http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/surge-in-violence-killings-across-syria-un-security-council-set-to-meet/2012/01/27/gIQAKiVJVQ_story.html
Iranians abducted were moved out from Syria to Lebanon
(DP-News - agencies)
SYRIA\IRAN- IRNA reported on Thursday that 11 Iranian citizens were kidnapped while on a pilgrimage in Syria.
11 Iranian pilgrims were kidnapped by armed gangs in Syria while en route from the capital Damascus to the Northwestern city of Aleppo. The incident occurred on Thursday when the bus carrying Iranian pilgrims was stormed by unidentified gunmen.
The gunmen have contacted the relatives of one abducted passenger in Tehran, confirming the abduction of the Iranian nationals and demanding an unspecified ransom.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has called on the Syrian government to make sure that the Iranian pilgrims who have recently been abducted in Syria are in good health and make every effort to obtain the immediate release of them.
According to the Associated Press, a bus with 49 Iranians was stopped after leaving the town of Halab on Thursday and the gunmen abducted 11 young men from the group but let go the other passengers, who included women, elderly men and three children.
While the whereabouts of some 11 Iranian nationals abducted in Syria on January 26 still remains unknown, a new video released on the internet shows five of the seven Iranian engineers and technicians kidnapped last month in the troubled city of Homs are still alive. The video attempts to show the men making confessions claiming that they were members of Iran's revolutionary guard’s corp. the IRGC and that they were involved in military operations in Syria.
The latest video claims that the five hostages in the picture were IRGC members by simply referring to one of their ID cards. The spokesman for the abductors has recently claimed that the Iranian abductees are linked to Iranian armed forces, saying that two of them will be released in the near future.
According to Iran's embassy in Damascus the al-Farouq has announced that it would soon release two of the seven hostages. This is while Iran's foreign ministry has condemned the kidnappings and has called for the safe and secure release of all the hostages including the seven engineers and the 11 pilgrims kidnapped last Thursday.
The press attaché at the Iranian Embassy in Damascus has expressed satisfaction with abductors’ decision to release two Iranian engineers.
The press attaché also denied the claim that the abducted engineers and technicians are affiliated with Iranian armed forces.
In December 2011, unidentified gunmen also abducted seven Iranian engineers and technicians in the restive Syrian city of Homs.
In January, a previously unheard of group, called “movement against the Shiite tide in Syria,” claimed responsibility for the abduction of Iranian engineers and technicians and warned Iran of the consequences of supporting the Syrian government.