8-year-old Muhammad Fawaz Katifan from the southern Syrian city of Daraa has been abducted over the past week by a gang whose identity is unclear. Gang members are demanding $ 140,000 from the boy’s family to release him. Yesterday, the kidnappers released a video in which the boy is seen being beaten with rubber belts, begging his kidnappers to stop beating him. “For God’s sake, do not hit me. Stop. I can no longer,” 8-year-old Katifan shouts in the video.
The story shakes the Arab world, in parallel with the story of the rescue attempts of 5-year-old Ryan in Morocco. Katifan’s family calls on the public to pray for the child, and raises money to pay the ransom demanded by the kidnappers. Syrian President Bashar Assad has ordered the Syrian army and forces to go in search of the boy. Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah also sent a special unit from his organization to help the Syrian army in the search. Social networks in the Arab world keep talking about the issue, which is causing a great stir. The kidnappers. “When you catch the kidnappers, you have to hang them in the main square of Damascus,” many of the participants wrote.
Muhammad Fawaz Katifan, the abducted Syrian boyA poster calling for the release of Katifan
The story of Katifan’s abduction comes just hours after the death of 5-year-old Ryan, after many forces tried to rescue him for long days from a deep water well into which he fell. Ryan fell six days ago to a well in the village of Igran in northern Morocco, and was rescued yesterday to loud applause – but soon after the royal palace announced that he had not survived the hard days in the well.
According to a Reuters report, rescuers were able to reach the boy after removing a large portion of a nearby hill and creating a horizontal passage to the well where Ryan was stuck. But despite the impressive operation, the rescuers did not make it to Ryan on time and the incident that caused Morocco to hold its breath ended in a painful tragedy.
Assad, businessmen from the Gulf and even Nasrallah mobilized to help.The kidnapped Syrian boy
Since Ryan fell on Tuesday to a deep and narrow well in a rural area in northern Morocco – and was left there alone, this drama has managed to connect the entire Arab world with the hashtag “save_the_rian_”. Millions watched the rescue efforts live and painful on the sad end.
According to the official media in the country, King Mohammed VI of Morocco, spoke on the phone with Ryan’s parents upon learning of the painful news. The king offered condolences to the family and said he “closely followed the incident, and instructed to take the necessary steps and make every effort to save Ryan”.
