By Zeina Al Chofi; Translation by Yusra Ahmed
SWEIDA (Zaman Al Wasl)- Tension prevailed in Druze-dominated province of Sweida when senior officer in regime security threatened a prominent cleric of reprisal.
In details, the issue started when a young man “Mazeed Judiyeh” from Sweida was abducted in Dara’a, which provoked his brother to abduct 9 people from Dara’a, claimed to be involved in Mazeed’s abduction. He left the abductees to Sheikh Wahid al-Baloos to negotiate for releasing his brother.
In his turn, Sheikh al-Baloos requested the security forces to stay away from the matter, because they could not protect Arab Mountain’s people. He insisted that any negotiation about the abduction should be with him in person, moreover, he held the security forces responsibility for any interference and clashes with people in regard to the matter.
Sheikh al-Baloos’s expectations took place, as a group from the criminal security forces tried to attack Mezeed’s house to arrest his brother under accusation of forming a terrorists’ gang.
It took Sheikh al-Baloos minutes to arrive to the house, where he demanded the security forces to leave, then he slammed a sergeant, while other Clerics opened fire in air to hint to the forces to leave, according to eyewitnesses.
Jodiyeh’s relative reported that he was abducted after he had gone to Dara’a for relief task, he disappeared for a while, then his parents were blackmailed by the abductors to pay 10 million a ransom to release him.
An activist from Sweida thinks that some people in Dara’a use the revolution to abduct Sweida’s residents, but the new development in recent abduction was the Clerics’ involvement in negotiations and preventing regime’s security forces from interference because they think that they might be partners in abduction.
The activist revealed that many question marks surrounding Sheikh al-baloos, especially the sudden fame and importance he had in Sweida, “but that does not prevent us from respecting his attempts to free abducted people and facing the security forces” added.
Many initiatives were put forward to release the abductees in order to reduce the tension between the two neighbouring cities.
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