North Lebanon residents release kidnapped man

Residents from Wadi Khaled, north Lebanon, released Monday one of several men they kidnapped a day earlier in a retaliatory abduction. The residents released Hekmat Youssef Khalil, an Alawite Lebanese, after they received assurances that Khaled Ahmad Suleiman, who was abducted Sunday and later taken to Syria, would be handed over to the secretary general of the Syrian-Lebanese Council. Following the kidnapping Sunday of Suleiman, an active supporter of the Syrian opposition and better known as “Abu Rous,” residents of Wadi Khaled erected checkpoints on roads connecting Alawite and Sunni villages and carried out retaliatory kidnappings. At least seven people were kidnapped by the residents but most were released barring Khalil and two Alawite Syrians. The Lebanese Army deployed Sunday to prevent tensions between residents. Fearing that sectarian strife might break out, Wadi Khaled families called Sunday in a meeting for the release of Suleiman and all others, highlighting the importance of coexistence.