Unknown gunmen kidnapped a Turkish pilot and copilot early Friday after they intercepted their bus on Beirut’s airport road.
Unknown gunmen kidnapped a Turkish pilot and copilot early Friday after they intercepted their bus on Beirut’s airport road.
Media outlets reported that the two Turkish citizens were ki
dnapped at Cocodi Bridge at 3:00 a.m.
They were heading to a hotel in Beirut, when two cars, a four-wheeler and a Kia picanto, intercepted their bus, dragged the pilot and his assistant out and kidnapped them to an unknown destination.
The bus, which had six people on board, belongs to Turkish Airlines and its driver is a man from Zaiter family who was questioned by police, media reported.
For his part, the Turkish Ambassador, Inan Ozyildiz, confirmed two of his country’s citizens were kidnapped on Friday, saying he was following up the issue. He hoped that Lebanese authorities would work for their release.
Agence France presse reported tha
t caretaker interior minister Marwan Charbel had spoken with Turkey's ambassador and that an investigation was under way.
The agency added that Charbel also telephoned President Michel Suleiman to brief him about the probe.
According to media, the incident is widely seen as related to the issue of the Lebanese pilgrims who were kidnapped by militants in Syria’s Aleppo in May, last year, as they were returning to Lebanon from Iran.
Two of them have since been released, while the rest remain held in Aleppo's town of Aazaz.
