© AFP/File Joseph Eid

BEIRUT (AFP) - The Lebanese army on Tuesday rescued a pair of Polish tourists who were kidnapped by two members of an influential clan, killing one of the abductors in the process, the military said.

"Two members of the Jaafar clan had abducted two Polish tourists from (the eastern Lebanon city of) Baalbek and were taking them to an unknown destination," the military statement said.

Soldiers opened fire at the abductors, killing one, when they failed to stop their car at a checkpoint, the statement said.

It identified the dead man as Rashid Reda Jaafar, saying that the other abductor had fled and was being sought.

The two Poles were taken to an army barracks in the Bekaa Valley to help in the investigation, the statement said.

Ali Jaafar, a close relative of the dead kidnapper, said that his kin was 17-years-old.

Since the kidnappings of Western hostages during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, abductions of foreigners have been very rare.

Baalbek is a large city in the Bekaa, known for its Roman temple that is a major tourist attraction.