Lebanon is hunting two Swedes suspected of kidnapping a Lebanese officer.
The Swedes are suspected of having collaborated with Israel’s intelligence service, according to Lebanese information to Expressen.
Israel is hunting information about fighter pilot Ron Arad who disappeared in Lebanon in 1986, security sources in Beirut said.
A week ago, retired Lebanese officer Ahmad Shokr received a phone call that prompted him to take his car from his village of Brital in northern Lebanon and drive to the outskirts of the town of Zahle in the Bekaa Valley. Since then he has been missing.
On Tuesday, both court sources reveal to local media, and security sources to Expressen, that Ahmad Shokr is suspected of having been kidnapped by Israel’s intelligence service Mossad.
Israel is chasing information about fighter pilot Ron Arad, who was shot down over Lebanon in 1986. Israel suspects that Hassan is sitting on information about the missing pilot, security sources in Beirut say.
One is believed to have left the country
In October 1986, an Israeli F-4 phantom plane was shot down over southern Lebanon. Fighter pilot Ron Arad was captured by the Amal militia. Since then, Israel has conducted several covert operations and kidnappings to find information about him to no avail. Security sources in Beirut say Ron Arad may have been held captive in one of the Shokr family’s houses in the Bekaa Valley community of Nabi Sheet.
Two Swedish citizens – one of whom has roots in Lebanon – landed in Beirut two days before the suspected kidnapping. They are suspected of having lured Ahmad Shokr to an uninhabited area outside the city of Zahle in the Bekaa Valley, where he was allegedly kidnapped by Israeli agents.
– We suspect that Hassan Shokr has been taken on to Israel, say court sources to local media.
According to Lebanese security sources, one of the two Swedes left the country immediately after the kidnapping, which took place a week ago.
– We are hunting the other Swede who has connections to Lebanon. We have checked all border crossings. He is still inside Lebanon, a source in the Lebanese security service tells Expressen.
