Suspected Ringleader in Estonians’ Abduction Arrested
Wael Abbas, the suspected ringleader in the abduction of the seven Estonian cyclists, has been arrested, reported the National News Agency on Wednesday.
He was arrested by Syrian security forces as he was attempting to escape to the country through a false ID, it added.
He was arrested and handed over to Lebanon’s General Security Department.
The Estonians were freed on July 14, almost four months since armed men abducted them as they entered Lebanon on a bicycle tour from Syria.
Sources had said that they were released in the Bekaa town of al-Taybi in an operation arranged by French intelligence services.
The abduction has not been officially claimed.
In September, the Internal Security Forces killed two accomplices of the alleged mastermind behind the kidnapping during clashes in the area of al-Bireh in Rashaya.
Later that month, two Intelligence Branch officers were injured when they were ambushed by armed men in the hunt for the kidnappers in the village of Jlala near Shtaura.
One of the officers later died in October from injuries he sustained in the ambush.
Al-Liwaa newspaper reported in September that more than 17 people are members of the “secret organization” that carried out the kidnapping.
The gang is allegedly linked to another network specialized in kidnapping foreigners in Iraq.
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