Sources: Police Arrest 2 Suspects in Tyre Kidnapping Case

The Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch arrested two people on suspicion of their involvement in the kidnapping of a Lebanese businessman in early February, security sources said Thursday.

The sources told al-Liwaa newspaper that Ali Aa, 52, and his cousin, were arrested in the area of Tyre in southern Lebanon on the suspicion of abducting Najib Youssef on Feb. 5.

Another man from Tleis family, who resides in Beirut's southern suburbs, is also suspected of involvement in the kidnapping, they said.

Youssef, who was kidnapped by gunmen as he was heading to a land he owns in Abou Aswad in Tyre, was released on Feb. 11 after his family payed a $140,000 ransom.

Lebanon has been recently witnessing kidnappings in return for ransom. The latest was the abduction of a 12-year-old schoolboy.

Mohammed Nidal Awada was waiting for his bus at 7:00 a.m. Wednesday near his residence in Beirut's Ramlet al-Baida when gunmen pulled up in a Nissan Sunny with tinted windows and snatched him.

His father is a wealthy businessman.

ISF chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi told al-Joumhouria daily on Thursday that police were exerting all efforts to unite the boy with his family.

He refused to reveal the amount of the ransom that the kidnappers have asked for, saying “we should remain silent” to free the teen.