BEIRUT: Turkey’s ambassador to
Lebanon, Inan Ozyildiz, said his country does not have the means to pressure
the captors of 11 Lebanese pilgrims into releasing them, in remarks published
Sunday.
“We do not have the means to secure
the release of the Lebanese, but we are trying,” Ozyildiz told Al-Hayat
newspaper of the men who have been held captive in Syria for two months.
“The Lebanese authorities, for their
part are cooperating with us regarding the Turks [kidnapped in Lebanon] and
they are doing their best to secure their release,” he added.
Two Turkish men were kidnapped this
week in Lebanon. Businessman Aydin Toufan was kidnapped upon his arrival in
Beirut Wednesday by the Meqdad clan, which also abducted over 20 Syrians, in
retaliation for the recent abduction of one of their members, Hassan Meqdad, in
Damascus.
Another Turkish citizen,
Abdel-Basset Arslan, was kidnapped at dawn Friday, but the Meqdad family has
denied involvement in his abduction.
The envoy also denied that his
government placed conditions on the negotiations, asking for the release of
Turkish hostages in Lebanon first.
During his trip to Turkey, French
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Saturday that all 11 Lebanese hostages in
Syria are "alive and well."
Fabius said he would continue
efforts with his Turkish counterpart “in order to secure the release of the hostages
and ensure their return home,” according to a press release issued by the
office of Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri.
The French official’s comments come days after
media outlets reported that the head of the captors, who is known as Abu
Ibrahim, said that four of the pilgrims had been killed in an air strike last
week. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Aug-19/185060-envoy-says-turkey-unable-ot-pressure-abductors-of-lebanese-pilgrims.ashx#axzz245GhTCxA
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