File photo / AFP
Beirut: A Saudi national who had been kidnapped in Beirut has been freed in a "special operation" by the Lebanese army near the Syrian border, it said in a statement Tuesday.
"An army intelligence patrol managed to free kidnapped Saudi national Mashari al-Mutairi during a special operation on the Syrian border," the army said.
"A number of those involved in the kidnapping were also arrested," it added.
A senior Lebanese security source had told AFP on Monday that, based on preliminary information, the Saudi national was kidnapped by unidentified assailants dressed as security personnel in a four-wheel drive vehicle on the Beirut seafront, where he had been in a restaurant.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati congratulated the army on the "great effort deployed to release him and arrest those involved in the kidnapping."
According to Saudi government-owned television channel Al-Ekhbariya, the kidnappers had demanded a ransom.
Kidnappings of Arab or foreign nationals in Lebanon have been rare in recent years.
The last one occurred in July 2022, when a Saudi was abducted on arrival at Beirut airport.
