BEIRUT: Lebanon is set to launch negotiations with Syrian authorities to secure the release of the remaining nine Lebanese being held hostage by rebels, a statement from the office of caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Monday. According to the statement, Charbel received a list containing the names of 371 female prisoners in Syria that the kidnappers want released in exchange for the Lebanese pilgrims.

Eleven Lebanese Shiites were captured by Syrian rebels in Aleppo, north Syria, on May 22, 2012, while on their way back from a religious pilgrimage in Iran. Two members of the group were released later in the year. A statement published last week by the Azaz Northern Storm Brigade, a group that claims responsibility for the abduction, said they had agreed to exchange the hostages with female detainees held in prison by the Syrian regime. [Link]