The father of an Italian woman
kidnapped while volunteering in Syria issued a plea for her
release Tuesday, reminding her captors that she went to their
country to help.
Salvatore Marzullo issued his plea through the weekly Oggi
magazine on newsstands Wednesday.
Vanessa Marzullo 21, and Greta Ramelli, 20, were kidnapped
in the war-torn Syrian city of Aleppo.
The two women had only been in Syria since July 28 and were
working on health and water-related humanitarian aid projects,
Italy's foreign ministry has said.
"Those who made Vanessa and Greta prisoners should remember
what they were there to do," Salvatore Marzullo told the
magazine.
"They wanted to do good and it would be a tragedy if
someone responded with evil," he added.
The foreign ministry said last week that its crisis unit
was active on the ground trying to secure the release of the two
women.
Salvatore Marzullo said he was also hurt by cruel remarks
made by some who have questioned why the young women went to
such a dangerous spot and risked getting into trouble.
"It made me sick these days to read and listen to comments
from people who describe them as careless," he said.
"Vanessa is just the opposite. She is a girl who is deep
and who identifies with the suffering of others and cannot stand
by wringing her hands".
Salvatore Marzullo said he tried to convince his daughter
not to go into a war zone, but rather to help by creating a
refugee aid foundation near their home in Brembate, a town of
just over 8,000 residents about 35 kilometers northeast of
Milan.
For now, he is waiting for news from Italy's foreign
ministry as is the family of Greta Ramelli in Gavirate, 60
kilometers northwest of Milan.
In recent days, Lapo Pistelli, junior foreign affairs
minister, said that the Italian government is "on the trail of
the kidnappers".
Ramelli and Marzullo were kidnapped in the Eli Ismo area
west of Aleppo while they were guests in the house of the local
"head of the revolutionary council," Jordanian newspaper
Assabeel has reported.
The two were allegedly abducted along with Daniele
Rainieri, a reporter for Italian daily Il Foglio, by a group
that has kidnapped several foreign journalists and volunteers,
Assabeel said.
The reporter managed to escape, however, and raised the
alarm.
Marzullo and Ramelli founded the Horryaty Project,
bringing medical assistance to Syria, and have volunteered in
Africa and India in the past.
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