BEIRUT: A 12-year-old schoolboy kidnapped in Beirut last week was freed early Monday, security sources told The Daily Star.

Mohammad Nibal Awada was freed at 4:30 a.m., the sources said, adding that the release followed successful negotiations with the kidnappers and the payment of a ransom.

The kidnappers dropped Awada off under the Wati Bridge between Corniche al-Nahr and Adlieh, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Awada was snatched Friday at gunpoint outside his home in Wata Moseitbeh, Beirut, while he was waiting for his school bus.

The boy’s father, Nibal Awada, is a wealthy businessman who owns two sewing factories in Lebanon.

Awada thanked Lebanese security services, including the Lebanese Army and police, as well Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati for their efforts to release his son.

Lebanon has seen a spate of kidnap-for-ransom cases.