Kidnapped Turkish pilots moved to unknown location: report

BEIRUT

Lebanese security forces stand outside the Turkish Airlines office in downtown Beirut, August 9, 2013. REUTERS/Hasan Shaaban

The kidnappers of two Turkish pilots have moved the pilots from Beirut’s southern suburbs to an unknown location, Lebanese daily An-Nahar reported on Thursday.

The two pilots are no longer in Dahieh and freeing them has become more “complicated,” the report claimed, quoting a source who said “the abductees have no intention of allowing anyone to meet with the two pilots.”

The report also said around 1,000 troops and security forces had been deployed on Monday in Dahieh, where the militia group Hizbullah usually keeps a tight grip on security.

Gunmen abducted Murat Akpınar and his assistant, Murat Ağca, on Aug. 9 in Beirut after a shuttle carrying the pilot, the assistant pilot and the crew was stopped by four gunmen on the way from the airport to the hotel.

A group calling itself Zuwwar Imam al-Rida claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, demanding Turkey use its influence with Syrian rebels to secure the release of nine Lebanese Shiites kidnapped in Syria in May 2012.