Edward Sfeir

‫‪My‬‬ ‫‪name‬‬ ‫‪is‬‬ ‫‪Edward.‬‬ ‫‪I‬‬ ‫‪was‬‬ ‫‪a‬‬ ‫‪working‬‬ ‫‪man,‬‬ ‫‪living‬‬ ‫‪in‬‬ ‫‪my‬‬ ‫‪hometown‬‬ ‫‪with‬‬ ‫‪my‬‬ ‫‪brother‬‬ ‫‪Mansour‬‬ ‫‪and‬‬ ‫‪his‬‬ ‫‪family.‬‬ ‫‪Despite‬‬ ‫‪it‬‬ ‫‪being‬‬ ‫‪a‬‬ ‫‪time‬‬ ‫‪of‬‬ ‫‪war,‬‬ ‫‪life‬‬ ‫‪was‬‬ ‫‪still‬‬ ‫‪relatively‬‬ ‫‪simple.‬‬ ‫‪I‬‬ ‫‪always‬‬ ‫‪considered‬‬ ‫‪my‬‬ ‫‪life‬‬ ‫‪and‬‬ ‫‪luck‬‬ ‫‪to‬‬ ‫‪be‬‬ ‫‪a‬‬ ‫‪blessing‬‬ ‫‪from‬‬ ‫‪God,‬‬ ‫‪to‬‬ ‫‪whom‬‬ ‫‪I‬‬ ‫‪was‬‬ ‫‪grateful.‬‬

‫‪I‬‬ ‫‪was‬‬ ‫‪the‬‬ ‫‪head‬‬ ‫‪of‬‬ ‫‪the‬‬ ‫‪Mar‬‬ ‫‪Roukos‬‬ ‫‪church‬‬ ‫‪in‬‬ ‫‪Rayfoun.‬‬ ‫‪Aside‬‬ ‫‪from‬‬ ‫‪my‬‬ ‫‪charity‬‬ ‫‪interests,‬‬ ‫‪I‬‬ ‫‪was‬‬ ‫‪very‬‬ ‫‪dedicated‬‬ ‫‪to‬‬ ‫‪my‬‬ ‫‪job,‬‬ ‫‪wanting‬‬ ‫‪to‬‬ ‫‪invest‬‬ ‫‪more‬‬ ‫‪in‬‬ ‫‪land‬‬ ‫‪and‬‬ ‫‪expand‬‬ ‫‪my‬‬ ‫‪real‬‬ ‫‪estate‬‬ ‫‪business.‬‬ ‫‪I‬‬ ‫‪was‬‬ ‫‪also‬‬ ‫‪a‬‬ ‫‪fan‬‬ ‫‪of‬‬ ‫‪hunting.‬‬ ‫‪I‬‬ ‫‪used‬‬ ‫‪to‬‬ ‫‪long‬‬ ‫‪for‬‬ ‫‪those‬‬ ‫‪hunting‬‬ ‫‪trips‬‬ ‫‪on‬‬ ‫‪the‬‬ ‫‪weekends.‬‬ ‫

