Lebanese pilgrims, Turkish pilots freed in Syrian war deal

Nine Lebanese pilgrims abducted in Syria and two Turkish pilots held hostage in Lebanon returned home on Saturday night, part of an ambitious three-way deal cutting across the Syrian military conflict.

Thousands of well-wishers greeted the Shiite pilgrims in Beirut, with one man being carried out of the airport on the shoulders of a crowd. Meanwhile, a plane carrying the two freed Turkish Airlines pilots landed in Istanbul, where Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other officials greeted them.

Their planes departed just minutes apart, crisscrossing in the skies as part of the carefully calibrated plan. The hostage release ends an ordeal that began a year and a half ago when Syrian rebels kidnapped the pilgrims, triggering tit-for-tat kidnappings that included the two Turkish pilots.

The deal, negotiated by Qatar and Palestinian officials, was also meant to include freeing dozens of women held in Syrian government jails to satisfy the rebels who abducted the pilgrims. However, it wasn't immediately clear on Saturday night whether any of the women had been freed. The Syrian government and its official SANA news agency did not mention any such release.

Erdogan greeted the Turkish Airlines pilots on the tarmac as they disembarked from a Qatar Airways jet and were met with cheers from family members.

The Lebanese, seized by Syrian rebels in May 2012, were freed and left northern Syria for Turkey a day earlier.

At Beirut International Airport, friends and relatives ululated and cheered as the men walked onto the tarmac.

"The situation is worse than you can imagine. We paid a heavy price," said one of the hostages, who was walking with a cane, apparently from an injury sustained in captivity.

The nine Shiite pilgrims were kidnapped on their way from Iran to Lebanon via Turkey and Syria. Turkish Airlines pilots Murat Akpinar and Murat Agca had been held since their kidnapping in August in Beirut.

Their abductions show how the chaos from the Syrian conflict, now in its third year, has spilled across the greater Middle East. The men also described facing similar despair and hardships while in captivity.

"For the first 15 days, we were kept in a room and didn't see the light of day," Akpinar said in a hastily organized news conference after landing in Istanbul. He said he and his colleague were guarded by dozens of gunmen. "It was impossible for us to escape," he said.

In Beirut's international airport, hundreds of relatives shouted and screamed as the pilgrims filed in. Most of the freed men wore tidy plaid shirts, their faces visibly tired.

"My son, my son!" one woman sobbed.

Dozens of green-clad Lebanese soldiers tried to keep order as crowds heaved forward.

One pilgrim accused his kidnappers of not offering the hostages medical care.

"We wished that any of them had any kind of values," said the pilgrim, who did not give his name in the chaos. "We were with people who couldn't tell a female camel from a male camel," he said, referring to an Arabic saying to describe an ignorant person.

Other pilgrims said they were kept in dark, humid rooms for most of their confinement.

Lebanese government officials and clerics greeted the men, kissing their cheeks one by one.

AP-Reuters

(China Daily 10/21/2013 page11)