Kidnapped Turkish pilots plead for help TWO Turkish Airline pilots who were kidnapped more than two weeks ago in Beirut are pleading for their government to meet the demands of their abductors, Lebanese media report. The kidnappers are calling for the release of nine Lebanese pilgrims kidnapped last year by rebels in Syria. Murat Akpinar, one of the two pilots, asked "everyone to help in freeing the kidnapped Lebanese pilgrims." Akpinar added in the recorded video message: "We are also waiting for help in our case so that we would be released soon. We salute our country and we want to tell our families that we miss them. On August 9, gunmen snatched Akpinar and his co-pilot, Murat Agca, from a bus which was carrying the Turkish Airlines crew from Beirut's international airport to a hotel in the city. A Shi'ite group called The Visitors of Imam al-Ridha has claimed responsibility and demanded that Turkey use its influence with Syrian rebels it backs to secure the release of the Lebanese pilgrims. Turkey supports the Sunni Muslim rebels fighting to topple the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since March 2011. The conflict has killed at least 100,000 people, according to the United Nations. Lebanon has been deeply divided over Syria's conflict, with Shi'ites supporting al-Assad while the Sunnis back the rebels.