MFA: Markiayanavich is Belarusian, but no comments on abduction

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus confirms Belarusian citizenship of Sviatlana Markiyanavich (Svetalna Markiyanovich), who is supposed to have been kidnapped in Syria with Moldavan national Carina Coltsa.

“It has been established that Sviatlana Markiyanavich is a citizen of Belarus,” MFA spokesman Andrei Savinykh told BelaPAN news agency.

Savinykh declined to comment on the information that Markiyanavich was taken hostage by Syrian rebels. “We don't spread any information in addition to what has been said. We do it for safety reasons,” he said.

A video showing to women, Moldovan national Carina Coltsa and Belarusian Sviatlana Markiyanavich (Svetlana Markiyanovich), say they were taken captive in Syria appeared on the internet. They said they arrived in the country pretending to be journalists to work for Hezbollah – a Lebanon-based group that supports the government in the Syrian conflict.