Photographs of [Mohamad] Nour [un des kidnappeurs] with the group of kidnapped pilgrims have been independently verified by The Daily Star. In the photographs released by McCain’s office, he is seen standing holding a camera, behind and in front of the senator as he poses alongside Idriss.
“I recognized him immediately. He was the photographer who was brought in to take our photos [during captivity]. He works with the kidnappers. He knows them very well,” Ibrahim said. “I don’t know anything about why McCain was visiting, or what he wanted, but I was very surprised to see [Mohammad Nour] there.”
A spokesman from McCain’s office said the senator had traveled to Syria with Idriss in coordination with the Syrian Emergency Task Force to meet with two Free Syrian Army commanders, but denied he had met with the two individuals identified by the kidnap victims.
“A number of other Syrian commanders joined the meeting, but none of them identified himself as Mohammad Nour or Abu Ibrahim,” the spokesman for McCain, Brian Rogers, said. “Two members of our organization were present in the meeting, and no one called himself by either name.”
Rogers said the photograph was “regrettable” but said Nour had not communicated with McCain.
“A number of the Syrians who greeted Senator McCain upon his arrival in Syria asked to take pictures with him, and as always, the senator complied. If the individual photographed with Senator McCain is in fact Mohammad Nour that is regrettable.
“But it would be ludicrous to suggest that the senator in any way condones the kidnapping of Lebanese Shiite pilgrims or has any communication with those responsible. Senator McCain condemns such heinous actions in the strongest possible terms.”
