Charbel to Head to Doha on Tuesday to Press Negotiations in Case of Abducted Pilgrims

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel revealed that he will head to Doha on Tuesday to discuss with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalid al-Thani, the case of the abducted Lebanese pilgrims in Syria's Aazaz.

“I will discus with the Qatari interior minister the case of the remaining nine abductees and the role that his country can play to release the men,” Charbel said in comments to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) on Saturday.

According to the state-run news agency, General Security chief Brig. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim will accompany Charbel to Qatar.

Eleven Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped in Syria's Aleppo district in May as they were making their way back to Lebanon by land from pilgrimage in Iran.

Two of the captives were released last year, while the rest remain held in Aazaz.

On Thursday, the interior minister vowed to head to Qatar to negotiate the release of the remaining nine abductees after the families of the men held a sit-in at the Qatari Embassy in Beirut.

The families protested the procrastination of the government to carry out negotiations to release of the pilgrims.

They accused the cabinet of neglecting the case of the pilgrims, blaming mainly Charbel.

The families of the pilgrims had continuously held Turkey and Qatar responsible for releasing their loved ones.

Late in 2012, the families had also vowed to stage escalatory measures against Turkish interests in Lebanon in order to pressure Turkey to exert efforts to end the abduction, but they called off their actions at Charbel's request.