Freed nuns arrive in Damascus region

A group of nuns held by rebels in Syria for more than three months were released following Lebanese-Qatari mediation and arrived in Al-Qusaa in the Damascus region to a warm popular reception, the official Syrian news agency, Sana, reported on Monday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the release of the nuns had been agreed as part of a swap in which the Syrian government would free about 150 women prisoners. The 13 nuns and three maids were kidnapped from the Christian town of Maaloula north of Damascus in December and had been taken to the nearby Syrian rebel-held town of Yabroud. Meanwhile in Beirut, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, Director General of the Lebanese Public Security, confirmed in a statement that the nuns had been freed as a result of a deal to release 150 female prisoners held by the Syrian authorities. He denied reports that a ransom had been paid to work out the deal. Maj. Gen Ibrahim indicated that the decision to release the hostages had been made, but the actual release took some time to tackle "some logistical obstacles." Source: KUNA