five czechs
© www.praguepost.comFive missing Czechs working to exonerate Ali Fayyad of US terrorism setup.
During the night of July 17-18 in the Lebanese Bekaa Valley, a kidnapping took place that has turned into a strange, suspense-filled drama with international dimensions involving Beirut, Washington, Prague and Kiev.

On the night of July 17, five Czechs — Jan Svarc, Adam Homsi, Miroslav Dobes, Merlin Pesek and Pavel Kofron — arrived at Beirut's international airport, where a vehicle was waiting to pick them up. A couple of hours later, the van was found on the side of the road in Kefraya, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) east of Beirut in the Bekaa Valley. Their passports, papers and other personal belongings had been left in the car, but there were no other traces of the men or their possible whereabouts.


Comment: Bekaa Valley is known for kidnappings (including those for ransom and counter-kidnappings), thefts and drug trafficking. It is a predominantly Shiite area.


Lebanese security agencies launched an investigation immediately after the vehicle's discovery that night and soon found that it belonged to a Lebanese man, Munir Saeb Taan,
Ali Fayyad
© french.irib.irAli Fayyad, one of the accused.
who had picked up the Czechs. The following day, July 18, the father of the car's owner reported his son's disappearance to security officials, telling them that he had been unable to contact him. He had no idea where his son might be.

The investigation soon revealed that Taan is the half-brother of Ali Fayyad, a Lebanese man who had been arrested in April 2014 in Prague. At this point, interpretations of the Czechs' disappearance began to change, with Lebanese media outlets speculating that their kidnapping had probably been orchestrated to pave the way for a swap for Fayyad.


Comment: Ali Fayyad, and two others, were accused by the US of collaborating with terrorists and allegedly planning to sell weapons and cocaine to American secret agents who were disguised as members of a Colombian guerrilla group FARC.


A Czech diplomatic source in Beirut, speaking to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, confirmed initial reports by the media in this regard, noting that three Lebanese citizens have been detained in the Czech Republic for more than a year on charges of international arms, drug and money smuggling. In addition to Fayyad, the other two are Khaled Morebi, from northern Lebanon's Akkar region, and Fawzi Jaber, from South Lebanon.

The diplomatic source said the three had been arrested in Prague after Czech authorities received information from US officials alleging that they were conducting smuggling operations across Europe and in Colombia. Through Interpol, Washington requested that Prague detain the men, who were staying in a hotel in the Czech capital. The three have since been waging a legal battle to prevent Czech authorities from handing them over to Washington for trial.


Comment: The agents met Fayyad, Morebi and Jaber in Ghana, Warsaw and Prague. Marabi said most of the meetings had never been held and the remaining talks concerned legal business affairs, not a drug deal.


The men's detention caught the Czech public's attention over the past few months and has preoccupied the media, according to the diplomatic source. The detainees apparently have substantial financial backing that helped influence the media to dedicate considerable space to their situation, in particular reports that the real issue behind their arrest is not legal, but political. In short, they had been apprehended not for smuggling, but because they, in particular Fayyad, are close to Viktor Yanukovych, the former pro-Moscow president of Ukraine.

The diplomatic source said that US authorities' pursuit of the men was political persecution under the guise of judicial legal cover, but he did not have further details about Washington's interest in them. According to him, this version of events found significant traction in Prague and probably led some Czech authorities to quickly decide to hand the men over to the United States, and this possibility, in turn, led their defenders to escalate the media campaign.

In this context, the same source said, Czech diplomatic authorities in Beirut were notified that Fayyad's parents and friends had decided to hold a press conference on July 18 in Beirut's Coral Beach Hotel to highlight the plight of the detainees. Fayyad's supporters extended invitations to journalists and concerned Czech nationals to cover the event, which would include mention of the missing Czechs. The source said the move was likely aimed at putting pressure on Czech authorities to either prevent the extradition of the three detainees to Washington or to initiate their swap for the five Czechs.

A relative of Fayyad rejected this analysis, however, and proposed an alternative one. The relative, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Al-Monitor that the missing Czechs had been working to help Fayyad in Prague and abroad. Among them are journalists who had written reports favorable to the Lebanese detainees. They also include a Czech lawyer serving as a defense attorney for Fayyad, a translator and someone who conducts research for Fayyad's defense team.


Comment: Jan Švarc, Fayad's lawyer. Another man is Martin Psík, a soldier who participated in the foreign mission in Afghanistan and who was to allegedly look after the men's security. Adam Homsi, who visited Lebanon previously and who speaks a few languages, accompanied the group as a translator. Miroslav Dobeš and Pavel Kofroň, television reporters from Jindřichův Hradec, south Bohemia, reported on Fayad's case in the past and now, they wanted to make a documentary on the situation in refugee camps.


Consequently, no relative of Fayyad would consider abducting these particular people in a confrontation with US and Czech authorities. The evidence, according to Fayyad's relative, is that the Czechs had been to Beirut at least twice before, on May 1 and June 7, at the invitation of Fayyad's supporters. In addition to this are a number of other solo visits by the Czech lawyer to coordinate with Lebanese lawyers about Fayyad. Thus, the relative contends, no sane person can accuse Fayyad's parents or defenders of kidnapping him.

The only beneficiaries of the disappearance of the five people working for Fayyad's release, it is said, are his enemies. And who are they? Fayyad's relative could not provide an answer, but, he pointed out, "The issue has broad international political dimensions, and the evidence is that its original roots go back to the Ukraine crisis and the conflict over it. Also, about a week after the disappearance of the five Czechs, along with a half-brother of Fayyad, the kidnappers have not yet called to ask for any financial, material or other demand. These are negative indicators that show that the conspiracy against Fayyad and his two colleagues go beyond what we expected and knew."

No new details have emerged, and the Czech nationals remain missing.


Comment: Besides Al-Monitor being most likely a Western tool, it is, not-so-oddly enough, the recipient of the "Free Media Pioneer Award," and known as a pro-Tehran, pro-Assad Lebanese news website in Washington. Its founding board, in 2012, was made up of Western academics, journalists, business and news execs and one Arab League official.