Seven Estonian tourists released in Lebanon after a kidnap ordeal of almost four months will be back home Friday, the Baltic state's foreign minister said.
The seven men, freed early Thursday, would be brought back by charter flight, Urmas Paet was quoted as saying by the Baltic News Service.
"I hope that our seven countrymen will be home in the first half of the day," Paet said.
Earlier Thursday, foreign ministry spokesperson Minna-Liina Lind told AFP that the men were freed in the morning and were being cared for at the French embassy in Lebanon.
"The operation to free them was carried out in cooperation with the Estonians, Lebanese and other partners. All of them are in good health," Lind said.
No force was used during the operation, Paet told the Baltic News Service.
Lebanese police told AFP that the men were freed in the town of Arsal, in the eastern Bekaa Valley.
The men, in their 30s and early 40s, were kidnapped on March 23 while on a cycling holiday in the same region.
Juri Kaosaar, father of kidnapped Kalev Kaosaar, said they were in good shape.
"I've already talked to my son and both the health and mood of all the men is very good," he told the Estonian daily Postimees.
"We were also told that before they can come home, they will undergo medical checks in Lebanon. And they also have to collect their bikes," which were found at the kidnap scene, he added.
Andres Metspalu, father of Martin Metspalu, told the Delfi news portal he felt "enormous joy and relief.”
"If you remember that some are held hostage for years, and ours for just under four months, all went well," he said.
In a statement, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves saluted the men's "resilience and willpower.”
The abductors – believed to be a previously unknown Islamic fundamentalist group called Haraket al-Nahda Wal-Islah (Movement for Renewal and Reform) – had reportedly demanded a ransom but Lebanese authorities said they could not confirm that.
Estonia turned to fellow European Union members and NATO allies, notably France, to help win the men's freedom because the nation of 1.3 million has only a small diplomatic presence in the Middle East.
"I would like to thank Estonia's foreign partners and friends," Ilves said. "Without your help, it would all have been much more complicated."
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