Turkey Tells Ibrahim Aazaz Abductees Doing Well

Lebanon's General Security directorate was informed Thursday by Turkish officials that the Lebanese pilgrims who were abducted in Syria's Aazaz are “doing well,” amid reports that the Wednesday takeover of the town by al-Qaida-linked fighters has sparked fierce clashes with the mainstream rebel Free Syrian Army.

“General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim has been informed by Turkish officials that the Lebanese abductees in Aazaz are doing well,” LBCI reported.

Earlier, Awad Ibrahim -- who was freed in Sep. 2012 after being abducted with 10 other pilgrims in May 2012 -- told LBCI that he telephoned one of the kidnappers, who reassured him that the nine pilgrims “are in good health and were not affected by the ongoing battles in Aazaz.”

Ibrahim quoted the kidnapper as saying that three Lebanese hostages will be released very soon.

On Thursday, the FSA sent reinforcements to Aazaz after it was seized by fighters from the al-Qaida-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant following a swift battle with the Northern Storm Brigade, which is allied with the FSA.

In May 2012, eleven Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped in Syria's Aleppo region as they were making their way back to Lebanon by land from pilgrimage from Iran. Two of them have since been released, while the rest remain held in Aazaz.