Report: Intelligence Branch Arrests 2 Suspects in Kidnapping of Syrians

The Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch arrested two suspects in the kidnapping of two Syrian nationals in the Bekaa valley area of Bar Elias last Friday, official security sources said.

Three gunmen kidnapped Mohammad Ayman Ammar, 49 and Nour Jamil Qadoura, 30, after they intercepted their Jaguar upon entering Lebanon from Syria.

However, the vehicle’s driver, a Lebanese named Khalil Saleh al-Agha, wasn’t abducted.

The sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat published Tuesday that the two suspects were arrested after the intelligence branch followed the movements of the abductees’ and the driver’s mobile phones.

Investigators believe that the kidnapping was carried out for money extortion purposes and are now seeking to find the link between the two arrested men and other suspects that are believed to be involved in the killing of four Lebanese soldiers in the Bekaa town of Riaq on April 13, 2009.