Search This Blog

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Monday, March 10, 2014

Nuns kidnapped in Syria's Maaloula set free

Nuns, who were freed after being held by rebels for over three months, arrive at the Syrian border with Lebanon at the Jdaydeh Yaboos crossing, early March 10, 2014.(Reuters / Khaled al-Hariri ) 


Thirteen Lebanese and Syrian nuns who were kidnapped by rebels from the historic Christian town of Maaloula in December have been released and are now returning back to Syria after traveling through Lebanon.

The nuns arrived in the village of Jdeidet Yabus on the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon late on Sunday.

Lebanon's intelligence agency, General Directorate of General Security, earlier confirmed that the Orthodox nuns were freed and taken into Lebanese custody.
The nuns were transferred to the village of Arsal, western Lebanon, earlier in the week, the source told Reuters on Sunday.

Their whereabouts and condition remained unknown for over three months, with first reports of the abduction emerging in early December as Islamist rebels seized the ancient quarter of Maaloula, a predominantly Christian town and UNESCO heritage site in eastern Syria.
"What the Syrian army achieved in Yabroud facilitated this process," Syrian Greek Orthodox Bishop Louka Khoury speaking to reporters at the border.


Kidnapped nuns arrive at Jdeidet Yabus on the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon after an arduous nine-hour journey that took them from Yabrud into Lebanon, and then back into Syria on March 10, 2014.( AFP Photo / Louai Beshara)
Kidnapped nuns arrive at Jdeidet Yabus on the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon after an arduous nine-hour journey that took them from Yabrud into Lebanon, and then back into Syria on March 10, 2014.( AFP Photo / Louai Beshara)

It is unclear exactly who had held the nuns and why they had been released now. However, the Syrian Observatory for human Rights, a monitoring group that largely sides with the opposition, identified the rebels who took the nuns as militants from the Nusra Front, an affiliate of Al-Qaeda and one of the radical groups fighting President Bashar Assad’s forces. Lebanon’s General Security Chief the head of Qatari intelligence were reported to have played a major role in the negotiations.

Earlier, the Nusra Front had reportedly been demanding the release of 500 militants held in Syria and Lebanon in return for the nuns, according to the Al-Mayadeen satellite channel.
The Observatory, as well as a rebel source, said that the release of the nuns had been agreed as part of a prisoner swap with scores of women held in President Bashar al-Assad’s jails.
“The deal is for the release of 138 women from Assad’s prisons,” the rebel source said, Reuters reports.
Syrian Greek Orthodox Bishop Louka al-Khoury told reporters that the release marks progress. "What the Syrian army achieved in Yabroud facilitated this process," he said.

The nuns were kidnapped during fierce fighting between rebel forces and the Syrian army for control of strategic Damascus – Homs highway, which passes close to Maaloula.
Soon after being abducted, the nuns were moved to the nearby rebel-held town of Yabroud 20km away. The date for the release was reportedly set to coincide with a ceasefire in Yabroud, which began at sunset on Sunday.

Later in December a video of the nuns was broadcast on Al-Jazeera. A commentator said that the nuns were in good health and were waiting for their release to return to their convent in Maaloula, the Monastery of Mar Thekla. The video did not give any indication of where the nuns were.
Syria's Christian minority has sometimes found itself caught in the middle of the fighting in the civil war, which, having started in March of 2011, is quickly approaching its third year and is becoming increasingly sectarian.


Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma pose for a group photo with orphans at the Mar Taqla convent in Maalula, 60 kms north of Damascus, on April 27, 2008.(AFP Photo / STR)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma pose for a group photo with orphans at the Mar Taqla convent in Maalula, 60 kms north of Damascus, on April 27, 2008.(AFP Photo / STR)

No comments:

Post a Comment


Category

1915 Armenian Genocide 21st-century Christian martyrs‎ africa al assad Al Qaeda albania anti-Morsi protests Apostles Arab Christian Arab-Orthodox Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov army Asia Australia bank BBC Belarusian Orthodox Church Bethlehem bible Bible movies bible translations bulgaria Bulgarian Orthodox Church Byzantine byzantine music C.I.A. Cairo China Christian Armenians christianity christians christmas Christmas Traditions Christmas tree church Conspiracy Constantinople coptic church copts cyprus daily news Documentary Easter economy Ecumenical Patriarch Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople egypt egypt pope elder Elder Ephraim of Vatopaidi elder joseph of vatopaidi elder Paisios Elder Porphyrios english subtitles Epiphany europe food Fr Seraphim Rose france FREE books FREE Greetings Cards fyrmacedonia Georgian Orthodox Church germany greece greek greek food greek music Greek Orthodox Church Greek Orthodox Easter greek orthodoxy health and medicine Holy Fathers Holy Scripture Holy Tradition icon Internet Interview iran islam islamist israel Italy jerusalem Jesus Christ jews jihad killed libya mafia Middle East Miraculous Icon monastery money mother of god mount athos Mount Sinai Movie Trailers music muslim muslims news orthodox church Orthodox Church in America pakistan Palestine patristic tradition photo photos picture politics pope Prophecy protests quotes recipes religion romania romanian orthodox church Russia Russian Orthodox Church saint Saints science Shroud of Turin Son of God spy St Nicholas of Myra syria The Mount Athos Food Evolution theotokos travel turkey tv UK Ukraine Ukrainian Orthodox Church usa Vatican vatopaidi video war Watch FREE full movie world
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...