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Gunmen Kidnap 2 Turkish Airlines Pilots in Beirut Gunmen Kidnap 2 Turkish Airlines Pilots in Beirut
(about 9 hours later)
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Armed assailants in two vehicles intercepted a bus carrying Turkish Airlines personnel from the airport into Beirut early on Friday and kidnapped a pilot and a co-pilot, Lebanese media reported. The attack could signal a further spread into Lebanon of the civil war in neighboring Syria. BEIRUT, Lebanon — Armed assailants intercepted a bus carrying Turkish Airlines personnel from the city’s airport to central Beirut early Friday and kidnapped a pilot and co-pilot.
No group immediately took responsibility for the abduction, and there was no immediate word whether a ransom had been demanded. Analysts here noted, however, that Turkey was a close ally of antigovernment Sunni Muslim insurgents in Syria who have been holding several Lebanese Shiites hostage. It was not immediately clear whether the kidnapping was part of an effort to secure the release of the Lebanese hostages. A previously unknown group claimed responsibility for the kidnappings, issuing a statement suggesting the pilots would be released in return for the freedom of nine Lebanese Shiites kidnapped by Syrian rebels last year near the Turkish border. Families of the Lebanese hostages have long called on Turkey, a close ally of the Sunni Muslim rebels in Syria, to use its influence to secure their release.
The attackers were traveling in two vehicles when they forced the bus to halt on a bridge on its way from Rafik Hariri International Airport to a hotel in Beirut. The kidnappers entered the bus and ordered the pilot and co-pilot to accompany them while leaving the rest of the Turkish crew on the bus. Turkish officials said that they did not know who abducted the pilots or why, and that they were in close touch with Lebanese authorities on the matter. The attack could signal further spread of the civil war in Syria into Lebanon.
The pilot had landed Turkish Airlines Flight 828 from Istanbul to Beirut with 144 passengers on board at 3:30 a.m., The Associated Press reported. A cleric aiding the Lebanese hostages’ families on behalf of Lebanon’s Shiite religious council, Sheik Abbas Zugheib, said the families, who have held protests outside offices of Turkish Airlines, had nothing to do with the kidnapping, but added, “If we were notified we would have encouraged it without any equivocation.”
The driver of the bus told Lebanese investigators that he had no choice but to stop since he feared the gunmen would open fire, Lebanese media quoted security officials as saying. It was not immediately clear how many assailants carried out the kidnapping. Some reports spoke of six while others said eight. He said that if the kidnapping was for ransom, he condemned it. But if “honest people” had taken action to help the hostages, he said, “we call on everyone to stand by the party that carried out this operation.”
In Turkey, The A.P. said, Levent Gumrukcu, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, confirmed the kidnapping and said the rest of the crew was expected to return home later on Friday. “We don’t know who did this and for what purpose,” he was quoted as saying. Mona Tormos, the wife of one of the Lebanese hostages, said that although she deplored kidnapping she was happy when she heard of the seizure of the pilots and wanted to “squeeze the hands” of the abductors. “After all,” she said, “I want my husband back.”
The kidnapping could reflect the sectarian nature of the conflict in Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad belongs to the minority Alawite sect backed by Shiite Muslim allies in Iran and Lebanon. Fighters from Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah group have joined with government forces in Syria to oppose the Sunni insurgents seeking Mr. Assad’s overthrow. The Sunni rebels are also supported by many Western and Arab governments. The families say the Lebanese men were pilgrims on their way to a shrine when they were seized; rebels have accused them, without providing proof, of being affiliated with Hezbollah or Iran, both which side with the Syrian government. The men are being held by a rebel group known as North Storm, part of the Western-backed rebel umbrella group known as the Free Syrian Army and one of the military units that led the 10-month siege of Menagh Airport, which fell to rebels on Monday.
That division also plays out between Sunnis and Shiites in Lebanon, deepening tensions between them. Turkish officials said they were in close touch with Lebanese authorities on the matter, and Turkish Airlines issued a statement expressing concern for the pilots and declaring that it had no affiliation with any political organization.

Hwaida Sadd reported from Beirut, and Alan Cowell from London.

“As a global airline that flies to 237 destinations,” it said, “we bring citizens of the world together from all religions, ethnicities and countries without any discrimination.”
The attackers were traveling in two vehicles when they forced the bus to halt on a bridge on its way from Rafik Hariri International Airport to a hotel in Beirut, officials said. The kidnappers stormed the bus and ordered the pilot and co-pilot to accompany them while leaving the rest of the Turkish crew behind.
The driver of the bus told Lebanese investigators that he had no choice but to stop since he feared the gunmen would open fire, Lebanese news media quoted security officials as saying. It was not immediately clear how many assailants carried out the kidnapping. Some reports spoke of six while others said eight.
A group calling itself the Iman al-Ridha Visitors took responsibility for the kidnapping in a statement issued later on Monday. It used a Turkish phrase to invoke God, then said in Arabic that “when the visitors” — an apparent reference to the Lebanese hostages — “are back, the pilots will be released.”
Turkey urged its citizens to leave Lebanon and avoid travel there.
In a statement, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, called the kidnappings “unacceptable” and said the return of the hostages should not come at the expense of “the state’s prestige, the rule of law or human dignity.”
The kidnapping at the height of the travel season at the end of the holy month of Ramadan was another blow to Lebanon’s struggling tourist industry. Lebanon is divided, largely along sectarian lines, between supporters and opponents of the Syrian government. Although Lebanese are fighting on both sides in Syria, the country has so far avoided widespread violence at home associated with the conflict.

Hwaida Sadd and Anne Barnard reported from Beirut. Alan Cowell contributed reporting from London.