| August 2008 - News |
| August 2008 |
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Syria welcomes home long lost fighters
Syria received the bodies of 114 Syrian, Palestinian and Arab fighters on July 23, released following a deal between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The Syrian Government organised a large reception on the Syrian-Lebanese border to welcome home the bodies of the fighters, attended by leaders from the Damascus-based Palestinian groups Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC), along with a number of Syrian ministers and senior Ba’ath party members. Several thousand people gathered at the Jdaideh checkpoint to witness the delivery of coffins containing the remains of the fighters, draped in the flag of their country of birth. Among the crowd were family members of the slain fighters. “I am proud to receive my martyred brother,” Ahmid Shararah said. “What is happening here today proves that the Palestinian issue is still alive in the hearts of Syrians and Palestinians.” The 114 corpses are made up of 63 Syrian-Palestinians, 37 Syrians and 14 other bodies from Libya, Iraq, Tunis and Nigeria. The bodies were among 197 handed over to Hezbollah in a prisoner exchange with Israel on July 16, which also saw the release of the last five Lebanese prisoners in Israeli custody, including Samir Kuntar, the longest-serving prisoner of war in an Israeli jail. In exchange, Hezbollah turned over the bodies of two Israeli soldiers captured in a July 12, 2006 cross-border raid that sparked the devastating 34-Day War in Lebanon. |
