BEIRUT: After more than a month in captivity, one of the at least 22 Lebanese soldiers and policemen held by Islamist militants on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal was allowed to receive a visit from his family, while another was permitted to make a telephone call to his loved ones.
Local mediator Sheikh Mustafa Hujeiri said the visit happened late Monday as a result of efforts on his part with the Nusra Front.
Nusra Front and ISIS militants fought five days of deadly gunbattles with the Lebanese Army in Arsal last month. While retreating from the town, they took more than two dozen security personnel hostage in a bid to swap them with Islamist detainees held at Lebanon’s Roumieh Prison.
Lebanese soldier George Khoury saw family members who were allowed to visit him at his place of detention.
“I escorted Khoury’s mother, brother and sister to the outskirts of Arsal last night to visit George,” Hujeiri told The Daily Star by telephone.
The husband of Khoury’s sister also spoke to The Daily Star by telephone, and said that his “wife, Marie, was very happy to see George.” He said Marie was not speaking to the media, but added that she had assured him that her brother was doing fine.
Hujeiri said they came under fire from a Lebanese Army checkpoint at Arsal’s edge on their way back home.
Khoury's son-in-law confirmed the shooting, saying soldiers must have mistaken the family for militants because they were driving two pickup trucks.
But the Arsal mediator claimed that Nusra Front had decided to “freeze” negotiations following the shooting incident.
Hujeiri said his efforts also allowed the family of kidnapped Lebanese police officer, Abbas Msheik, to receive a telephone call from their son, who assured them that he and fellow captive servicemen were in good health.
No comments:
Post a Comment