However,‬‬ ‫‪in‬‬ ‫‪1985,‬‬ ‫‪the‬‬ ‫‪security‬‬ ‫‪situation‬‬ ‫‪in‬‬ ‫‪Rayfoun‬‬ ‫‪worsened.‬‬ ‫‪Moving‬‬ ‫‪around‬‬ ‫‪the‬‬ ‫‪region‬‬ ‫‪became‬‬ ‫‪very‬‬ ‫‪difficult,‬‬ ‫‪so‬‬ ‫‪my‬‬ ‫‪friends‬‬ ‫‪and‬‬ ‫‪I‬‬ ‫‪decided‬‬ ‫‪to‬‬ ‫‪change‬‬ ‫‪our‬‬ ‫‪hunting‬‬ ‫‪destination‬‬ ‫‪from‬‬ ‫‪the‬‬ ‫‪neighboring‬‬ ‫‪mountains‬‬ ‫‪and‬‬ ‫‪valleys‬‬ ‫‪to‬‬ ‫‪Syria.‬‬ ‫‪The‬‬ ‫‪first‬‬ ‫‪couple‬‬ ‫‪of‬‬ ‫‪times‬‬ ‫‪we‬‬ ‫‪went‬‬ ‫‪hunting‬‬ ‫‪near‬‬ ‫‪Syria’s‬‬ ‫‪Aleppo‬‬ ‫‪were‬‬ ‫‪very‬‬ ‫‪enjoyable.‬‬ ‫‪Our‬‬ ‫‪third‬‬ ‫‪trip‬‬ ‫‪there‬‬ ‫‪was‬‬ ‫‪not‬‬ ‫‪the‬‬ ‫‪same‬‬ ‫‪as‬‬ ‫‪before,‬‬ ‫‪I‬‬ ‫‪was‬‬ ‫‪kidnapped‬‬ ‫‪along‬‬ ‫‪with‬‬ ‫‪my‬‬ ‫‪two‬‬ ‫‪friends.‬‬ ‫‪Two‬‬ ‫‪of‬‬ ‫‪the‬‬ ‫‪hunters‬‬ ‫‪that‬‬ ‫‪were‬‬ ‫‪accompanying‬‬ ‫‪us‬‬ ‫‪had‬‬ ‫‪to‬‬ ‫‪break‬‬ ‫‪the‬‬ ‫‪news‬‬ ‫‪of‬‬ ‫‪my‬‬ ‫‪disappearance‬‬ ‫‪to‬‬ ‫‪my‬‬ ‫‪family.‬‬ ‫‪We‬‬ ‫‪were‬‬ ‫‪never‬‬ ‫‪to‬‬ ‫‪return‬‬ ‫‪home‬‬ ‫‪again.‬‬ ‫‪The‬‬ ‫‪only‬‬ ‫‪news‬‬ ‫‪our‬‬ ‫‪families‬‬ ‫‪had‬‬ ‫‪ever‬‬ ‫‪received‬‬ ‫‪was‬‬ ‫‪that‬‬ ‫‪the‬‬ ‫‪three‬‬ ‫‪of‬‬ ‫‪us‬‬ ‫‪had‬‬ ‫‪been‬‬ ‫‪taken‬‬ ‫‪from‬‬ ‫‪Aleppo‬‬ ‫‪to‬‬ ‫‪al‬‬ ‫‪Rekka.‬‬

‫‪In‬‬ ‫‪the‬‬ ‫‪blink‬‬ ‫‪of‬‬ ‫‪an‬‬ ‫‪eye‬‬ ‫‪my‬‬ ‫‪brother’s‬‬ ‫‪life‬‬ ‫‪fell‬‬ ‫‪apart.‬‬ ‫‪Immediately‬‬ ‫‪after‬‬ ‫‪receiving‬‬ ‫‪the‬‬ ‫‪tragic‬‬ ‫‪news,‬‬ ‫‪he‬‬ ‫‪began‬‬ ‫‪searching‬‬ ‫‪for‬‬ ‫‪me‬‬ ‫‪and‬‬ ‫‪dedicated‬‬ ‫‪most‬‬ ‫‪of‬‬ ‫‪his‬‬ ‫‪time‬‬ ‫‪to‬‬ ‫‪doing‬‬ ‫‪so.‬‬ ‫‪He‬‬ ‫‪even‬‬ ‫‪went‬‬ ‫‪as‬‬ ‫‪far‬‬ ‫‪as‬‬ ‫‪moving‬‬ ‫‪to‬‬ ‫‪Damascus‬‬ ‫‪in‬‬ ‫‪Syria‬‬ ‫‪for‬‬ ‫‪9‬‬ ‫‪months,‬‬ ‫‪leaving‬‬ ‫‪his‬‬ ‫‪work,‬‬ ‫‪his‬‬ ‫‪employees‬‬ ‫‪and‬‬ ‫‪his‬‬ ‫‪family‬‬ ‫‪behind.‬‬ ‫‪But‬‬ ‫‪his‬‬ ‫‪efforts‬‬ ‫‪were‬‬ ‫‪fruitless.‬‬ ‫‪He‬‬ ‫‪was‬‬ ‫‪banned‬‬ ‫‪from‬‬ ‫‪ever‬‬ ‫‪returning‬‬ ‫‪to‬‬ ‫‪Syria‬‬ ‫‪which‬‬ ‫‪forced‬‬ ‫‪him‬‬ ‫‪to‬‬ ‫‪abandon‬‬ ‫‪his‬‬ ‫‪search.‬‬ ‫

My‬‬ ‫‪name‬‬ ‫‪is‬‬ ‫‪Edward‬‬ ‫‪Sfeir.‬‬ ‫‪My‬‬ ‫‪two‬‬ ‫‪friends‬‬ ‫‪who‬‬ ‫‪were‬‬ ‫‪kidnapped‬‬ ‫‪with‬‬ ‫‪me‬‬ ‫‪are‬‬ ‫‪Fouad‬‬ ‫‪Haddad‬‬ ‫‪and‬‬ ‫‪George‬‬ ‫‪Kazzi.‬‬ ‫‪Do‬‬ ‫‪not‬‬ ‫‪let‬‬ ‫‪our‬‬ ‫‪story‬‬ ‫‪end‬‬ ‫‪here.‬‬