Mashnouq Denies Foreign Mediation on Arsal Captives as Jihadists Set Deadline
Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq has said he was not aware of the involvement of a regional country in the mediation to release the troops and policemen kidnapped by jihadists in the northeastern border town of Arsal earlier this month.
Al-Mashnouq told al-Akhbar newspaper published on Thursday that General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim is not in contact with any regional or Arab country in the efforts exerted at setting free the soldiers and Internal Security Forces members.
The captives were taken to Syrian territories abutting Arsal following days of deadly gunbattles with the Lebanese army in the town and its outskirts.
The jihadists – from two different groups - overran the town on August 2 after the army arrested an al-Qaida linked al-Nusra Front leader. However, they withdrew several days later after a ceasefire was brokered by Muslim scholars.
Al-Akhbar said on Wednesday that Qatar had contacted al-Nusra Front officials to call for the release of the captives.
It also said that the group's members have stressed they would release one soldier or security forces member in return for two Islamists jailed in Lebanon.
But the newspaper stressed that Islamic State group's fighters have put tougher conditions, saying they would release only one of the captives in return for 10 Islamists.
Al-Akhbar quoted negotiators as saying on Thursday that Islamic State gunmen gave the Lebanese authorities a deadline to meet their demands.
“They should make a swift stance,” the negotiators quoted the jihadists as saying.
Another rumor linked to Hizbullah began making the rounds on Wednesday night, al-Akhbar said.
It quoted a member of the Muslim Scholars Committee as saying that the kidnappers were willing to release all the soldiers and policemen if Hizbullah withdrew from Syria.
The party has sent its fighters to Syria to help Syrian President Bashar Assad's troops in their fight against rebels seeking to topple him.
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