Awwal 04, 1432 H / April 08, 2011, SPA -- Lebanon's military prosecutor on Friday charged 11 individuals "for conspiring and participating" in the kidnapping of the seven Estonian cyclists in eastern Lebanon two weeks ago, reported the dpa. Sakr Sakr said several people have been arrested so far in connection with the kidnapping on March 23 in the Bekaa Valley. "Those who were arrested so far were charged with firing at an army intelligence patrol with unregistered weapons during a chase for the kidnappers and which resulted in the injury of a police officer," a judicial source told the German Press Agency dpa. The Estonians were kidnapped near the town of Zahle shortly after crossing the border from Syria during a cycling holiday. A previously unknown group recently claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and said they would send their ransom demands.
