Special to WorldTribune.com

ANKARA — President Bashar Assad is said to have ordered the
abduction or assassination of the Sunni rebel leadership in Lebanon and
Turkey.

Opposition sources said the Syrian regime has sent agents to Lebanon and
Turkey to assassinate or abduct Sunni rebel leaders. They said
several plots were foiled in Turkey while Assad agents were said to have
been successful in killing opposition figures in Lebanon.

“We’re pleased with the protection we’re getting from Turkey, but
unfortunately, the Lebanese military and security services are helping Assad kill our people,” an opposition source said.

The sources said Turkey has arrested more than a dozen suspected Syrian agents in 2012 in plots to kill Sunni rebel leaders. On May 21, Turkish police arrested two Turks and a Syrian accused of being ordered to abduct the commander of the Free Syrian Army, Col. Riad Assad.

The FSA commander has confirmed Turkey’s successes in foiling Syrian attempts to abduct the rebels. Assad, no relation to the Syrian president, said he has come under numerous threats of abduction and assassination.

“Turkish authorities have foiled almost 20 plans to kidnap FSA
commanders,” the FSA commander, based along the Syrian-Turkish border, said.

The sources said Turkish authorities usually do not inform FSA of plots
by the Syrian regime. They said agents of Damascus sought to recruit members
of the Turkish Army or security forces to gain access to FSA commanders in the
Turkish refugee camp of Abaydin.

Sunni rebels were said to have abducted and assassinated scores of
regime agents and soldiers. On May 22, 12 Lebanese Shi’ites, some of them
suspected of being agents of the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah, were abducted
near the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.

Hours later, thousands of Hizbullah members and supporters rampaged
through Beirut in protest. On May 23, Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan
Mansour said 11 of the captives had been located and expected to be released
soon.

“We don’t want to create a conflict,” Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan
Nasrallah said. “That is illegitimate. Those Syrian immigrants are our
brothers, and we don’t want any violent actions, which do not help the
cause.”

  Aleppo, Bashar Assad, Col. Riad Assad, Free Syrian Army, Hizbullah, Lebanese Shi’ites, Opposition: Assad targeting rebel leaders based in Lebanon, Turkey, Turkish refugee camp of Abaydin