Five Czechs feared kidnapped in Lebanon

Fears are growing for the safety of five Czechs who went missing on Friday night in Lebanon.

The group, who were traveling with a Lebanese driver, disappeared from Kefraya, a popular tourist village about 65 kilometers (40 miles) from the capital, Beirut. The driver is also missing.

A military source said a search was underway of local hotels and tourist buildings after the visitors' abandoned car was found about a 300 meters (330 yards) away from a Lebanese army checkpoint with their cash and valuables still inside.

"We don't know what happened to them but we assume they were kidnapped because we found their passports and documents and belongings in the car," the source told the AFP news agency.

Lebanese media reported that the group had visited Lebanon twice over the past few months, entering the country on May 15 for six weeks. They returned to the country a week later.

The father of the Lebanese taxi driver reported his son missing on Saturday.

The Czech Foreign Ministry confirmed it knew the identities of its missing nationals but refused to reveal their names to avoid jeopardizing the investigation.

Lebanon's National News Agency said the possible abduction might be linked to a case of a Lebanese man who was arrested in the Czech Republic last year, suspected of terrorism and drug trafficking.

Kefraya is located in the eastern Bekaa Valley, which is notorious for lawlessness, drug trafficking and feuding between clans.

Kidnappings - although rare - have been on the rise in the area. In 2011, seven Estonian cyclists were held at gunpoint before being freed four months later by Lebanese special forces. Earlier in 2011, two Polish tourists were captured briefly in the same region.

Two years later, two German men were kidnapped but released after a few hours and then arrested on drug trafficking charges.

mm/sms (AP, AFP, Reuters)