BEIRUT: The wife of an ISIS commander arrested by the Army a week ago has been transferred to General Security, a move that could precede her release in exchange for the 25 Lebanese captives, reports said Monday.
Daily Al-Joumhouria quoted “informed sources” as saying that Ola Mithqal al-Oqaily, the wife of ISIS commander Anas Sharkas, was handed over along with her two children to General Security.
The woman is being held for residing in Lebanon illegally and possessing forged identity papers.
The sources said a settlement was also being sought for Saja al-Dulaimi, the Iraqi ex-wife of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was also apprehended by the Army with her three children last month on suspicion of collaborating with the militant group and trying to enter the country using a fake ID.
The arrest of the two women prompted the killing of one of the hostages, policeman Ali Bazzal, by the Nusra Front three days ago, after the militants had postponed it several times to give a Qatari mediator more time to negotiate a swap deal involving Islamist detainees in Roumieh Prison.
Last week, Sharkas, better known by his nom de guerre Abu Ali al-Shishani, threatened Lebanon with severe consequences, including kidnapping Lebanese women and children, if the Army did not release his family.
The murder of Bazzal touched off renewed protests by the families of the 25 remaining hostages, who cut off roads across the country, blasting the government for laxity and negligence in ending their sons’ 4-month ordeal.
Bazzal’s family vowed to block any humanitarian aid from reaching the outskirts of Arsal, saying it considered the Syrians residing there "terrorists" and not refugees.
As tensions ran high, Syrian refugees were targeted in retaliatory acts, with tents set ablaze in Akkar and a boy killed in northeast Lebanon when a camp came under gunfire.
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