Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiya on
Friday announced that “the Qatari mediation has led to the release of the nine
Lebanese” hostages who were abducted in Syria's Aazaz and Lebanese officials
have confirmed his remarks.
Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera television reported the
story in a breaking news ticker without elaborating any further.
Meanwhile, caretaker Interior Minister Marwan
Charbel told al-Jadeed television that he has been informed by General Security
chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim that the hostages “have been released and they're
on their way to Turkey.”
"The abductees have become
in the custody of the Turks and we're awaiting some logistical steps. The
hostages will be in Lebanon within 24-48 hours," al-Jadeed quoted Ibrahim
as saying.
LBCI television said “Ibrahim is in Turkey and he
is waiting for the abductees to cross the (Syrian-Turkish) border.”
Meanwhile, the Beirut-based al-Mayadeen
television quoted Lebanese sources as saying that the nine abductees “will
arrive in Lebanon within 24-48 hours.”
Future TV quoted Ibrahim as saying that the nine
hostages will return to Lebanon within 48 hours.
“The first phase of the
release of the abductees is moving them to Turkish territory and they will be
released in one batch,” Charbel told al-Jadeed.
Quoting Ibrahim, al-Manar television said the
Lebanese pilgrims have become “in safe hands.”
Eleven Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped in
Syria's Aleppo region in May 2012 as they were making their way back to Lebanon
by land from pilgrimage in Iran. Two of them were released in late 2012.
The abductors, the rebel Northern Storm Brigade,
had demanded the release of 282 women detainees from Syrian prisons in return
for the nine men.
Ibrahim arrived in Beirut earlier on Friday after
a short visit to Syria where he discussed the issue with Syrian officials,
state-run National News Agency reported.
A few hours later, Ibrahim traveled to Turkey to
follow up on the issue, NNA said.
On Thursday, Ibrahim interrupted his visit to
Belgium and headed to Turkey to meet negotiators over the case.
"Ibrahim ended his trip
to Belgium and traveled to Turkey to hold talks on the pilgrims' case,” the
state-run National News Agency reported.
On August 9, gunmen abducted two Turkish pilots
after ambushing a bus carrying Turkish Airlines crew from Beirut's Rafik Hariri
International Airport to a hotel in the city.
The families of the Lebanese abductees accuse
Turkey of being behind the kidnapping. They, however, have denied any
involvement in the abduction of the Turkish pilots.
A previously unknown group calling itself Zuwwar
Imam al-Rida claimed the abduction, and demanded that Turkey use its influence
with Syrian rebels it backs to secure the release of the nine pilgrims.
Lebanese authorities have since arrested three
suspects and charged them in connection with the pilots' abduction.
Nahar Net
Zaman Alwasl
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