Ali Fayad's Family Protests his Detention

The family of Ali Fayad, who was part of a prisoner swap which saw the release of five kidnapped Czechs in Lebanon, held on Monday a sit-in in Beirut to call for his freedom.

Fayad was arrested in Beirut last week after he was released by the Czech authorities, which refused to extradite him to the U.S. to face weapons charges.

His release was part of a swap, which gave five Czechs, who were kidnapped in the eastern Bekaa valley in July last year, their freedom.

The family of Fayad, also known as Ali Amin, held the sit-in near Beirut's Justice Palace, asking for his release and calling for justice.

Prague's Municipal Court allowed the extradition of Fayad and two citizens of Ivory Coast last year but Czech Justice Minister Robert Pelikan has the final say and on Thursday refused to extradite them.

The three were arrested in Prague 2014 while allegedly trying to sell weapons to undercover U.S. law enforcement agents who pretended to be from a Colombian terrorist group.

G.K.

D.A.