By Ashraf Abdul Wahab.
Tripoli, 23 June 2014:
Eleven Janour residents, including three children, kidnapped on Friday, have been freed following a deal between elders from Warshefana and Janzour district. Three Warshefana men, arrested on Thursday on suspicion of criminal activity, were also released.
The kidnappers had demanded their release as the price for freezing their hostages.
The exchange followed a meeting yesterday by both areas’ councils of elders to discuss the abductions. It was also attended by the head of Janzour security directorate.
At the meeting, the Warshefana elders apologised and condemned the kidnapping of innocent people from Janzour, including children. They also expressed readiness to find solutions to such crimes and stated that their council will not provide “cover” for those breaking the law.. They went on to discuss ways of finding lasting solutions to security breaches.
For his part, Janzour’s Security Director presented the results of investigations of the three Warshefana whose arrest sparked the kidnappings. The individuals had been stopped whe because their car had had tinted windows and no license plates. They were found to be in possession of weapons and masks and were promptly arrested, he said.
Two of the suspects were subsequently identified as car thieves by some local residents whose vehicles had been stolen, he said. As for the third suspect, there were no crimes that could be linked to him, so he was released.
Yesterday’s meeting resulted in an agreement in which the Shura Council of the Warshefana agreed to compensate Janzour victims of the robberies perpetrated by the first two suspects. In return, the Janzour Shura Council agreed to drop all charges. The Warshefana also agreed to facilitate the immediate release of all those who had been kidnapped.
It was also agreed that a committee should be formed to liaise between the two sides and try and resolve any security problems in future. [/restrict]
