Syrian Islamists: 94 Hostages Held Since August Available for ‘Swap’

Will Trade Them for 2,000 Detainees

Syrian Islamist fighters from an as-yet-undetermined faction have claimed credit for an August kidnapping in the Latakia Province, and confirmed today that they still have the 94 women and children they took that day.

The 94 were captured when the Islamists attacked a number of Alawite villages, and the video the rebels released offered to “swap” the 94 captives for 2,000 detained rebels held in Syrian prisons.

The video was broadcast on al-Jazeera, and showed the captive women and children held in a walled-in area. It was unclear where they were held, or if the video was even authentic.

The Qatari government, which owns al-Jazeera, was involved in brokering a recent hostage swap of 13 captured nuns held by al-Qaeda in return for a number of detained women.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.