Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet (R)meets with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman. (Dalati & Nohra)
Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said seven of his country’s nationals kidnapped in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley in March “are alive” but refused to provide details on the investigation for fear of compromising it.
Speaking to reporters during his third visit to Lebanon since the kidnapping, Paet said he met with several Lebanese officials who told him that based on “analysis [of information gathered so far] and all [the] pieces of information we get every week, or every day, we may say that our people are alive.”
He gave little new information, noting the kidnappers – who initially claimed to be from the previously unheard of group Haraket al-Nahda Wal-Islah (Movement for Renewal and Reform) – have yet to present any demands. In the second video of the abducted men yet to be released, all are shown in a group as one; Kalev Kaosaar, begs for help and implores the Estonian government to meet the kidnappers’ demands.
When asked whether the Estonians, who were abducted while riding their bicycles in the Bekaa on March 23 shortly after returning to Lebanon from Syria, Paet said, “I don’t have any proof. But you have to look at the area where it happened.”
The cyclists were taken near the town of Zahle and suspicions first fell on the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, a group close to Damascus that runs training camps along Lebanon’s porous eastern border with Syria.
“You know better than me, there are certain areas where Syrian assistance can make a difference,” he said. “If the Syrians can assist, then, of course, I hope that they do. To engage them more in a positive way to look into what they can do and how they can assist, I think the best people for this are here – politicians in Lebanon who have professional contacts with neighboring countries.”
Paet said that there “has been a certain amount of cooperation” with Syrian authorities, but “the domestic problems in Syria engage lots of attention of security and other forces in [the country].”
The Foreign Minister denied any link between Estonia’s support for sanctions against Syria – which was reportedly delayed because of fear for the cyclists’ safety – and the current investigation.
Paet met President Michel Sleiman, Army commander Jean Khawaji, Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati and the newly appointed ministers of Interior and Foreign Affairs, Marwan Charbel and Adnan Mansour, respectively.
Lebanon has arrested several suspects in the crime but who committed it and why remain a mystery. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the first video of the kidnapped men, posted on YouTube in late April, was uploaded in Damascus.
Speaking to reporters during his third visit to Lebanon since the kidnapping, Paet said he met with several Lebanese officials who told him that based on “analysis [of information gathered so far] and all [the] pieces of information we get every week, or every day, we may say that our people are alive.”
He gave little new information, noting the kidnappers – who initially claimed to be from the previously unheard of group Haraket al-Nahda Wal-Islah (Movement for Renewal and Reform) – have yet to present any demands. In the second video of the abducted men yet to be released, all are shown in a group as one; Kalev Kaosaar, begs for help and implores the Estonian government to meet the kidnappers’ demands.
When asked whether the Estonians, who were abducted while riding their bicycles in the Bekaa on March 23 shortly after returning to Lebanon from Syria, Paet said, “I don’t have any proof. But you have to look at the area where it happened.”
The cyclists were taken near the town of Zahle and suspicions first fell on the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, a group close to Damascus that runs training camps along Lebanon’s porous eastern border with Syria.
“You know better than me, there are certain areas where Syrian assistance can make a difference,” he said. “If the Syrians can assist, then, of course, I hope that they do. To engage them more in a positive way to look into what they can do and how they can assist, I think the best people for this are here – politicians in Lebanon who have professional contacts with neighboring countries.”
Paet said that there “has been a certain amount of cooperation” with Syrian authorities, but “the domestic problems in Syria engage lots of attention of security and other forces in [the country].”
The Foreign Minister denied any link between Estonia’s support for sanctions against Syria – which was reportedly delayed because of fear for the cyclists’ safety – and the current investigation.
Paet met President Michel Sleiman, Army commander Jean Khawaji, Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati and the newly appointed ministers of Interior and Foreign Affairs, Marwan Charbel and Adnan Mansour, respectively.
Lebanon has arrested several suspects in the crime but who committed it and why remain a mystery. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the first video of the kidnapped men, posted on YouTube in late April, was uploaded in Damascus.
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