19/10/2013 10:36
Lebanese Shia pilgrims held hostages in Syria 'freed'
Nine Lebanese Shia pilgrims held hostage in Syria have been freed, Lebanon's interior minster has said, according to the BBC.
The pilgrims have crossed over into southern Turkey, and will arrive back in Lebanon soon, according to Interior Minister Marwan Charbel.
The nine were part of a group of 11 who were seized while making their way back to Lebanon in May 2012 after a tour of holy sites in Iran.
Two of the group were subsequently released.
The pilgrims' release had been reported by Lebanese officials three days after they were seized, but it then transpired that they had not left Syria.
"The story is over," Mr Charbel told the Reuters news agency. "In the next 24 hours, they will be with us [in Lebanon]."
The Qatari foreign minister told the al-Jazeera television network on Friday that the pilgrims' release had now come about due to Qatari mediation.
The news was greeted with jubilation in southern Beirut, where relatives of some of those kidnapped live, according to local media reports.
In August a group called Zuwwar al-Imam Rida said it was behind the kidnapping of two Turkish pilots in Beirut, saying they would be freed in exchange for the pilgrims.
Mr Charbel said he now expected the two pilots, Murat Akpinar and co-pilot Murat Agca, to be released soon, according to Reuters.