Charbel Says Three-Way Deal Led to Release of Nine Pilgrims

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel stressed on Saturday that the case of the Lebanese pilgrims, who were kidnapped last year in Syria, has reached an end.

“We are waiting for the Turkish authorities to hand them over to us... The process will be discussed on Saturday in Ankara,” Charbel said in comments published in As Safir newspaper.

The release came after General Security Chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim traveled to Damascus to discuss a prisoner exchange deal to free the group, who were abducted in Syria's northern Aleppo province in May 2012 as their families said they were returning from a pilgrimage to Iran.

Charbel pointed out that two Turkish Airlines pilots, who were kidnapped in Beirut in August, are expected to be heading to Turkey in the upcoming hours.

The pilots were abducted by a previously unknown group, Zuwwar Imam al-Rida, which said it had seized the pair to secure the release of the nine men held captive in Syria.

The relatives of the nine Lebanese pilgrims have denied responsibility for kidnapping the pilots, though they said they were happy to see additional pressure placed on Ankara.

They had accused Turkey of not doing enough to win the release of their loved ones from Syrian rebels.

The complicated three-way deal also include the release of women detainees from Syrian prisons will be released in return for the nine men, Charbel said.

“The release of the pilots and the women from Syrian prisons are part of the deal to free the nine men,” he added.