| The Daily Star |
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| On Thursday morning, the seven men appeared on one of the balconies of the French Embassy in Beirut, which had provided diplomatic assistance throughout the ordeal. The men, wearing white shorts and T-shirts and sporting beards, looked relieved to have come out of their ordeal. (Azakir) |
BEIRUT: He had a good feeling that his son was going to be released soon. And on Thursday morning, Andres, the father of Martin Metspalu got the phone call he’d been awaiting for four months: his son was free.
The seven Estonian men abducted four months ago in east Lebanon, and held incommunicado, were released in the Bekaa Valley Thursday morning and are in good health. After midday, Lebanese Interior Minister Marwan Charbel visited the French Embassy to check on the Estonians, reporting that they were doing well.
“It feels great. I have to think about what I’m going to tell him… We missed him very much.” Anders Metspalu, a genetics professor at the University of Tartu in eastern Estonia, told The Daily Star Thursday, the day his son and six comrades were released. “Every day I wondered: What’s he doing? I had no idea what the conditions were like. I was worried that anything could happen.”
The men, Kalev Kaosaar, August Tillo, Madis Paluoja, Priit Raistik, Jaan Jagomagi, Andre Pukk and Martin Metspalu, all in their 30s, who arrived in Damascus on March 15, crossed overland into Lebanon by bicycle on March 23, where they were abducted by masked men at gunpoint and put into unlicensed vehicles in Zahle, in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.
Nearly a month later, a video of the men was released by a previously unknown group calling themselves Harakat al-Nahda Wal-Islah (the Movement for Renewal and Reform). They claimed responsibility for the abduction, yet never made specific demands in the videos. They would release a total of three videos during the four months that the men were held captive.
The first video of the kidnapped seven was added to YouTube on April 19, with the tourists pleading for their lives, appealing for help from France, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. It was subsequently removed by YouTube. The Estonian Foreign Ministry said it had determined the video had been uploaded from Damascus. The second was obtained by the Estonian Foreign Ministry on May 19. The third was released exclusively to the families of the abducted men in mid-June.
“The most recent video was horrible,” said Metspalu. “They were separated into three different groups of two, two and three.” (In the previous hostage videos, the men were all in one group.)
At that point, the Estonian professor was wondering how much longer this would continue.
“When they were first kidnapped, I thought it would be over in 10 days. But then two weeks went by, and then it was two months. After three months, I started thinking about people who’d been held for five or six years.”
During this period, Metspalu acknowledges that ever day was a struggle.
“Of course, I tried to go on as usual, but I couldn’t. I got behind in my work because I couldn’t concentrate,” Metspalu said.
While grappling with the daily uncertainty, he was hearted by the hundreds of emails and phone calls of concern he received from around the world. He was also reassured by regular updates from the Lebanese and Estonian governments that the men would likely be released unharmed due to the lack of political motives in the abduction.
“I was sure things wouldn’t end badly, because there was no point in keeping them,” he said.
Indeed, he was correct.
On Thursday morning, the seven men appeared on one of the balconies of the French Embassy in Beirut, which had provided diplomatic assistance throughout the ordeal. The men, wearing white shorts and T-shirts and sporting beards, looked relieved to have come out of their ordeal.
The seven Estonian men were kidnapped at gunpoint by masked men shortly after entering into Lebanon through the Syrian border. The abduction, which was shrouded in mystery, revived memories of the spate of kidnappings that took place during the country’s 1975-90 Civil War.
A security source told The Daily Star that the seven were released at 8.30 a.m. local time in Sahl al-Taybbeh, near the Bekaa Valley town of Britel, both Hezbollah strongholds. A French delegation in the Bekaa then took charge of the Estonians and transported them to the French Embassy located in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
French Ambassador to Lebanon Denis Pietton said the release took place “as a result of efforts undertaken solely by Lebanon and Estonia,” adding that France had only provided diplomatic assistance.
Estonia lacks a permanent mission in Lebanon.
Lebanese authorities took the statements of the released captives to find out the circumstances behind their kidnapping and how they came to be set free in Sahl al-Taybbeh.
The seven men arrived at the embassy complex in Beirut at around 10 .a.m., a French source told The Daily Star. The release, he added, took place without the knowledge of Lebanese authorities.
