Lebanese Shiites kidnap FSA rebels over Hezbollah capture

A Shiite Muslim clan in Lebanon has abducted several Syrians it said were rebel fighters in retaliation for the kidnapping of one of their relatives by the rebel Free Syrian Army in Damascus.

More than 20 Syrians had been kidnapped by the Meqdad clan, yesterday said Maher al-Meqdad, a relative of Hassan al-Meqdad, the man he said was captured in Damascus two days ago by the Free Syrian Army, which is fighting president Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

In remarks to Lebanon’s National News Agency, he said “the snowball would grow”, warning “Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey and their citizens” – an apparent threat to kidnap nationals from countries that back the rebels.

In a video broadcast by a Lebanon-based TV station, two men identified as members of the FSA were shown in the custody of masked gunmen from the Meqdad clan in green fatigues and armed with automatic rifles. They are reportedly being held in the Bekaa Valley area bordering Syria.

One of the detainees identified himself as a captain called Mohammed. The other said he was his assistant.

Maher al-Meqda said the abductions were a response to the capture of Hassan al-Meqdad in Damascus two days ago by the FSA. The rebels had said Meqdad had been sent to Syria by Lebanon’s Shiite militant group Hezbollah, one of Mr Assad’s regional allies.

Last night Sunni-led Saudi Arabia ordered its nationals to leave Lebanon for their own safety.