All kidnapped Lebanese truck drivers return home from Syria

Nine Lebanese truck drivers kidnapped by the Nusra Front on the Syria-Jordan border earlier this month returned home Monday, ending a nearly two-week ordeal, the Daily Star reported.

Around noon Monday, eight Lebanese truckers abducted at the Nasib crossing in southern Syria had landed at Beirut airport.

Hours later, the ninth, Hasan Atat, crossed into Lebanon by land from Syria through the eastern Masnaa crossing, a General Security spokesperson said.

Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayeb, who was tasked with following up on the matter, welcomed the truckers upon their arrival at the airport.

One of the drivers, Abdel Rahman Ahmad Houri, explained to the media that the Nusra Front was behind their abduction.

“We had arrived at the crossing when the war began,” he said in reference to the battle for the crossing between Syrian Army and rebels.

“The Jordanians had closed the borders, so we were stuck there and the rebels took over the crossing.”

He said several groups, including unidentifiable factions, entered the crossing after battle, including the Nusra front which abducted the nine drivers.

After being held and interrogated for around a week in an underground location, the Dar al Adel (Justice House) court run by the Nusra Front ordered their release, Houri explained.

After that, they remained under “the protection of the Free Syrian Army,” he added.

Chehayeb thanked the FSA for ensuring the drivers’ safety, and underlined that no ransoms were paid in return for the drivers’ release.