Kidnapping In Lebanon: “It Was A Normal Accident Which Can Happen Anywhere"

Anywhere? I don't know about that:

Two Polish tourists who were kidnapped were rescued by the army in eastern Lebanon, and the pair is safe, Poland’s consul to Beirut said on Wednesday.

“It was a normal accident which can happen anywhere,” Lech Faszcza told Agence France Presse.


He said the Lebanese military could not identify precisely where the pair had been abducted Tuesday night but ruled out any political motivation.

“The two tourists said they were not careful when they were driving, lost their way and had no map, no GPS and so on… and they were not too scared, frankly,” he said.

Despite the way the article plays down the danger of the situation, the fact remains that one person was killed:

The Poles were freed by the army shortly after being kidnapped Tuesday by two members of the influential Jaafar clan in the eastern Bekaa Valley town of Baalbek.

When the abductors failed to stop their car at a checkpoint, soldiers opened fire, killing one of the kidnappers, identified as Rashid Reda Jaafar in an army communiqué. The other abductor had fled and was being sought.

I suppose the attitude in the article is akin to the attitude that Michael Totten describes in his article about life in Lebanon--Life On The Edge:

Beirut's developed an admirable joie de vivre during the civil war in defiance of all the death and destruction around them. The Lebanese like to brag that they partied and danced throughout the war. I don’t know how true that really is, but they say it’s true, and it’s at least half-believable. When Anthony Bourdain found himself stranded in Lebanon during the 2006 war while filming an episode of his food show No Reservations, his camera crew captured a lively scene at a South Beach-style club while Israeli air strikes pulverized Hezbollah neighborhoods just a few miles away.

Totten illustrates his point with an ad for a Lebanese night club that is unlike any you are likely to see in New York.

Technorati Tag: Lebanon.