Mikati to Turkey to follow up on hostages

Prime Minister Najib Mikati will head to Turkey in the coming hours, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told reporters Wednesday at noon. “Mikati will travel to Turkey this afternoon at 5 p.m. to discuss the case of the Lebanese hostages,” Charbel was quoted as saying at Baabda Palace. Foreign Affairs Minister Adnan Mansour and Interior Minister Marwan Charbel will accompany Mikati on his visit to Turkey. Meanwhile, President Michel Sleiman was quoted as saying during the Cabinet session that the case of the kidnapped Lebanese was shrouded with ambiguity. "Ambiguity surrounds the case,” Sleiman said, who expressed hope that efforts by the Lebanese government in this regard would result in a "happy ending." Eleven male pilgrims were kidnapped in the Syrian province of Aleppo last Tuesday shortly after crossing the border from Turkey. Their release had been scheduled for Friday, according to Turkish officials, but for unknown reasons they remain in captivity. One Syrian opposition figure, who said he had spoken to the kidnappers, told the Associated Press Tuesday that the hostage-takers decided not to release the men after Syrian forces began attacking rebel areas in Aleppo, north Syria. Now, he said, the kidnappers are demanding Syrian authorities release 500 opposition detainees, including Lt. Col. Hussein Harmoush, one of the first officers to defect after the uprising began. Harmoush was later arrested by the regime during a special operation. Ministerial sources told The Daily Star Tuesday that efforts to release the hostages were now restricted to Mikati and Turkey. Mikati said Tuesday Ankara's role was significant in mediating an end to the hostage saga. Speaking at the beginning of a Cabinet session he chaired at the Grand Serail, Mikati said that contacts with the Turkish government to secure the hostages’ release are ongoing "whether directly or through diplomatic channels. "This is because we believe that Turkish support in this regard is of special significance," he said.