Prague, Feb 14 (CTK) – Czech Foreign Minister Zaoralek (Social Democrats, CSSD) demands that the Lebanon case, in which five kidnapped Czechs were allegedly swapped for Lebanese Ali Fayad, be thoroughly investigated, including the role of Military Intelligence Service (VZ) in it, he told Prima TV on Sunday.
The sending of a VZ officer to Lebanon where he was kidnapped along with another four Czechs was an unbelievable hazard, Zaoralek said.
He also said the information leaks about the alleged ransom paid for two kidnapped Czech women in Pakistan and about the swap of Fayad for the five Czechs must be investigated.
“It is up to the police investigation to find out who, if any, failed in this case,” Zaoralek said.
Opposition TOP 09 chairman Miroslav Kalousek reiterated that the government had failed by accepting the terrorists’ demands, by information leaks about the ransom level and by releasing a man accused of serious international crime whose extradition the United States demanded.
Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky (ANO), who indirectly confirmed in the press that Fayad, a terrorism suspect and an alleged collaborator of the Lebanese secret services, was swapped for the five Czechs, was asked to resign over it.
Fayad was released from Czech custody earlier this month, on the same day when the five Czechs kidnapped in Lebanon returned home. The USA sharply criticised the step.
