Turkey has warned Lebanon, that if the two Turkish Airline pilots kidnapped last week aren’t released, it will damage the ties between the two countries, according to a report in the Lebanese Daily Star.
The Turkish pilot and copilot were kidnapped near the Rafik Hariri International Airport from the bus they were riding in from the airport. The group that kidnapped them are demanding the release of 9 Lebanese citizens kidnapped by the Syrian rebels. Turkey is a backer of the Syrian rebels.
The nine Lebanese citizens are Shiites who went through Syria on their way back from Iran. The Syrian kidnappers claim the nine are Hezbollah fighters.
Turkey has also asked for Iran’s assistance in getting the pilots released.
Lebanese authorities have one person is custody who they claim is involved in the kidnapping, and they say he has given up the names of his accomplices. The man is the son of one of the Lebanese men kidnapped in Syria.
The Syrian rebels kidnapped the nine men in an attempt to get Assad to release a woman he kidnapped.
Hezbollah has denied they are involved in the kidnapping, but say they are watching the situation very carefully.
