Kidnapped Iranian Pilgrims Freed in Syria

Source : Fars News Agency

TEHRAN (FNA)- All the 48 Iranian pilgrims who had been abducted by terrorists in Syria in August have been released, media reports said Wednesday.

A report by Al Alam Arab language TV networks said that armed groups in Syria have been released the 48 Iranian pilgrims who had been abducted near the capital city of Damascus this summer.

The Iranian Embassy in Damascus later confirmed the report in an interview with FNA at around midday today.

Meantime press tv reported that the abductees were set free as part of a swap deal between the Syrian government and the armed militants.

Earlier today, a board member of the Turkish humanitarian aid agency IHH told Reuters that the Syrian government will free 2,130 civilian prisoners on Wednesday in exchange for the release of 48 Iranians held by Syrian rebels.

"Most of the prisoners to be swapped are Syrian citizens in exchange for Iranians, and there are a few Turks as well," IHH board member Osman Atalay told Reuters.

He quoted IHH chief Bulent Yildirim, who was in Damascus to help coordinate the deal, as saying that the prisoner swap had already begun.

Iran also has used all diplomatic, political and security means to release the 48 Iranian pilgrims.

Ever since the abductions took place, the Foreign Ministry and the Iranian embassy in Damascus have been pursuing the fate and release of the kidnapped Iranian nationals through different channels.

On August 4, armed insurgents in Syria kidnapped 48 Iranian pilgrims who were traveling on a bus from Damascus International Airport to the shrine of Hazrat Zainab (AS) on the outskirts of Damascus.