Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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Iranians Freed in Syria Expected Home Thursday
by VOA News
A group of 48 Iranians held hostage by Syrian rebels are expected to
fly back to Iran Thursday after being freed in a prisoner swap with
President Bashar al-Assad's government.
They were freed Wednesday in exchange for 2,130 prisoners, mostly
Syrian, in what appears to be the first major prisoner swap during the
Syria's nearly two-year-old civil war.
Iran's ambassador to Syria, Mohammad Riza Shibani, greeted the Iranian
former captives with hugs and flowers when they arrived at the Sheraton
hotel in Damascus.
Syrian rebels claim the Iranian men are linked to Iran's elite Islamic
Revolutionary Guards Corps and were captured while on a "reconnaissance
mission." Tehran has denied that, saying they were pilgrims visiting
Shi'ite religious sites in Syria.
Also Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi met with Arab
League chief Nabil Elaraby in Cairo to discuss the crisis in Syria.
Salehi is expected to hold further talks on the situation with Egyptian
President Mohamed Morsi and United Nations-Arab League envoy for Syria
Lakhdar Brahimi.
Iran remains President Assad's strongest regional ally while many Sunni
Arab states and neighboring Turkey have turned against him and are
actively seeking his ouster.
Brahimi is scheduled to travel to Geneva for talks Friday with
officials from the United States and Russia on finding a political
solution to the crisis.
The bloodshed has left more than 60,000 people dead since March 2011.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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[1]http://www.voanews.com/content/iranians-freed-in-syria-expected-home
-thursday/1581081.html
References
1. http://www.voanews.com/content/iranians-freed-in-syria-expected-home-thursday/1581081.html