CAIRO (Reuters) -An armed group briefly held the governor of Syria’s Suwayda province hostage at the town hall on Wednesday, demanding and securing the release of an imprisoned associate, Syria’s Information Ministry said in a statement.
The assailants stormed the government building at gunpoint, sealed its gates, and detained Governor Mustafa Al-Bakour, along with employees and security guards, the ministry stated.
Later on, the prisoner, who was previously convicted of stealing several vehicles, was released for the safety of the hostages.
Suwayda is a predominantly Druze area in southwestern Syria. The Druze are an Arabic-speaking religious minority with communities in Syria, Lebanon, Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, often connected by a web of kinship ties.
(Reporting by Khalil Ashawi; Writing by Muhammad Al Gebaly; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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