BEIRUT: Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi will protest a government request for cooperation from Syria stand in resolving the crisis of Lebanese servicemen held hostage by Islamist militants along the Lebanon-Syria border.
“I will veto a formal request to Syrian authorities [asking their help] in the issue of kidnapped soldiers, should this [matter] be raised during the sixth meeting of the ‘crisis cell’,” Rifi said in remarks published Wednesday by the local daily Al-Liwaa.
The crisis cell, created by Prime Minister Tammam Salam to help resolve the issue of the at least 27 Lebanese soldiers and policemen held captive by ISIS and Nusra Front since early August, is scheduled to meet later Wednesday.
"I cannot declare the Syrian regime innocent at any cost," Rifi stressed.
Rifi said intermediaries close to Nusra had “advised” Lebanon to overlook one of the group’s three demands to “avoid embarrassment with the Syrian regime.”
He was referring to the proposal which called for the release of 10 Islamist detainees in Roumieh Prison for each captive.
Nusra had recently suggested three proposals that could ultimately resolve the hostage crisis, including the release of seven Lebanese and 30 women in Syrian prisons for each captive or the release of five Lebanese and 50 female detainees in Syrian prisons in exchange for every hostage.
Al-Liwaa on Tuesday said the Syrian government had conditioned its participation in the hostage release process on receiving an official request from the Lebanese government, asking the Syrian regime to help facilitate the release of named captives by ISIS and Nusra Front.
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