The father of Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister has been kidnapped by gunmen in the country, earlier on Saturday.
The man, reportedly in his 80s, is the father of Faisal Mekdad, regarded as one of the most powerful voices in the Syrian government, who has repeatedly defended the actions of the regime in numerous media interviews.
Syrian rebels have been known to target family members of the regime in the past, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated that
"rebel battalions and factions have denied responsibility of the action".
Meanwhile the Observatory reported that ''regime forces have since detained relatives of a suspect thought to be involved in the kidnapping".