Sleiman to visit Turkey over kidnapped

President Michel Sleiman is expected to travel to Turkey Tuesday to follow up on efforts to secure the release of 11 Lebanese hostages who have been held by Syrian rebels for nearly two months. “There is a 99 percent possibility that he [Sleiman] will head to Turkey tomorrow,” a source from Baabda Palace told The Daily Star Monday. The source said that a visit by the president to Turkey was a sign that there have been positive developments in the efforts to free the Lebanese. The 11 men were kidnapped in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo on May 22 on their way back from a pilgrimage in Iran. Although the missing Lebanese appeared in good health in a video tape on June 9 and expressed their support to the Syrian people, little is known about their whereabouts. The source said Sleiman was likely to meet with Turkish President Abdullah Gul. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Speaker Nabih Berri by telephone last week that Turkey would double efforts to secure the release of the 11 Lebanese. Relatives of the kidnapped have blocked the road to Rafik Hariri International Airport several times over the past two months, demanding their release. According to several media reports, the pilgrims might be released before the start of the holy month of Ramadan which begins Friday. A previously unknown group called on all Syrians in Lebanon to leave the country, threatening they could be the target of retaliation over the kidnapping. “Nearly two months following the kidnapping of the Lebanese pilgrims and after the period for political efforts to peacefully resolve this humanitarian issue has expired, the ‘Imam Rida Forces’ has decided to consider any person involved in the issue a target,” the group Monday said.