Charbel, Ibrahim Head to Turkey to Tackle Case of Abducted Pilgrims

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and General Security Chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim headed on Thursday to Turkey to discuss the case of the abducted Lebanese pilgrims.

According to local newspapers, Charbel and Ibrahim will hold talks with senior Turkish officials and the team that was tasked to follow up the case.

Charbel had received from the kidnappers in May the names of 371 Syrian women detainees held in regime prisons as part of negotiations over a swap deal.

Sources pointed out that the two Lebanese officials will brief the Turkish authorities on the fate of the Syrian women that the kidnappers are demanding their release in exchange for the nine men.

In May, Syrian authorities promised Ibrahim that they will help resolve the case of the abducted Lebanese pilgrims.

Eleven Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped by armed rebels in Syria's Aleppo region as they were making their way back home by land from a pilgrimage to Iran on May 22.

Two of them have since been released, while the rest are still reportedly being held in the town of Aazaz.

The families of the pilgrims have held Turkey and Qatar responsible for their ordeal, while accusing the Lebanese government of not exerting enough efforts to secure their release.

They have held daily sit-ins to press for their demands to set the nine men free.