Lebanese freed by Syrian rebels in swap arrive home

Nine Lebanese pilgrims held hostage in Syria for 17 months arrived in Beirut late Saturday after being freed in exchange for two Turkish Airlines pilots seized in Lebanon in August.

The Shiite pilgrims were greeted by cabinet ministers and other senior officials from across the political spectrum in Lebanon, where their seizure had sparked angry protests by family members.

Relatives broke out into tears and cries of joy for the return of the nine Lebanese, who appeared in good health.

The two Turkish Airlines pilots were freed earlier the same day as part of an exchange for the nine, the official Lebanese news agency NNA said.

The agreement also called for the release of 200 Syrians jailed by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, according to sources close to the Turkish and Qatari mediation which led to the deal.

It was not immediately clear if the Syrians had also been released.

The release of the pilots seized just outside Beirut international airport came a day after the Shiite pilgrims were transferred to Turkey and handed to Lebanese officials in Istanbul.

“The two pilots have been released and are now in the hands of the Lebanese General Security Service in Beirut,” NNA said.

Lebanese officials later said they had boarded a flight home.

Pilot Murat Akpinar and co-pilot Murat Agca were abducted on August 9 by a group which demanded Turkey use its influence with Syrian rebels to secure the release of the nine Lebanese.

Relatives of the Lebanese have repeatedly denied involvement in the kidnapping of the pilots, seized in an area controlled by Lebanon’s Shiite militant group Hezbollah, whose chief Hassan Nasrallah has denied any involvement.

The Shiite pilgrims were snatched as they headed home overland in May 2012 after visiting holy sites in Iran, with rebels charging they belonged to Hezbollah, which backs the Damascus regime.

General Abbas Ibrahim, who heads Lebanon’s Security Agency, had travelled to Damascus Friday to discuss a deal to free the hostages in exchange for Syrian prisoners, as demanded by the rebel captors.

Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah told Al-Jazeera television that Doha had also mediated the release of the Lebanese, and that he planned to accompany them from Turkey to Lebanon.

The abductions prompted Turkey to urge its citizens to leave the country, and raised new fears about the impact of Syria’s conflict on neighbouring Lebanon.

About a week after the kidnapping, Lebanese authorities arrested three suspects, whose identities were not revealed, a judicial source told AFP at the time.

Lebanon’s feuding political factions have been further split by the Syrian war, with Hezbollah and its allies backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and their opponents supporting the Sunni-led rebellion against his family’s 40-year rule.

Clashes have periodically erupted between supporters and opponents of the regime in the northern city of Tripoli and in recent months dozens of people have been killed in rocket attacks and bombings elsewhere in the country.

Lebanese freed by Syrian rebels in swap arrive home