The security source confirmed that Lebanese security authorities had no prior knowledge of the details of the operation and that they only knew of the release by French officials after the men had crossed Dahr al-Baidar, on the Beirut-Damascus highway.
The seven Estonian men abducted four months ago in east Lebanon, and held incommunicado, were released in the Bekaa Valley Thursday morning and are in good health. After midday, Lebanese Interior Minister Marwan Charbel visited the French Embassy to check on the Estonians, reporting that they were doing well.
“It feels great. I have to think about what I’m going to tell him… We missed him very much.” Anders Metspalu, a genetics professor at the University of Tartu in eastern Estonia, told The Daily Star Thursday, the day his son and six comrades were released. “Every day I wondered: What’s he doing? I had no idea what the conditions were like. I was worried that anything could happen.”
The men, Kalev Kaosaar, August Tillo, Madis Paluoja, Priit Raistik, Jaan Jagomagi, Andre Pukk and Martin Metspalu, all in their 30s, who arrived in Damascus on March 15, crossed overland into Lebanon by bicycle on March 23, where they were abducted by masked men at gunpoint and put into unlicensed vehicles in Zahle, in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.
Nearly a month later, a video of the men was released by a previously unknown group calling themselves Harakat al-Nahda Wal-Islah (the Movement for Renewal and Reform). They claimed responsibility for the abduction, yet never made specific demands in the videos. They would release a total of three videos during the four months that the men were held captive.
The first video of the kidnapped seven was added to YouTube on April 19, with the tourists pleading for their lives, appealing for help from France, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. It was subsequently removed by YouTube. The Estonian Foreign Ministry said it had determined the video had been uploaded from Damascus. The second was obtained by the Estonian Foreign Ministry on May 19. The third was released exclusively to the families of the abducted men in mid-June.
“The most recent video was horrible,” said Metspalu. “They were separated into three different groups of two, two and three.” (In the previous hostage videos, the men were all in one group.)
At that point, the Estonian professor was wondering how much longer this would continue.
“When they were first kidnapped, I thought it would be over in 10 days. But then two weeks went by, and then it was two months. After three months, I started thinking about people who’d been held for five or six years.”
During this period, Metspalu acknowledges that ever day was a struggle.
“Of course, I tried to go on as usual, but I couldn’t. I got behind in my work because I couldn’t concentrate,” Metspalu said.
While grappling with the daily uncertainty, he was hearted by the hundreds of emails and phone calls of concern he received from around the world. He was also reassured by regular updates from the Lebanese and Estonian governments that the men would likely be released unharmed due to the lack of political motives in the abduction.
“I was sure things wouldn’t end badly, because there was no point in keeping them,” he said.
Indeed, he was correct.
On Thursday morning, the seven men appeared on one of the balconies of the French Embassy in Beirut, which had provided diplomatic assistance throughout the ordeal. The men, wearing white shorts and T-shirts and sporting beards, looked relieved to have come out of their ordeal.
The seven Estonian men were kidnapped at gunpoint by masked men shortly after entering into Lebanon through the Syrian border. The abduction, which was shrouded in mystery, revived memories of the spate of kidnappings that took place during the country’s 1975-90 Civil War.
A security source told The Daily Star that the seven were released at 8.30 a.m. local time in Sahl al-Taybbeh, near the Bekaa Valley town of Britel, both Hezbollah strongholds. A French delegation in the Bekaa then took charge of the Estonians and transported them to the French Embassy located in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
French Ambassador to Lebanon Denis Pietton said the release took place “as a result of efforts undertaken solely by Lebanon and Estonia,” adding that France had only provided diplomatic assistance.
Estonia lacks a permanent mission in Lebanon.
Lebanese authorities took the statements of the released captives to find out the circumstances behind their kidnapping and how they came to be set free in Sahl al-Taybbeh.
The seven men arrived at the embassy complex in Beirut at around 10 .a.m., a French source told The Daily Star. The release, he added, took place without the knowledge of Lebanese authorities.
The security source confirmed that Lebanese security authorities had no prior knowledge of the details of the operation and that they only knew of the release by French officials after the men had crossed Dahr al-Baidar, on the Beirut-Damascus highway.
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