DAMASCUS, October 12 (Itar-Tass) - Militants of the Islamic Liwa al-Tawhid group have put on the Internet a picture of passport of Russian citizen Konstantin Zhuravlev thus proving they are keeping him, a source at the Syrian security service said on Saturday. The source added the Islamists planned to put on the Internet recordings of interrogations, due shortly.
Earlier the Syrian security service said commenting on the information the Russian diplomats had been searching for the man: “Most likely, Zhuravlev is with the militants of the Islamic Liwa al-Tawhid group, which claims to have detained a “Russian spy.” The source added Konstantin Zhuravlev, born in 1081, who comes from Tomsk, had entered the Syrian territory illegally, thus having breached the local laws, and might be punished by a term in prison.
The source said the security service had information the Russian citizen had not been involved in collecting any secret information. He could not do so at least because he did not speak any Arabic. Konstantin Zhuravlev became missing on September 30 near the city of Aleppo.
The Russian embassy in Damascus said they did not have any information on the missing man. The source added “diplomats are working on the issue.”