Israel Matzav

New kidnapping threat for IDF troops

Al-AP reports that a previously unknown Syrian terror group has threatened to kidnap IDF troops for purposes of exchanging them for sixteen Syrians some of whom have allegedly have been held in Israel for 22 years.

In a statement faxed to foreign news agencies in Damascus, a group calling itself the Men of the National Syrian Resistance threatened to "take the necessary measures" to secure the release of 16 Syrians jailed in Israel.

It listed the names of four men it said have been detained in Israel for 22 years. The group said the men had been charged with "resisting Israeli occupation in the Golan."
"The continuing detention of our comrades makes us exert all-out efforts to secure their release," the statement said. The group called theirs a "humanitarian and just demand."

Referring to Hizbullah guerrillas, whose July 12 capture of two IDF soldiers sparked a 34-day war with Israel, the statement said: "The Lebanese model, the model of Hizbullah, is not so far from us concerning implementation and preparations to release our detainees."

Olmert's weakness continues to give rise to new threats to Israelis' security.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:39 PM