Lebanese army frees kidnapped Saudi national near Syrian border

A Saudi national who had been kidnapped in Beirut is freed in a “special operation” by the Lebanese army near the Syrian border, it says in a statement.

“An army intelligence patrol managed to free kidnapped Saudi national Mashari al-Mutairi during a special operation on the Syrian border,” the army says. “A number of those involved in the kidnapping were also arrested,” it adds.

A senior Lebanese security source told AFP yesterday that, based on preliminary information, the Saudi was kidnapped by unidentified assailants dressed as security personnel in a four-wheel drive vehicle on the Beirut seafront, where he had been in a restaurant.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati congratulates the army on the “great effort deployed to release him and arrest those involved in the kidnapping.”