- Title: LEBANON: ISRAEL'S LAST LEBANESE PRISONERS GET RAPTUROUS WELCOME HOME.
- Date: 11th September 1985
- Summary: 1. GVs Buses carrying prisoners on mountain road with armoured cars escort. (3 SHOTS) 0.28 2. GVs Red Cross buses and cars leading convoy. (2 SHOTS) 0.44 3. SVs Prisoners arriving and greeted by friends and relatives. (6 SHOTS) 2.02 InitialsBB/JS Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 26th September 1985 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: RAS-AL BAYADA, BEKAA VALLEY, LEBANON
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA99H7XDL97PN605U98WEMPDYNG
- Story Text: RAS-AL BAYADA, BEKAA VALLEY, LEBANON
The last group of prisoners detained by Israel during its three-year occupation of south Lebanon returned home to a noisy welcome on September 10, although armed groups were said to have abducted two of the newly-released men. The 119 prisoners, who included 34 Palestinians, were handed to the. Red Cross at the Ras AL-Bayada post held by the pro-Israeli South Lebanon Army (SLA), just north of the Israeli border: SLA fighters there allegedly abducted one of the released detainees, named Wafiq Hassan. They had earlier arrested a man waiting there for his brother, who was also among the released prisoners. Shi'ite Moslem Amal militiamen seized another prisoner Sami Farhat, from a Red Cross bus, and returned him only after strong protests from International Red Cross officials. The Red Cross convoy carrying the released detainees was escorted by hundreds of cars and militia jeeps, horns blaring as they drove past crowds lining the coast road to Tyre. Tearful women hugged their returning menfolk amid the din of drums and cymbals from a percussion band. Amal militiamen manned checkpoints along the route. Amal flag as flew from rooftops and cars were decked with posters of Amal chief Nabih Berri, Amal founder Imam Musa Sadr and Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Sunni Moslem fundamentalist groups were also on the scene. White-robed clerics of the Sidon-based Islamic Society were there to greet the prisoners as armed militants in baggy white tunics, skull-caps and scarves stood guard.
<strong>Source: REUTERS - MARWAN MAKDESI</strong> - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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