BAALBEK/BEIRUT: The wife of a soldier held by Islamist militants gave birth to their child Tuesday, as the issue of involving Syria in negotiations to free him and 26 other servicemen has stalled, according to a well-acquainted source. Three months after his abduction, the wife of Abbas Msheik, who is among the 27 hostages held by the Nusra Front and ISIS, delivered a baby boy Tuesday morning at the Dar al-Amal Hospital in Baalbek.
Zahraa Msheik, also mother to 7-year-old Fatima and 5-year-old Ali, named her newborn Mohammad.
Msheik had been pregnant for almost six months when her husband was captured along with more than 30 troops by militants in Arsal in August during their brief takeover of the border town. ISIS and the Nusra Front have killed three soldiers so far in a bid to pressure the government to meet their demands, accusing Lebanese authorities of not dealing seriously with the matter.
Msheik’s relatives and families of the other kidnapped servicemen have been protesting outside the Grand Serail for over a month in a bid to pressure the government to win the release of their loved ones, and a member of Msheik’s family has said the captive suffers from liver problems and needs urgent treatment.
In a statement two weeks ago the Nusra Front presented the Lebanese government with three options for a potential swap deal that implicitly brought the Syrian regime into the fore. It included either releasing 10 Islamist detainees from prison per captive; releasing seven and requesting that the Syrian government free 30 female prisoners per captive; or releasing five detainees in Lebanon and 50 Syrian prisoners per captive.
Though General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim had expressed hope in reports published last week that Damascus would be willing to help, a source in direct contact with the militants in Arsal said Syria’s unwillingness to agree to the terms laid out by the Nusra Front with respect to a swap deal in particular has strained talks.
The source added that Qatari mediator Ahmad al-Khatib was still anticipating a response from the government. “The last message he got [from the government] was to wait,” said the source, who requested anonymity. No progress has been made on the file in the last two weeks, he added.
The Syrian government has set conditions for helping secure the release of the captives, Al-Liwaa newspaper said Tuesday, citing diplomatic sources.
The daily reported that Syria 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.
However, a ministerial source, speaking to Al-Liwaa, voiced doubt that the Lebanese government would respond to the Syrian terms.
According to other ministerial sources, Turkey is also engaged in the negotiations and Ankara’s Ambassador to Lebanon Suleiman Inan Oz Yildiz is expected to meet with a delegation of the relatives of the captured servicemen in the coming days.
As Lebanon has not officially broken diplomatic ties with Syria, the Army has not officially severed military and intelligence ties with the regime, according to analyst Aram Nerguizian. While, the current Army posture toward the Syrian army is not hostile, no “real world” military cooperation exists between the two nations at the moment, he said.
If any cooperation between the two military institutions exists at the moment, it is “narrowly tied” to maintaining and sustaining stability in north Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and the frontier with Syria.
“For years, that meant trying to push for cooperation with Syria on border demarcation – a push the Assad regime broadly did not take seriously from 2005 through 2011. Since the start of the Syrian conflict, both sides have acted broadly unilaterally to secure their side of the frontier, although consultations were likely,” he said.
The ministerial sources, describing the issue as “complicated,” said Prime Minister Tamam Salam was adamant on keeping the hostage file top secret, communicating covertly about developments with other key government players, including Ibrahim and the interior, defense, finance and health ministers.
Salam’s crisis cell is expected to convene Wednesday at 6 p.m. to discuss the hostage issue. – Additional reporting by Hasan Lakkis
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