Maj. Gen. Ibrahim: Negotiations for release of Lebanese hostages in Aazaz "moving slowly"

Head of General Security Major General Abbas Ibrahim said on Sunday that negotiations to release the Lebanese hostages in Syria's Aazaz are moving slowly.

He also added that Lebanese authorities are carrying out negotiations pertaining to the abduction of Turkish pilots in the country as a "separate issue."

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.

This comes as 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.