Lebanese Media: Kidnapping Suspect Wounded
One of the suspects in the March kidnapping of seven Estonian cyclists in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley has been wounded in a firefight with security forces, local news outlets reported.
While in pursuit of three suspects in Bekaa on the night of September 10, authorities became involved in a shootout in which one suspect, a 33-year-old male, was wounded. The other two men were able to evade capture and are still at large, The Daily Star reported, citing a security source.
According to the publication, the wounded man is recovering in hospital, however the Lebanese news website Naharnet reported that he escaped, and that security forces believe that he later died of his wounds.
The seven tourists, all men aged 30 to 40, were kidnapped on March 23 and released unharmed in the same area on July 14. A previously unknown group called the Movement of Rebirth and Reform was allegedly responsible. After their release, the Estonians said that they had been held in both Lebanon and Syria.
Lebanese authorities have arrested more than 15 people in connection with the case, but have so far been unable to find a mastermind behind the operation. In July, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said that a Lebanese security officer had been killed while hunting down suspects.
Steve Roman