BEIRUT: General Security denied Saturday reports that Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim held talks with the Nusra Front, which reportedly refused direct negotiations with the Lebanese government on the hostage crisis.
“The General Directorate strongly denies this news and hopes that news outlets would be accurate and transparent in their reporting,” a statement by the security agency said.
Al-Akhbar newspaper said Ibrahim personally met with the Nusra Front a month ago and that the militants refused to hand the General Security chief their list of demands to release Lebanese soldiers and policemen.
The daily quoted a high-ranking security source as saying that the militants told Ibrahim that they were waiting for the Qatari mediator, a Syrian tasked by Doha to negotiate between the militants and the government.
Militants reportedly told Ibrahim that they would hand over their demands to the mediator, who was tasked by Qatar to negotiate the release of 27 soldiers and policemen held by ISIS and Nusra Front.
As-Safir said Ibrahim only talked with the Nusra Front over Skype but reported that the militants with the extremist group rejected holding direct negotiations with the Lebanese official.
The local daily also reported that both ISIS and Nusra Front had agreed to allow relatives of kidnapped soldiers and policemen to visit the hostages in groups.
Last month, the mediator met with the Nusra Front who gave him a list of three demands that the Lebanese government could choose from, including the release of Roumieh prisoners and female detainees in Syrian prisons in exchange for the Lebanese hostages.
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