3 kidnapped Syrians freed in Beirut

Three Syrians kidnapped by armed men in Beirut were freed on Saturday, Lebanon's state NNA news agency reported, after a wave of mass kidnappings linked to the Syria conflict earlier this week.

The three men, who had been seized by a gang of at least five men from a banana storehouse on the road to Beirut international airport on Friday, were freed after their money was stolen, NNA said.

The abduction came days after a Shi'ite clan kidnapped around 20 Syrians in Lebanon in retaliation for the abduction of a family member by a Syrian rebel group which accused him of being a Hezbollah sniper.

Two Turks have also been kidnapped, at least one of them by the Muqdad clan.