13 relatives of Aazaz hostages accused of abducting Turkish pilots

The relatives of the Lebanese hostages in Syria's Aazaz said on Tuesday that they will carry out deliberations over the lawsuit filed against them and will act accordingly.

Hajja Hayat Awali, the spokeswoman for the families said that they knew about the lawsuits from media sources but were not formally notified.

Earlier, the Turkish Anatolia News Agency quoted Lebanese judicial sources as saying that the public prosecutor of Mount Lebanon, Judge Claude Karam accused 13 relatives of the Lebanese hostages in Syria's Aazaz "of participating in the abduction of the two Turkish pilots."

The sources added that the suspects were identified as: Mohammad Ali Saleh, Nadim Saad Zgheib, Hassan Jamil Saleh who were all arrested, in addition to Nasri Hassan Hamoud, Adham Ali Zgheib, Hussein Mohammad Saleh, Ali Jamil Saleh, Abbas Mohammad Hajj Hassan, Abdel Rahman Ali Mounzer, Hayat Hassan Awali, Mahdi Hussein Zgheib, Rida Hassan Choueib and Sami Hassan Awali; all of whom are pending arrest.

Judge Karam referred the case to the Mount Lebanon examining Judge Ziad Makna who interrogated the three arrested men.

On Friday the 9th of August, gunmen intercepted a Turkish Airlines' bus at the Cocodi Bridge in Beirut and kidnapped two crew members, a pilot and a co-pilot. The bus carrying the crew members was heading from the Beirut International Airport towards 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 being the call launched by the Turkish foreign ministry on its nationals to leave Lebanon.

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.