Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek said on July 21 that the Czech Republic is treating the disappearance of five Czech citizens in Lebanon last week as a possible kidnapping.
Zaoralek said the Czech Republic has not received any information on the whereabouts of the five.
Prague confirmed on July 18 that the Czech nationals and one Lebanese man have gone missing.
Their abandoned vehicle was found near Kefraya in eastern Lebanon near the place where seven Estonian cyclists were kidnapped in 2011 and held for four months.
Lebanon's foreign minister already has referred to the case as an abduction.
One of the missing Czechs is an attorney for Ali Fayad, a man of Lebanese origin who is in Czech custody awaiting a decision on a U.S. extradition request on charges of trying to sell weapons and drugs to the Colombian guerrilla group FARC.
Two other missing Czechs are television journalists working on a documentary.