Turkish Airlines pilots abducted in Beirut
Print Edition
Gunmen abducted two Turkish Airlines pilots in Beirut yesterday, forcing them from an airport bus in the early hours of the morning and prompting Turkey to urge its citizens to leave Lebanon.
Lebanese media said that a group claimed responsibility for the abduction in the name of nine Lebanese Shiite Muslims kidnapped near the Turkish-Syrian border last year, saying the two Turks would be freed if the Lebanese captives were released.
Turkey’s foreign ministry and the airline said they were in close contact with Lebanese authorities but had no immediate information on the condition of the two airline staff.
“We announce that the Turkish captain Murat Akpinar and his co-pilot Murat Agca are our guests until our brothers ... who were abducted in Azaz are released,” said a statement from the group, according to the National News Agency.
It said it held Turkey responsible for the fate of the Lebanese Shiites, who were among a group of 11 men abducted in May last year by Syrian Sunni Muslim rebels in the northern town of Azaz, close to Turkey.
They were seized on their return from a pilgrimage to Shiite sites in Iran, their families said. Two were later released.
Turkey warned its citizens against non-essential travel to Lebanon and called on those already in the country to return home. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said he had spoken with the Lebanese prime minister about the abductions.
“As in previous such cases we are making every effort to reunite the pilots with their families safely,” Davutoglu said on his Twitter account.
Yesterday’s incident came days after a senior Lebanese political source said that authorities had information suggesting that families of the Lebanese detainees, or their supporters, were planning to take Turkish hostages.
Lebanese media quoted a spokesman for the families as saying they had no link to the Beirut abductions. But after the claim of responsibility was issued, celebratory fireworks were set off in the Bir al-Abed district of southern Beirut where some of the relatives live.
A Turkish diplomat said the two Turks were seized early yesterday when gunmen stopped a vehicle carrying the Turkish Airlines crew to their hotel.
The rest of the crew were safe in a Beirut hotel and would return to Turkey shortly, he said.
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