“[Qabbani] called for the release of all the hostages, whether they are the Turkish pilot and his co-pilot or the Lebanese [hostages] in Azaz [Syria] or inter-Lebanese kidnappings,” the top cleric said, according to the National News Agency (NNA).

“The kidnapping of people, whoever the people might be, and regardless of the kidnapping side is an act that we denounce and reject, considering it the forced detention of innocents,” Qabbani said.

“The kidnappings of nationals other than Lebanese goes beyond internal issues and touches on the ties between the Lebanese state and other states,” he added.

He urged the government to expend all its resources toward securing the release “of the Turkish hostages and all the Lebanese hostages in Azaz out of concern for the internal and external repercussions that endanger Lebanon.”

On Friday, gunmen kidnapped Turkish pilot Murat Akpinar and his assistant Murat Agca in Lebanon's Beirut city.

Turkish pilot kidnappers have called for the freedom of some nine Lebanese hostages held in Syria in return for the release of the abducted pilots.

An unknown group claimed the responsibility for Friday's abduction of two Turkish pilots in capital Beirut.

MRKD/NJF