Report: Charbel, Ibrahim Make Significant Progress in Efforts to Release Aazaz Pilgrims
Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim returned to Lebanon from Turkey Friday night where they discussed the case of the Lebanese pilgrims held in Syria's Aazaz region, reported the daily An Nahar Saturday.
Concerned sources told the daily that they achieved “significant progress in this case, which may lead to the pilgrims' release within a week should no new obstacles thwart these efforts.”
Media reports that had said that the kidnappers had handed the Lebanese delegation that visited Turkey a new list of detainees held in Syrian jails that they seek to free in exchange for the release of the pilgrims.
The Lebanese delegation, headed by Charbel and Ibrahim, had met at the Turkish-Syrian border with the head of Turkish intelligence, a Turkish mediator, and one of the members of the brigades that kidnapped the pilgrims, Samir al-Amouri.
Amouri allegedly handed the delegation a list of 81 names of female prisoners.
Ibrahim is set to brief Lebanese officials on the visit to Turkey ahead of heading to Damascus to discuss the way to transfer the prisoners from Syria to Turkey.
The General Security chief had frequently traveled to Syria to address the release of the pilgrims.
Eleven Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped in Syria's Aleppo region in May 2012 as they were making their way back by land to Lebanon from pilgrimage in Iran.
Two of the captives have since been released, while the rest remain held in Aazaz.
The families of the pilgrims have mainly held Turkey responsible for their ongoing abduction.
They have held numerous demonstrations near Turkish interests in Lebanon to protest the kidnapping.
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