In a record 48 hours, the Lebanese army was able to liberate Saudi citizen Mashari al Mutairi while raids continue in the Sherwani neighborhood and Baalbek to apprehend the remaining network members.

Tony Boulos wrote in Independent Arabia the full account of Mutairi's kidnapping and liberation.

According to a Lebanese security source, around 3 a.m. on Sunday after al Mutairi left a restaurant on the Beirut waterfront and got into his Jeep Cherokee, he was surprised when a car containing individuals wearing Lebanese army military uniforms blocked his way on one of the main roads.

One of the men approached him and requested to accompany him to a nearby security center in Beirut to inquire about a specific affair. Al Mutairi cooperated and allowed him to get into his private car. However, after a short distance, he was asked to get into the car carrying the kidnappers.

According to sources, the members of the kidnapping group were divided among three cars, one of which belonged to al Mutairi. At some point, the cars separated to hide their tracks, but the kidnappers headed to Brital village before transferring the hostage in another car on Sunday night to Qasr village on the Syrian border.

Army intelligence successfully identified the mastermind behind the kidnapping operation, Moussa Ali Jaffar, who was hiding in the town of Hawik in the city of Al Qusayr in Syria.

Plans to put pressure on him succeeded through the arrest of some members of his family who were directly involved in the kidnapping operation.

A security source in the Lebanese army clarified that a Lebanese army unit was able to carry out a surprise operation in the town of Qasr in Hermel.

After the release of al Mutairi, he was transferred to the Saudi embassy before departing for Riyadh in the afternoon.