Interior Minister Marwan
Charbel denied on Thursday that a security delegation will travel to Ankara to
close the deal on the exchange of abductees.
“I will head to Turkey
when there is serious and positive information on the issue,” Charbel told
Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).
His denial came after a
security source told al-Liwaa newspaper that the delegation would head to
Turkey on Thursday.
The source did not rule
out the return of the ten Lebanese held hostage by Syrian rebels since May with
the security delegation.
Eleven Lebanese pilgrims
were kidnapped on May 22 by the rebel Free Syrian Army in the northern province
of Aleppo while on their way home from a pilgrimage to Iran.
One of the abductees,
Hussein Ali Omar, was released by his kidnappers last week. He crossed the
Syrian border to Turkey and returned to Beirut aboard a plane.
The remaining pilgrims
are being held near the Syrian town of Aazaz, some 3 kilometers from the
Turkish border.
But the abduction of
Hassan al-Meqdad by armed rebels in Damascus this month led to a kidnapping
spree of Syrians and Turkish citizens in Lebanon.
Al-Meqdad clan claimed
to have kidnapped several Syrians and a Turkish man. It said it released
several of the Syrians after it discovered they had no ties to the Free Syrian
Army.
Another Turkish national
has disappeared but no side has claimed responsibility for his kidnapping.
Charbel told al-Liwaa
that contacts are ongoing with Turkish authorities since his last visit to
Ankara along with General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim earlier in the
month.
He said he was very
optimistic over the case of the abducted Lebanese and hoped for good news in
the coming days.http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/51731
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