Charbel Denies Security Delegation Heading to Turkey over Abductee Swap

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel denied on Thursday that a security delegation will travel to Ankara to close the deal on the exchange of abductees.

“I will head to Turkey when there is serious and positive information on the issue,” Charbel told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

His denial came after a security source told al-Liwaa newspaper that the delegation would head to Turkey on Thursday.

The source did not rule out the return of the ten Lebanese held hostage by Syrian rebels since May with the security delegation.

Eleven Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped on May 22 by the rebel Free Syrian Army in the northern province of Aleppo while on their way home from a pilgrimage to Iran.

One of the abductees, Hussein Ali Omar, was released by his kidnappers last week. He crossed the Syrian border to Turkey and returned to Beirut aboard a plane.

The remaining pilgrims are being held near the Syrian town of Aazaz, some 3 kilometers from the Turkish border.

But the abduction of Hassan al-Meqdad by armed rebels in Damascus this month led to a kidnapping spree of Syrians and Turkish citizens in Lebanon.

Al-Meqdad clan claimed to have kidnapped several Syrians and a Turkish man. It said it released several of the Syrians after it discovered they had no ties to the Free Syrian Army.

Another Turkish national has disappeared but no side has claimed responsibility for his kidnapping.

Charbel told al-Liwaa that contacts are ongoing with Turkish authorities since his last visit to Ankara along with General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim earlier in the month.

He said he was very optimistic over the case of the abducted Lebanese and hoped for good news in the coming days.