BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army enjoys the backing of moderate Sunnis in Lebanon as well as full cover from the country’s wide political spectrum in the military’s mission against militants, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said.
“The Army's leadership is reassured of the political support that it is receiving, particularly from the forces of Sunni moderation and the prevailing majority of the Lebanese people,” Machnouk, who is also a Future Movement MP, told Al-Liwaa newspaper in an article published Wednesday.
He said negotiations with the militants holding at least 22 soldiers and policemen were ongoing.
“We are still in the process of collecting the demands of the militants that have not yet been finalized,” he said.
“All options are on the table without exception, primarily the option of negotiating, although it is not the best of them.”
The Army took control of a key, strategic hill near the border town of Arsal Tuesday, severing the supply lines of militants who continue to hold soldiers and policemen hostage.
ISIS and the Nusra Front tried to overrun the embattled border town of Arsal last month, before withdrawing with more than 30 soldiers and police officers captive. At least 22 troops remain in captivity.
Two soldiers have been beheaded by ISIS, prompting a wave of tit-for-tat kidnappings in the Bekaa Valley with a sectarian bent while Nusra Front has so far released seven.
Machnouk said the release of Ayman Sawan, a resident of the town of Saadnayel who was kidnapped Monday after the beheading of an Army hostage, defused tensions in the Bekaa Valley.
“There is a political decision by all political parties to prevent Lebanon from slipping into strife,” the minister told As-Safir in separate remarks.
He said the Syrian mediator sent by Qatar to negotiate between the militants and the Lebanese government was still carrying out his mission.
Machnouk noted that General Security head Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, who was tasked a day earlier by the government to take charge of the hostage crisis, had begun his mission when the gunmen captured the soldiers.
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