French Role in Release of Estonians Seen as Diplomatic Success

The role that France played in the release of the kidnapped seven Estonians was on Friday seen as a diplomatic and intelligence success for Paris on its Independence Day.

A French and Estonian team that transported the men from al-Taybeh village to the French embassy in Beirut on Thursday took all the measures to free the tourists without any coordination with Lebanese authorities.

According to As Safir newspaper, French intelligence had made a commitment not to divulge any information on the negotiations with the unidentified kidnappers and urged the seven men not to give any essential information about their release to Lebanese authorities.

European diplomatic sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat that the French-Estonian team was not aware of the location of the cyclists when it left the French embassy in Beirut and headed to the Bekaa.

On its way to the Bekaa, the team began receiving information from the Estonian foreign ministry about which road to take to reach al-Taybeh and win the release of the men, the sources said.

The team wasn’t even aware of the details of the negotiations carried out with the kidnappers nor the identify of the Lebanese side that transported them to the town.

However, it was not clear yet whether the party that handed over the men to the team was behind the kidnapping or it only played the role of a mediator.