BEIRUT: A positive outcome for the Lebanese servicemen held captive by Islamist militants could be on the cards following the restart in Qatari mediation and compromises between the militants and government, according to Arsal's mayor.
“We hope that the coming days will bring good news,” Ali Hujeiri told The Daily Star by telephone Tuesday.
“A Qatari envoy is expected to kick off negotiations today and hopefully things will work out after both the kidnappers and the Lebanese government made some retractions,” he said.
“It is in no one’s interest, and not in Arsal’s interest, for soldiers to be killed,” Hujeiri said, referencing the at least 21 Lebanese soldiers and policemen held captive by jihadists from ISIS and the Nusra Front.
Nusra released a video last week showing soldier Mohammad Hammieh being shot dead. Previously the group had released seven captives. For its part, ISIS has beheaded two soldiers, and threatened to behead a third unless its demands are met.
The militants have set out several demands for the hostages’ release, including; swapping them with Islamist inmates at Roumieh Prison, Hezbollah’s withdrawal from Syria and ensuring Syrian refugees are not harmed.
Lebanon, which has insisted it would not negotiate with terrorists, appeared to have softened its stance.
“We want irrefutable guarantees that the kidnappers would stop the killings before indulging in anything else,” Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk told the local daily As-Safir in remarks published Tuesday.
He acknowledged that the government has made some “non-essential conveniences as a goodwill gesture,” but complained that the militants in return killed a Lebanese soldier and detonated a roadside bomb.
“The Lebanese state is confronting terrorist killers who are seeking to sow Sunni-Shiite strife,” Machnouk added.
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