Members of a powerful Shiite Muslim clan in Lebanon have released a Turkish man they took hostage last month, angered by their relative’s abduction in Syria.
The al-Mikdad clansmen kidnapped Aydin Tufan Tekin and more than 20 Syrians as retaliation for the capture of one of their family members inside Syria by rebels trying to overthrow President Bashar Assad.
Turkey has been hosting Syrian rebels and refugees.
Tekin was released late on Tuesday, hours after a raid by the Lebanese army freed the last four Syrian hostages held by al-Mikdad’s.
He told reporters after his release that he was well treated but that his 27 days in custody were “not easy”. He flew home on Wednesday.
The kidnappings are a sign of the spillover of the Syrian civil war into Lebanon.