BRUSSELS: Prime Minister Tammam Salam reiterated Tuesday that his government will not be blackmailed by the jihadi captors of 26 Lebanese servicemen, stressing that negotiations for their liberation should be conducted according to certain norms and rules.
“We are entrusted with the lives of our heroes, but we will not bow to blackmail. Let no one try to blackmail four million Lebanese people, or attempt to blackmail the Lebanese Army,” Salam told Lebanese expatriates in Belgium at the end of a two-day official visit.
He pointed out that he had contacted Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to urge him to revive Qatari mediation to secure the release of the servicemen.
Salam deplored the situation in Lebanon which he said “is being undermined” by rivalries and internal political struggles of antagonist leaders.
“The biggest illustration of our political crisis is the vacancy in the presidential post,” Salam said, emphasizing that things cannot improve in the absence of a head of state “regardless of the government’s efforts to counterweight the vacuum” at the state’s top post.
“We definitely need to carry out general elections as well, instead of prolonging (the mandate of) Parliament because then we would be prolonging the crisis,” Salam said.
On a more positive note, Salam applauded Lebanon’s success in defeating attempts to manipulate tensions related to the Syrian conflict in order to stir internal strife.
“Lebanon’s security was exposed to big tremors, but with the help of our Army and security forces we were able to preserve our nation and defeat the argument that Lebanon is a fertile ground for terrorism,” Salam added.
ISIS and Nusra Front militants have been threatening to execute the captive servicemen to pressure the government to release terror suspects and Islamist detainees in Roumieh prison.
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