Obscure group claims Lebanon kidnapping of Estonians

An obscure group has claimed the kidnapping of seven Estonians in Lebanon through an email sent to a local website along with copies of the ID cards of three of those abducted, the head of the website told AFP Thursday. 

"We received an email late yesterday and we informed the proper authorities," said Rabih Haber, head of Lebanon Files website. "The authorities gave us permission to publish the email." 

The previously unheard of group, Haraket El Nahda Wal Islah (the Movement for Renewal and Reform) said the Estonians were in good condition and that it would make known its demands at a later time. The three IDs shown on the website were those of Kalev Kaosaar, August Tillo and Madis Paluoja. The other kidnapped have been identified by authorities as Priit Raistik, Jaan Jagomagi, Andre Pukk and Martin Metspalu. All are in their 30s and early 40s. 

The seven were abducted at gunpoint in the eastern Bekaa town of Zahle on March 23 after entering Lebanon through Syria on their bicycles.

Authorities have said they believe a gang of Lebanese and Syrian nationals involved in smuggling and other criminal activities is behind the kidnapping.

A raid was launched on one of their hideouts in the Bekaa earlier this week and a shootout erupted leaving one police officer wounded.

The raid took place near the village of Majdal Anjar, located near the Syrian border and known to harbour Sunni extremists and fugitives.

Several people have been arrested so far in connection with the kidnapping, amid an intensive hunt for the abductors in the mountainous region beyond the village.

Abductions have been rare since the end of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war during which nearly 100 foreigners, mostly Americans and western Europeans, were kidnapped.

Two Polish tourists were kidnapped last September, also in the Bekaa Valley, by members of a clan before being rescued by the army. The Bekaa is reputed for lawlessness, drug trafficking and feuding tribal clans.