"Al-Akhbar" Lebanese daily unveiled Thursday that a group called "Ahrar al-Atareb (Free of al-Atareb) [al-Atareb: region in Aleppo district] deployed in the rural part of Aleppo is responsible for kidnapping the 11 Lebanese pilgrims.
The group kidnapped the Lebanese as soon as they crossed the Turkish borders on their way back to Lebanon."The group handed the hostages to another Salafist extremist group," the paper added and revealed that "one of the members of the so-called "Syrian National Council" (SNC) is directly related to the group of kidnappers.
According to the daily, the council member lives in Turkey, and his armed groups estimated by 400 fighters control the Syrian border area adjacent to Turkey.
"The head of the SNC and a large number of its members know about the involvement of this member who lives in Turkey and receives informal support from Qatar and Saudi Arabia," "al-Akhbar" reported.
It also mentioned that "the armed groups of this SNC official contain a mix of outlaws and Salafists, including a number of Libyans and Algerians."
Miqati in Turkey for "Top Secret" Talks
Local Editor
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Miqati headed to Turkey Wednesday afternoon, accompanied by Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, to hold talks with the Turkish side on the eleven abducted Lebanese visitors, kidnapped in Aleppo nine days ago.
In the official visit to Ankara, Miqati will discuss with top Turkish officials on Thursday the “secret mediation” launched by Turkey to secure the release of 11 Lebanese visitors abducted by armed men in Syria last week, An Nahar daily reported.
Miqati told the newspaper that his visit to Turkey falls within the attempt of Lebanese authorities to receive the latest information available on the kidnapped men.
The prime minister met early on Thursday with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and will hold talks with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and other officials.
He told An Nahar that he has already held a telephone conversation with Davutoglu.
Meanwhile, Local Al-Akhbar newspaper on Thursday quoted visitors of Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Miqati as saying that “he is acting very cautiously due to the new wave of internal and regional pressure on the cabinet and the country.”“The premier is sensing that there is an attempt to force him [not to be politically active] if he wants to remain a premier,” Al-Akhbar also quoted Mikati’s visitors as saying.
According to the daily, the visitors also said that “there is pressure on Miqati to form an unbiased cabinet, whose ministers will not participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections.”However, in a statement issued Thursday, Miqati’s office denied Al-Akhbar report saying that “it (the report) is unfounded and Prime Minister Najib Mikati did not give those statements to his visitors,” the statement issued by Mikati’s office said.
The 11 Lebanese visitors were kidnapped in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo on May 22 while they were on their way back from visiting the holy shrines in Iran.
No one has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. But different media reports have mentioned the possibility of the involvement of different sides since the men’s abduction last week.
Al-Akhbar daily said Thursday that a member of the opposition Syrian National Council, who has around 400 armed followers in the area bordering Turkey, was involved in the abduction.
His group receives an unofficial support from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the newspaper said.
It added that the gunmen do not receive direct orders from the rebel Free Syrian Army but they coordinate with it operations against the Syrian regular army.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian 
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