3 suspects of kidnapping 2 Turkish pilots released

The Public Prosecutor of Mount Lebanon, Judge Claude Karam released on Monday Nadim Zoughaib, Mohamad and Hassan Saleh held in connection to the kidnapping of the 2 Turkish pilots.

The men, who were released on a 500 000 LBP bail each, left the Roumieh prison and headed to the Dahiyeh region.

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.

Two were released last year, while the nine were released on Friday, returning to Lebanon by Saturday.

Consequently, the two Turkish pilots Murat Akpinar and Murat Agca, were also freed.

They were met by their relatives and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan after flying to Istanbul on Saturday.