BEIRUT, Lebanon — Armed assailants in two vehicles intercepted a bus carrying Turkish Airlines personnel from the airport into Beirut early on Friday and kidnapped a pilot and a co-pilot, Lebanese media reported. The attack could signal a further spread into Lebanon of the civil war in neighboring Syria.

No group immediately took responsibility for the abduction, and there was no immediate word whether a ransom had been demanded. Analysts here noted, however, that Turkey was a close ally of antigovernment Sunni Muslim insurgents in Syria who have been holding several Lebanese Shiites hostage. It was not immediately clear whether the kidnapping was part of an effort to secure the release of the Lebanese hostages.  [Link]