The President, Mr. Toomas Hendrik Ilves, gave a statement on April 20 in relation to the Estonian citizens kidnapped a month ago in Lebanon, at a meeting with journalists who were giving coverage of the visit of the Kazakhstan Head of State, Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev.

“Today, their video address was published; the kidnapped Estonians who are being held as hostages are asking the heads of a number of states to contribute to their freeing. As the video shows, all the kidnapped Estonian citizens are alive. As far as we know, no demands have been made to Estonia or any other country.

I had a discussion today in relation to the kidnapping of the Estonians with the Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Urmas Paet, who is currently staying in the region. He assured me that all the countries concerned or possibly concerned are co-operating closely with us to find and release the kidnapped Estonian citizens."

Office of the President
Public Relations Department

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