In Syria, Hostage Nuns Released By Rebels In Prisoner Exchange

AP | by ALBERT AJI and HUSSEIN MALLA

MASNA, Lebanon (AP) — Syrian rebels released a group of about a dozen Greek Orthodox nuns who had been held since December, Lebanon's official news agency reported Monday.

The release of the nuns and their helpers, 16 women in all, is a rare successful prisoner exchange deal between Syrian government authorities and the rebels seeking to overthrow the rule of President Bashar Assad.

The NNA agency reported early Monday that a convoy of 30 vehicles transporting the freed nuns was heading to the town of Jdeidet Yabous on the Syrian-Lebanon border.

Syrian rebels, including members of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, seized the 13 nuns and their three helpers from the Mar Takla convent when fighters overran the Christian village of Maaloula, north of Damascus, in December.

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