Kidnappings Live Blog

Reuters reports that hundreds in the city of Homs have fallen prey to a growing sectarian kidnapping trade fuelled by increasing unrest. 

Residents say Homs has become a lawless place where people are dragged away at gunpoint almost daily, targeted solely for their religious identity. 

"My captors beat me and mocked me for being Sunni. They tied me to a metal bed and I slept sitting up," Abu Ahmed, Abu Ahmed, a 35-year-old house painter, said. 

In Homs, members of the same minority sect to which Assad himself belongs kidnap Sunni Muslims. Those who are part of the Sunni majority go after Alawites. 

So far, sectarian violence and killing are rarely the goals of the abductions. But the kidnapping trend in the city of one million people, Syria's third largest, has taken on a logic of its own. 

Some seize people for money in Homs, where the bloody turmoil paralysing the city has left thousands jobless. Others kidnap to trade hostages. And some simply feel that having captives on hand could serve as leverage later. 

Residents say police write reports but never take action. 

"There is no one to complain to. There's no law. You either sit and wait for God's mercy, or you kidnap too. Homs is now in the hands of hooligans. Rationality is gone," said Jamal, 30, an Alawite driver held for five days."