Syria hands over suspects in Estonian kidnapping

Syria on Thursday handed over to the Beirut authorities three suspects in the kidnapping of seven Estonians that were freed after their abduction in Lebanon, security officials said.

“Syrian officials this afternoon handed over to General Security three men - a Lebanese, a Syrian and a Palestinian - wanted for the March 2011 kidnapping of seven Estonians in the Bekaa,” said a General Security statement.

It added that Syrian authorities had cooperated with their Lebanese counterparts in the case.

Damascus handed over the alleged mastermind behind the abductions in November.

Security officials in Lebanon said the Estonians had been taken across the border into Syria during their kidnapping.

Two men suspected of involvement in the kidnapping were killed in a September 20, 2011 shootout with police.

The seven kidnapped Estonians were freed in Lebanon in July 2011, almost four months after being abducted by armed men as they entered the country on a bicycle tour from neighboring Syria.

It is widely believed a ransom was paid for their release but the Estonian government has refused to confirm the reports.

The men, all in their 30s, were kidnapped on March 23, 2011 in Lebanon’s lawless Bekaa Valley.

The case had for months been shrouded in mystery, but several people were arrested in Lebanon in connection with the kidnapping.

The Estonians were shown appealing for help in videos posted on the Internet on April 20 and May 20, 2011 before a third video was sent to their relatives on July 8.

In the first video, the seven called on the leaders of Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and France − but not Estonia −to help them.

They did not present any demands on behalf of their captors nor did they specify what country they were in.

Sources said that investigators at the time determined that the video was uploaded in the Syrian capital Damascus, leading to speculation that the men were moved across the border from Lebanon.

Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley is notorious for lawlessness, drug trafficking and feuding tribal clans, and patrols by security forces have regularly come under attack there.