Two Iranians released in Syria
Press TV- Two Iranians abducted by an armed group fighting against the Syrian government have been released, Press TV reports.
Abdolreza Shaqaqi, the spokesman of Iran’s embassy in Ankara, told Press TV’s correspondent that the two men, named Shahmorad Najafi and Shahqoli Ghalavand, were handed over to Turkey’s gendarmerie in the southeastern province of Hatay on Friday.
Shaqaqi stated that the Iranian Embassy is taking the necessary measures to repatriate the two Iranian nationals as soon as possible, adding that it is expected that the two men will leave Turkey for Tehran on Saturday.
Eighteen other Iranians who had been kidnapped in Syria were freed earlier in the year.
However, several other Iranians are still being held in Syria.
On December 21, 2011, five Iranian electrical engineers traveling to a power plant in the Syrian city of Homs were kidnapped by gunmen.
Two more Iranian citizens, who were trying to clarify the situation of the five abducted engineers, were also kidnapped and their whereabouts are still unknown.
Tehran has condemned the kidnappings and called for the immediate release of the Iranian citizens.
Hundreds of thousands of Iranians travel to Syria every year to visit the Shrine of Hazrat Zeinab in Damascus.