Prague, April 4 (CTK) – The Czech military intelligence has made no crucial mistake in the case of the kidnapping of five Czech men, including intelligence officer Martin Psik, in Lebanon, Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky said in a written statement sent to CTK on Monday.
An analysis of the case revealed only partial deficiencies that would be corrected, he said.
Stropnicky did not provide any detailed information because the analysis is not available for the public.
The five men were kidnapped last June and released in February, after 199 days.
The Neovlivni.cz server wrote that the Czechs were swapped for Ali Fayad, an alleged Lebanese secret agent who was kept in a Prague custody prison and whose extradition the USA demanded. The server said the Czech National Security approved the swap in January and Justice Ministry Robert Pelikan pushed it through.
In March, both government and opposition lawmakers and security experts criticised the work of the military intelligence. In reaction, Stropnicky promised to work out an analysis of the case.
As soon as the five kidnapped Czechs returned to their homeland, Fayad was released from custody. Stropnicky then admitted that the Czechs were released on condition that Fayad is not extradited to the United States that suspected him of support for terrorism.
