Premier Najib Miqati will discuss with top Turkish officials on Thursday the “secret mediation” launched by Turkey to secure the release of 11 Lebanese pilgrims abducted by armed men in Syria last week, An Nahar daily reported.

Miqati told the newspaper that his visit to Turkey falls within the attempt of Lebanese authorities to receive the latest information available on the kidnapped men.

The prime minister met on Thursday with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and will hold talks with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and other officials.

He told An Nahar that he has already held a telephone conversation with Davutoglu. The 11 pilgrims were kidnapped in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo on May 22 while they were on their way back from a pilgrimage in Iran.

The gunmen intercepted their buses, according to the women on the pilgrimage who were allowed to go free and arrived in Lebanon hours later.

No one has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. But different media reports have mentioned the possibility of the involvement of different sides since the men’s abduction last week... continue reading