Moussa
2011-05-21 05:34:48 UTC
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2011/May-21/Abducted-Estonian-cyclists-plead-for-rescue-in-new-video.ashx
Abducted Estonian cyclists plead for rescue in new video
May 21, 2011 02:31 AM (Last updated: May 21, 2011 02:59 AM)
By Patrick Galey
The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The seven Estonian tourists kidnapped in Lebanon two months ago
have appealed for their safety in a new video released Friday, warning that
their continued detention placed them in “great danger.”
The seven men, seen in the second video obtained by the Estonian Foreign
Ministry, also criticized their government for abandoning them.
“We are very tired and in great danger. We ask our families and all who
know us to help us,” Kalev Kaosaar, who has become the group’s unofficial
spokesperson, said in the video. “We have been imprisoned for 54 days now
and it has been a very hard time for us,” Kaosaar said Monday.
Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said that the video had been received
by his ministry late Thursday via email. The video was allegedly uploaded
by a user who marked his location as “Syria.”
“[The video] is proof that the kidnapped citizens are alive and that the
people who are behind this still want to keep contact,” Paet told The Daily
Star via telephone from Tallinn. “It is important but obviously what we
want most is the release of our people.”
The captive tourists appeared to be in similar health to their previous
video, which was released on April 20 and featured pleas to world leaders
to secure their release. As in the first video, the kidnappers issued no
demands Friday.
“It’s some sort of tactic they are using. It’s clear that they want to keep
contact. Maybe this is some sort of preparation for the next stage,” Paet
said.
Koasaar accused his country of giving up on their rescue efforts.
“We ask them [our families] to push the Estonian government to help us out
from this jail, as the Estonian government has left us and does not want to
help us anymore,” he said in the video.
In response to the charge, Paet confirmed that efforts were ongoing between
Estonia and Lebanon in a bid to release the men.
“You have to look at the situation. These [kidnappers] can make them say
whatever they want them to read,” he said. “I will not pay attention to the
substance of the video as long as no demands are issued. This is obviously
not [the hostages’] own free speech.”
A ministry statement said Tallinn was working intensively with contacts in
Beirut and “and other partners” to liberate the tourists.
Martin Metspalu, father of one of the hostages, told The Daily Star that
the Estonian government was doing all it could to find the abducted men.
“I feel bad,” said Metspalu, referring to the paucity of information in the
latest video. “Please tell us what to do. What do they need from us? This
isn’t helping. It’s a cat and mouse game.”
Now, Metspalu worries that his son and the six other captives, who have had
no outside contact since their abduction, might be unaware that their
government is working hard for their release. “It doesn’t look good at
all,” he said. “Maybe they don’t know their government is trying to help.”
The tourists were taken at gunpoint from an industrial area on the
outskirts of Zahle on March 23 after having cycled into Lebanon via the
Masnaa border crossing with Syria.
In the crime’s immediate aftermath Lebanese security forces were confident
that the kidnappers would be apprehended, although the trail now appears to
have cooled in spite of a spate of arrests and the retrieval of the vehicle
believed to have been used in the abduction. Security sources said that the
men could be being held in Syria, close to its porous western border with
Lebanon.
Abducted Estonian cyclists plead for rescue in new video
May 21, 2011 02:31 AM (Last updated: May 21, 2011 02:59 AM)
By Patrick Galey
The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The seven Estonian tourists kidnapped in Lebanon two months ago
have appealed for their safety in a new video released Friday, warning that
their continued detention placed them in “great danger.”
The seven men, seen in the second video obtained by the Estonian Foreign
Ministry, also criticized their government for abandoning them.
“We are very tired and in great danger. We ask our families and all who
know us to help us,” Kalev Kaosaar, who has become the group’s unofficial
spokesperson, said in the video. “We have been imprisoned for 54 days now
and it has been a very hard time for us,” Kaosaar said Monday.
Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said that the video had been received
by his ministry late Thursday via email. The video was allegedly uploaded
by a user who marked his location as “Syria.”
“[The video] is proof that the kidnapped citizens are alive and that the
people who are behind this still want to keep contact,” Paet told The Daily
Star via telephone from Tallinn. “It is important but obviously what we
want most is the release of our people.”
The captive tourists appeared to be in similar health to their previous
video, which was released on April 20 and featured pleas to world leaders
to secure their release. As in the first video, the kidnappers issued no
demands Friday.
“It’s some sort of tactic they are using. It’s clear that they want to keep
contact. Maybe this is some sort of preparation for the next stage,” Paet
said.
Koasaar accused his country of giving up on their rescue efforts.
“We ask them [our families] to push the Estonian government to help us out
from this jail, as the Estonian government has left us and does not want to
help us anymore,” he said in the video.
In response to the charge, Paet confirmed that efforts were ongoing between
Estonia and Lebanon in a bid to release the men.
“You have to look at the situation. These [kidnappers] can make them say
whatever they want them to read,” he said. “I will not pay attention to the
substance of the video as long as no demands are issued. This is obviously
not [the hostages’] own free speech.”
A ministry statement said Tallinn was working intensively with contacts in
Beirut and “and other partners” to liberate the tourists.
Martin Metspalu, father of one of the hostages, told The Daily Star that
the Estonian government was doing all it could to find the abducted men.
“I feel bad,” said Metspalu, referring to the paucity of information in the
latest video. “Please tell us what to do. What do they need from us? This
isn’t helping. It’s a cat and mouse game.”
Now, Metspalu worries that his son and the six other captives, who have had
no outside contact since their abduction, might be unaware that their
government is working hard for their release. “It doesn’t look good at
all,” he said. “Maybe they don’t know their government is trying to help.”
The tourists were taken at gunpoint from an industrial area on the
outskirts of Zahle on March 23 after having cycled into Lebanon via the
Masnaa border crossing with Syria.
In the crime’s immediate aftermath Lebanese security forces were confident
that the kidnappers would be apprehended, although the trail now appears to
have cooled in spite of a spate of arrests and the retrieval of the vehicle
believed to have been used in the abduction. Security sources said that the
men could be being held in Syria, close to its porous western border with
Lebanon.