Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said Lebanon is asking for revealing the fate of 745 citizens missing in Syria.
Najjar, in a television interview with NBN, said these citizens are divided into two main categories, convicts and kidnap victims.
The justice ministry should handle the convicts” issue, he said.
Najjar, however, did not say which department should follow up the issue of kidnap victims.
Najjar”s classification is the first by a Lebanese government official of the issue related to the fate of Lebanese citizens held in Syrian jails.
On the ongoing struggle between the state and Hezbollah in light of the upcoming elections, Najjar said that the “mood of Christian public opinion” in the 2009 parliamentary elections would depend on Hezbollah’s decision to either scare or attract public opinion.
“We will see if public opinion agrees with General Aoun or not,” the minister said in reference to the Hezbollah-allied Free Patriotic Movement leader. “I believe that March 14 will win the elections – and by that, I mean the opinions and beliefs of March 14, rather than the bloc.”
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Wednesday some Lebanese citizens were kidnapped by the Syrian army and allied militias in Lebanon.
The kidnapped citizens were taken to the neighboring country during the 30 years of Syrian military deployment in Lebanon, Geagea added.