Two Turkish Pilots Kidnapped in Lebanon
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. Nobody at the moment knows the fate of two airline pilots who were kidnapped today from an airline bus by men with guns.</s>SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: This happened in Beirut, Lebanon. A pilot and co-pilot, both working for Turkish Airlines, they were on a bus between the Beirut airport and their hotel when witnesses say several gunmen stopped the bus, ran on board and grabbed the pilots.</s>HOLMES: Let's go straight to Beirut, live. Mohammed Jamjoom is standing there. Mohammed, you know, this could be a very complex story to tell. You have got Turkish pilots in Beirut, the kidnappers likely to be worried about what's happening in Syria.</s>MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, absolutely, Michael, this is a complicated tale to tell and one that's been hard to untangle. This was a particularly audacious kidnapping that happened today in Beirut. It happened around 3:00 a.m. local time earlier this morning. Now the Lebanese interior minister said that an investigation is ongoing. He's been in touch with the Turkish ambassador to Lebanon. Everybody's trying to make sure that these pilots can be released as quickly and as safely as possible. But here's where it gets complicated. Many people here believe that this happened as a direct result of the fall out from the Syrian civil war. Now here is why. The reason for this is because many people think that this kidnapping today was in retaliation for the kidnapping of Lebanese Shiite pilgrims that happened in Syria last year. We've heard from the Lebanese state media apparatus that there's a group that claimed responsible that's saying they're demanding the release of these Shiite Lebanese pilgrims from Syria and then they will release these Turkish pilots. The reason that Turkish citizens would be considered targets here in Lebanon is because the Turks have supported the Syrian rebels. Here in Lebanon, this country is divided when it comes to the Syrian civil war, the sectarian lines here really mirroring the sectarian lines in Syria and because of that there's anger toward the Turks from some quarters here in Lebanon. Michael?</s>HOLMES: All intertwined across borders. Mohammed Jamjoom, thanks so much. And, of course, there's doubt about what the government can do.</s>MALVEAUX: Whether or not they have any influence at all, right?</s>HOLMES: Exactly.</s>MALVEAUX: Yeah.</s>HOLMES: On that specific group, anyway. Yeah.</s>MALVEAUX: And we're also watching this. This is something they tell you always. Read the fine print, right?</s>HOLMES: I love this story. MALVEAUX; Number one rule when you sign something, but one Russian man turns it to his advantage. He actually turns it on its head with a credit card and a bank that actually fails to read the fine print. We'll have that, next.</s>HOLMES: Got you.