Terrorists Kidnapped Thousands of Syrians

DAMASCUS – Syrian Minister of State for National Reconciliation Affairs has said that thousands of Syrians have been kidnapped by armed terrorist groups and the number continues to increase.

“We do not have the exact numbers. Thousands [have been kidnapped by the militants], and the number keeps growing. All estimates are approximate,” Haidar told Sputnik news agency

He noted that the exchange of prisoners for kidnapped residents was one of the options, referring to last week’s Syrian media reports that Damascus was considering an agreement with armed groups on the exchange of kidnapped civilians for jailed militants.

“But in this case, we should be talking about the intentions of the kidnappers and militants, not the government, which is always willing [to solve this issue],” Haidar added, according to the agency.

 The minister said that the government was hoping for the peaceful resolution of the problematic situation in Waer neighborhood of the city of Homs.

“We do not want to make residents leave the neighborhood, even militants, who are trying to negotiate their status. We want to exonerate them, so that they could help rebuild the country, rather than lose them,” the minister stated.

Haidar said that the government had to find a way to force out the militants unwilling to negotiate or it would have to resort to a military operation against terrorists.

The minister hailed Russia’s important role in national reconciliation process in Syria as it has been able to contact with the sides that oppose Damascus and to communicate with those who want to receive rehabilitation and those who avoid contacts with the Syrian authorities, despite all the granted assistance to them.

Haidar noted the role of the Russian center for Syrian reconciliation.

“The Russian reconciliation center is operating across all the territory of Syria, not only in the eastern Damascus province, and its work completes the role of political and military support in coordination with the Syrian government… We have reached a very high level of coordination that resulted in creation of joint groups,” Haidar said.

H.M