BEIRUT: Lebanon’s General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim will head to Qatar in the next few hours to follow up talks over the Lebanese pilgrims held in Syria for over seven months.

Ibrahim and Interior Minister Marwan Charbel traveled to Qatar last week to seek assistance in helping free the remaining Lebanese hostages after mounting pressure from the families of the kidnapped pilgrims.

Following the visit, Charbel said Qatar appointed an official to follow up the case of the hostages.

Eleven Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped on May 22 while making their way back from a pilgrimage in Iran. Two of the hostages, reportedly held in the Aleppo district of Azaz, were freed separately in August and September.

Families of the hostages have increased their pressure on Lebanese officials and Turkey in recent weeks, staging protests across Lebanon to press for the release of their kin.