Mansour Optimistic on Release of Abducted Lebanese Pilgrims

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour expressed optimism on Saturday that the upcoming days would hold positive news concerning the 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims abducted last month in Syria.

“The video aired by al-Jazeera television relieved us,” Mansour told Voice of Lebanon Radio (93.3).

Rebels holding the Lebanese men, who were abducted in May in Aleppo, said they will free them when a "civil state" sees the day in Syria but also left the door open to negotiations for their release, a video broadcasted on the al-Jazeera television showed.

He stressed that the video soothes the families of the kidnapped men, hoping that the case would end soon.

Mansour voiced hope that the upcoming days will hold positive news.

The tape also shows the 11 men apparently in good health.

For his part, Turkish Ambassador to Lebanon Inan Ozyildiz said that his country “didn’t obtain any new information about the pilgrims.”

“Turkey will continue its efforts to release the Lebanese kidnapped in northern Syria,” Ozyildiz told reporters after his meeting with Mansour.

According to the Central News Agency, the families of the abducted pilgrims decided to remain mum over the video aired on the Qatar-based channel, fearing that any statement might affect the fate of the 11 men.