Mashnouq Says Crisis Cell Mulling Available Options, Considers Security Situation Under Controls

The ministerial panel tasked with following up the case of abducted Lebanese soldiers and policemen is mulling all the available options in coordination with a Qatari delegation, which is negotiating the release of the hostages with Islamist kidnappers.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said on Wednesday in statements published in several local newspapers that “all options are being discussed without any exception, with negotiations at the forefront.”

He considered the “negotiations option the best” amid the recent developments,” describing the ministerial panel meeting as “excellent.”

Mashnouq stressed that the security situation is “under control,” adding that there is a political decision to prevent the country from slipping into sedition.

The Mustaqbal official noted that the Qatari delegation is carrying out its mediations with the Islamist gunmen alongside General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, in coordination with Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

“Negotiations are ongoing but the demands of the kidnappers remain vague.”

Ibrahim was officially tasked on Tuesday by the crisis cell to intervene in the case of the abductees.

A ministerial source denied to al-Liwaa newspaper that Ibrahim will head to Qatar soon before the demands of the abductors are clear.

The hostage crisis and beheading of two Lebanese soldiers by Islamist gunmen have inflamed tensions in Lebanon, which is hosting more than 1.1 million Syrian refugees, and where tensions were already soaring over the four-year conflict in Syria.

There has been growing resentment by the Lebanese people against Syrian refugees after Islamist militants from the Islamic State group and al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front abducted in August a number of soldiers and policemen from the northeastern town of Arsal while withdrawing from the village after fierce clashes with the Lebanese army.

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil said in comments published in al-Akhbar newspaper that the ministerial panel tasked the army with controlling the security situation in Arsal, clarifying that the military is ready and capable of carrying out such a task.

He reiterated that the government rejects the establishment of official camps for Syrian refugees, pointing out that other options are being debated to reduce the tension in Arsal.

The crisis in Arsal has prompted a backlash against Syrian refugees in parts of Lebanon, with tents in informal camps being set alight and hundreds of Syrians sheltered in the Bekaa valley fleeing for fear of attack.

In southern Lebanon, Syrian refugees hosted in some 100 tents near the city of Tyre were given 48 hours to evacuate their camp.

H.K.

G.K.