Hajja Hayat Awali stressed on Saturday that the relatives of
the Lebanese hostages in Aazaz are not involved in the kidnapping of the
Turkish Airlines pilot and copilot, noting that the caretaker Interior Minister
Marwan Charbel had previously informed them that the negotiations have
stumbled. She pointed out that if they were behind the abduction incident, they
would have claimed responsibility and kept the pilots as guests until the release
of the Lebanese hostages.
In a statement to LBCI’s Nharkom Said, Awali said that
Turkey has no credibility, while the file of the Lebanese hostages is in its hands
and it shelters the Liwaa Asifat al-Shamal that kidnapped the Lebanese
pilgrims.
However, she stressed that she rejects the kidnapping logic,
pointing out that the Lebanese authorities will take firm measures in the case
of the abduction of the two Turkish pilots.
Hajja Hayat added that the latest kidnapping operation will
not negatively reflect on the case of the Aazaz hostages, “since everything is
negative in this case,” hoping that it will reflect positively.
On Friday 9th of August at 3 am, gunmen
intercepted a Turkish Airlines bus at Cocodi Bridge in Beirut and kidnapped two
crew members, a pilot and a co-pilot, both are Turkish nationals. The
bus carrying the crew members was heading from Beirut international airport
toward a hotel in Ain El-Mrayseh.
While well-informed sources linked
the abduction to the case of the Lebanese hostages held in Aazaz, the relatives
of the Aazaz hostages denied being involved in the operation.
The incident triggered a
chain of reactions mainly from the Turkish side, the most prominent among them
was the call launched by the Turkish foreign ministry on its nationals to leave
Lebanon, warning its citizens not to travel to Lebanon except in case of
necessity.
For his part, the Turkish
ambassador to Lebanon Inan Ozyildiz confirmed that he is following up on the
case, calling on the Lebanese authorities to release the Turkish abductees.
In turn, caretaker Interior
Minister Marwan Charbel stressed that the security apparatuses have launched
investigations in order to pursue the kidnappers and to reveal the circumstances
behind the incident.
Eleven Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped on their way back from Iran by insurgents hoping to use them for a prisoner swap on the 22nd of May. Only two have so far been released.
Their families have vowed to continue their movements until all their loved ones have returned home "safe and sound".
They accuse Ankara of sponsoring the kidnapping and the Lebanese government of inaptness in this regard.