Report: Four Lebanese Pilgrims to be Released by Month-End

Four of the remaining nine Lebanese pilgrims, who were kidnapped in Syria in May, will be released by the end of November, media reports said on Thursday.

Al-Joumhouria newspaper said a mediator, identified as Abou Mohammed, hinted that one of the men will be released on Saturday.

According to the report, Ammar al-Dadikhi, who is also known as Abou Ibrahim, the infamous abductor of the Lebanese pilgrims in Syria's Aazaz, contacted an officer close to the case and informed him that he decided to free the men.

Abou Ibrahim, the head of the so-called Northern Storm Brigade, kidnapped eleven Lebanese pilgrims in the northern province of Aleppo on May 22 as they were returning home from Iran.

One abductee was released in August in what his captors said was a “goodwill” gesture and another was released in September.

The kidnappers had repeatedly linked the release of the Lebanese captives to Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, a close ally of the Syrian regime, apologizing over his stances on the Syrian revolt.