, IRNA – Hezbollah Secretary General Sayed Hassan Nasrllah condemned the abduction of 12 Shia pilgrims by Syrian armed opposition on Tuesday, in their way back home from Iran. Nasrollah asked the families of victims to be calm and ensured them that the government of Lebanon and Hezbollah will pursue the freedom of kidnapped pilgrims. He appealed for calm and warned his followers against revenge attacks targeting Syrians, urging protesters not to block the roads. 'We will work day and night until these beloved people are with us,' Nasrallah added. Some Lebanese took to the streets of Beirut in protest after Syrian rebels kidnapped 12 Lebanese pilgrims in northern Syria on Tuesday. The Lebanese pilgrims were on their way home from a religious pilgrimage in Iran when rebels intercepted their vehicles in Syria's Aleppo province and abducted the men, Hezbollah's Manar TV station said. The women were in a 'safe place,' Manar reported, without elaborating. Lebanese security officials confirmed the kidnapping. Lebanese took to the streets of Beirut's southern sector, a Shia area, and burned tires to protest the abductions. Syria has been experiencing unrest with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards. 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 unrest in certain parts of the country./end