Prague/Muscat, Feb 2 (CTK) – A plane to transport home the five released Czechs, who were kidnapped last summer, will arrive in Lebanon on Wednesday, the Czech Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday after a meeting to prepare the men’s return.
Czech Ambassador to Beirut Svatopluk Cumba met the five men and he said they were all right.
Health care personnel and police will be aboard the special plane.
The Foreign Ministry will not comment on either details of the Czechs’ return or the speculations about their exchange for a Lebanese detained in the Czech Republic, Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek (Social Democrats CSSD) said on his way to Oman.
Server Neovlivni.cz has written, citing sources from Czech security services, that the exchange was approved by the National Security Council (BRS) leadership in January. The decision was reportedly pushed through by Justice Minister Robert Pelikan (for ANO).
According to Neovlivni.cz and server Novinky.cz, Fayad is to leave the Czech Republic for his homeland within a few hours.
Fayad, reportedly a Lebanese with Ukrainian citizenship, will leave Prague for Kiev, Lebanese Naharnet server has written.
Fayad’s Czech defence lawyer, nevertheless, told CTK this afternoon that Fayad is still staying in the Prague-Pankrac prison and that he has no official decision about his release.
The five Czechs, who went missing in Lebanon last July, have been free since Monday.
“I can confirm that the five Czechs, who were reported missing from last year, are with the Lebanese authorities. Ambassador Cumba is in touch with them. At the moment we are insisting on their transfer to our hands being arranged as soon as possible,” Zaoralek told reporters.
He did not specify when the plane would return from Lebanon.
“It will depend on the negotiations with the Lebanese security forces,” he said.
Czech Police President Tomas Tuhy said a police team will leave for Lebanon to secure a safe return of the five Czechs. He said he would not comment on the police action until the five are back home.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Michaela Lagronova told reporters that the plane might leave for Lebanon during Wednesday.
“Our ambassador has seen all the five Czech citizens. They are in a good condition,” Lagronova said.
“After returning to the Czech Republic, they will probably undergo a medical check-up, which is a routine matter, then they will be released and the case will be investigated,” she added.
Lagronova refused to comment on the circumstances of the five men’s release.
“All the information is subject to investigation both by the Lebanese authorities and the Czech police,” she said.
“The president was informed in advance at the end of last week at a meeting with Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek. I will not further comment on the case,” Zeman’s spokesman Jiri Ovcacek said.
The Lebanese daily L’Orient-Le Jour has reported, referring to unnamed local sources, that the liberation of the five Czechs resulted from an exchange agreement that presupposed the release of Lebanese Ali Fayad detained in Prague.
Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (CSSD) said on Tuesday he is glad that the Czechs are alive. “Another important piece of news is that the Foreign Ministry is dealing with the affair intensively. I suppose our the main goal now is to bring the people back to the Czech Republic. The rest is a matter for the police.”
“I will not comment on media speculations,” he told reporters.
Earlier on Tuesday, Sobotka met U.S. ambassador to Prague Andrew Schapiro.
Government spokesman Martin Ayrer said the meeting has nothing to do with Fayad’s release. It focused on Czech-U.S. relations, fight against IS and the situation in Ukraine.
The U.S. embassy would not comment on the latest developments concerning Fayad.
The Czech Justice Ministry would not comment on whether the Czechs in Lebanon were released in exchange for Fayad’s liberation either.
Zaoralek, too, refused to comment on the information about the exchange. “The Fayad case is and has been since the begining with jurisdiction of the Justice Ministry, which means that I cannot comment on it,” he noted.
The Lebanese Annahar daily has written that Fayad is to be deported within 24 hours of the Czechs’ release.
The Daily Star Lebanese newspaper has written that no ransom has been paid for the release of the five Czechs in Lebanon.
The Czech police Squad for Uncovering Organised Crime (UOOZ) deals with the penal proceedings in connection with the five men who went missing in Lebanon. UOOZ spokesman Pavel Hantak told CTK that he would not provide any information as the investigation was underway.
Fayad has been in custody in the Czech Republic since April 2014 on suspicion of cooperation with terrorists. The United States demands his extradition.
In mid-December last year, the Prague High Court confirmed that Fayad can be extradited to the United States, the same as another two men accused in his case – Faouzi Jaber and Khaled Marabi.
The final consent to the extradition of the men, who face a life sentence in the USA, is yet to be given by Czech Justice Minister Robert Pelikan.
