Turkish pilots kidnapped in Beirut

Gunmen seize two while on road from airport to hotel, incident likely Syria-related

By AP and ToI Staff 9 August 2013, 11:32 am

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Lebanese policemen stand guard outside a hotel where the rest of a Turkish Airlines crew stayed after six gunmen ambushed their vehicle on an old airport road and snatched two of the crew members, a pilot and a co-pilot, according to Lebanese officials, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Aug. 9, 2013. (Photo credit: AP/Hussein Malla)

Lebanese officials say gunmen have kidnapped two crew members — a pilot and a copilot — for Turkish Airlines in Beirut.

Security officials say the two men, both Turkish nationals, were seized as they were traveling in a van with other crew members from the Beirut International Airport to a hotel early Friday.

The officials say six gunmen ambushed the car on an old airport road, snatched the two men from the vehicle and let the rest continue on. The incident occurred at about 3 a.m. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The two were named as Murat Akpinar and Murat Agga, according to a report in the Lebanese Daily Star newspaper.

There was no claim of responsibility for the kidnapping.

The incident is likely related to neighboring Syria’s conflict — Turkey backs Syria’s Sunni rebels while Lebanese Shiite support the regime. A rebel group in Syria is holding nine Lebanese Shiites.

Relatives of the kidnapped Shiites were allegedly planning on abducting Turks as bargaining chips, a senior Lebanese official told Reuters earlier in the week.

However, the relatives told Lebanese media they denied any connection to the kidnapping.

“We have nothing to do with it and we were surprised and heard about it from the news just like everybody else,” a spokesman for the families was quoted as saying by local media, according to The Daily Star.