Fate of kidnapped Syrian bishops still unknown
As the one-year anniversary of the kidnapping of Bishops Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi in Aleppo approaches, questions persist regarding their fate and the identity of the kidnappers.
April 22, 2014, falls two days after the “day of Resurrection” — that is, two days after the Easter holiday for the various Christian sects in Lebanon and Syria. However, another headline will be marking this day, namely the first anniversary of the kidnapping near Aleppo of Bishops Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi. April 22 will mark a tragic event. As the memory of this event lingers, the options on the fate of the two bishops are few.
Analyzing the available data on the kidnapping and comparing this to similar kidnappings inevitably raises the question of why there is no trace of the two kidnapped bishops. And why isn’t there any evidence that they are still alive? Why didn’t the kidnappers publicly claim responsibility for their operation or reveal their identity and issue their demands? Why didn’t they show a picture of them or allow us to hear their voices, to raise the bar of their demands in return for the two prominent kidnapped figures whom they captured a year ago?
For the sake of comparison, let’s look at a similar kidnapping operation that occurred near the same location, 11 months before the two bishops were abducted. A group of armed rebels in Azaz, near the border with Turkey, on May 22, 2012, kidnapped a number of Lebanese citizens returning from a pilgrimage in Iraq. The kidnapping soon turned out to be made on political and sectarian grounds, as the kidnapped belonged to the Shiite sect. This affiliation made the kidnappers accuse the Lebanese citizens of supporting Hezbollah, which backs the Syrian authorities in their fight against armed opposition groups.
However, in this case it was not long before the kidnappers disclosed their identity and revealed their demands. They even organized media-covered visits by the parents of the kidnapped. This public dealing with the kidnapping paved the way for political, security and financial approaches to the problem. The location of the kidnappers, the identities of the hostages and the identities of the kidnappers became known, which led to communications and negotiations between Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and Qatar. The negotiations culminated in the release of all the Lebanese detainees on Oct. 19, 2013, after two hostages had been released at an earlier stage.
