Mouhannad and Ghaleb, aged 13 and 15, were abducted three months ago in the Bekaa Valley. (Courtesy of Sarah Abdallah)
BEIRUT — The father of two Syrian teenagers kidnapped three months ago in Baalbeck urged Lebanese army commander Gen. Joseph Aoun on Wednesday to intervene for their release, criticizing inaction by authorities.
In a brief public statement, Majd Aroub, the father of the two boys, that he had received a photo from the kidnappers of one of his children hanging by his feet from a ceiling. In a picture that has been circulating on social media, a child dressed in black pants, but whose face is hidden by a sweater, can be seen hanging in a room, with his feet bound by a rope.
Mouhannad and Ghaleb, aged 13 and 15, were abducted in the Bekaa Valley on their way home from school late last year.
"This case is in the hands of the army commander. You are the only one who can bring my children back and put pressure to close the illegal crossing points" between Lebanon and Syria, Aroub said. "I call on the United Nations and human rights associations as well as the ambassadors of Arab and European countries who have seen the photo of my son to act as if this child were theirs," he said.
Aroub criticized Lebanese authorities for not "showing any conscience," because he is "a Syrian refugee and employed in a thrift shop."
Recent weeks have seen several protests in the Bekaa Valley to demand the release of the two teenagers. The children's uncle, Mohammad Mcheik, claimed during one recent protest that the kidnappers of his nephews had called from a foreign phone number, demanded a ransom of $350,000 and threatened to sell the organs of their hostages.
The Lebanese army conducted searches last November at the homes of various suspected kidnappers in the Sharawneh neighborhood in Baalbeck, Bekaa.
Security incidents are frequent in Baalbeck — a area that is partially beyond the control of the state and where armed groups are rife.
Reporting contributed by Sara Abdallah.