Confirmed:
Kidnap in Lebanon linked to Syrian war - Middle East News | Latest News Headlines | The Irish Times - Sat, Aug 10, 2013
Turkey urged its citizens to leave Lebanon after a militant group claimed the abduction early yesterday of two Turkish airline pilots travelling in a shuttle bus from Beirut’s international airport to their hotel.
The group, calling itself Zuwwar Imam Ali al-Reda, demanded the release of nine Lebanese Shia pilgrims held since May 2012 by a Syrian rebel faction.
“[The pilots] are our guests until the hostages . . . are freed,” said the group, which blames Ankara for the abduction of the Shias by the rebel Free Syrian Army’s Northern Storm brigade operating along the Turkish border.
Pilot Murat Akpinar and co-pilot Murat Agca were taken less than 1km from the airport in a largely Shia area. The group’s name is that of the Shia sect’s eighth imam, seen as the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad.
Lebanon’s interior minister Marwan Charbel said an investigation had been launched while Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davuloglu spoke to Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati.....................more