BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Four gunmen kidnapped two Turkish Airlines pilots as they made their way Friday to a hotel in Beirut, Lebanon, Lebanese Interior Minister, Marwan Charbel said.
"A kidnapping operation took place at 3 a.m. targeting a bus carrying several members of a Turkish Airlines crew going from the airport to the hotel," Hurriyet Daily News quoted Charbel as saying. "Gunmen kidnapped two passengers from the bus, the pilot and co-pilot."
The victims were identified as pilot Murat Akpinar and co-pilot Murat Agca, Dogan News Agency reported.
The driver of the shuttle taking the pilots to the Radisson Hotel in Ain al-Mreisseh said there were seven other Turkish Airlines crew members aboard the bus at the time, as well as his 12-year-old son, The (Beirut) Daily Star reported.
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No one has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings, but authorities said it may be in retaliation for the abduction by Syrian rebels of Lebanese Shiites in May 2012, Today's Zaman reported.
Family members of the kidnapped Lebanese pilgrims have protested the offices of Turkish Airlines in Beirut and the Turkish Embassy, saying Turkey bears responsibility for the kidnappings because it backs Syrian rebels, The Daily Star reported.
Relatives of the kidnapped Lebanese denied any link to Friday's kidnappings.
"Until now, the relatives have nothing to do with the kidnapping of a Turkish Airlines pilot and his assistant," said Sheik Abbas Zoghieb, who was tasked by the Higher Shiite Council to advocate for the kidnapped Lebanese. "But had we known about it, we would have encouraged such an act because it has been over a year since the Lebanese were kidnapped and the Turks are playing with our emotions."
