The Lebanese army and the Internal Security Forces have tightened their siege of kidnappers believed to be holding 7 Estonians abducted a week ago, Al-Jumhuriyya newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Units have now “tightened the noose” to less than 5 kilometers and raided some areas linked to the suspects, the report said.
Separately, An-Nahar newspaper quoted an anonymous security source who said that the kidnapping is linked to Libya and that the kidnappers include Libyans and other Arab nationals.
The daily also quoted Internal Security Forces Information Branch head Colonel Achraf Rifi as saying that four persons linked to the van and car used by the kidnappers have been arrested.
As-Safir newspaper, without citing a source, reported that one of the persons arrested by the ISF had accompanied the Estonians in Tripoli on March 17 before they left Lebanon intending to return through the Syrian border.
The daily quoted an anonymous high-ranking security source who said there are suspicions that the kidnappers are linked to “salafi groups working for foreign interests” and that the operation could be “retaliation for what is going on in Libya.”
However, the source added that such suspicions cannot be confirmed before capturing the kidnappers.
Seven Estonian citizens were kidnapped near the Bekaa city of Zahle last Wednesday after they had entered Lebanon from Syria on their bikes.
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