Lebanese President Michel Sleiman asked Turkey on Tuesday to exert more efforts in releasing Lebanese pilgrims kidnapped in Syria’s Aleppo province since last May.

Lebanese President Michel Sleiman asked Turkey on Tuesday to exert more efforts in releasing Lebanese pilgrims kidnapped in Syria's Aleppo province since last May while returning from visiting the holy shrines in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Sleiman's request came during talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on the sidelines of the Arab League summit in Doha.

The Lebanese President asked Davutoglu “for Turkey to exert all efforts to release the nine Lebanese abductees in Syria,” said the NNA.

Armed rebels abducted eleven pilgrims on May 22 last year while on their way home by land from Iran. Two of them were released in August and September but the fate of the nine others remains unclear.

They were last seen in the Syrian town of Aazaz in Aleppo province.

Turkey is a strong backer of the revolution against the Syrian government. It has previously claimed that it was mediating for their release.

Their kidnapper Amar al-Dadikhi of the North Storm brigade, also known as Abu Ibrahim, told the New York Times last December that he will not release the men unless the Syrian government sets free two prominent opposition figures and Lebanon frees all Syrian activists in government custody.

Sleiman's meeting with the Turkish FM came as the families of the pilgrims threatened to escalate their measures at the beginning of April if their case wasn't resolved soon.

They held a protest near the Arab Justice Ministers headquarters in Beirut's Sami Solh area before briefly blocking the road near the Justice Palace.

Also on the sidelines of the Arab summit, Sleiman held brief talks with several Arab leaders including the Tunisian president and Saudi Arabia's crown prince.