Freed Estonian Says They Were Kidnapped for Ransom to Fund Political Goals
One of the seven Estonian cyclists who was freed from captivity some ten days ago, Jaan Jagomagi revealed that their kidnappers were Sunni Muslims from Iraq who abducted them for ransom in order to gain money for political purposes, he told Agence France Presse.
He said that the captives talked with their eighth abductors in English, adding that two of them were wearing explosive belts.
Jagomagi stressed that the four-month ordeal did not alter his opinion of Muslims, saying that there is no such thing as a bad religion, but some bad people who use religion for personal gain.
Two of the kidnappers are university graduates, one of whom studied Biology in Beirut, he continued.
The captives were “relatively well treated” as they were not handcuffed, but were able to walks around freely in the room, he stated.
The Estonians were first transported to a house in Lebanon and after a few hours, they were taken to Syria where they stayed for some 40 days, Jagomagi continued.
In Syria, they were kept in a farm where, he said, they saw cherry trees and some sheep herders.
The kidnappers had at first told the captives that Saudi Arabia had agreed to pay their ransom, but that turned out to be false, he revealed.
He remarked that they don’t know if a ransom was paid, adding that the abductors’ leader who was negotiating a deal was residing in Iraq.
The captors had hoped to end the kidnapping in a week or two, Jagomagi noted.
They were kept in Syria for another 40 days until July 14 when they were taken to an isolated area in Lebanon where they were instructed to dial a telephone number handed to them by the kidnappers, he said.
The number turned out to belong to Estonian police, he stated.
The seven Estonian cyclists were kidnapped in Lebanon in March soon after entering the country from Syria.
They were held captive for some four months before being freed in July.
Mystery still surrounds the efforts that ensured their release.
Source: Agence France Presse
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