BEIRUT: Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk sounded cautiously optimistic Saturday about the case of the 21 servicemen held by Islamist militants, saying there was progress in the case and that negotiations over their release were ongoing.
“There is progress in this case, but I will not announce it today, awaiting the final word on it,” Machnouk told reporters after meeting with Maronite Bishop Boulos Matar at the archdiocese in Ashrafieh.
“It is clear now that the ongoing negotiations have progressed, they will not fall back and the negotiations are no longer frozen.”
“I hope to resolve this case with the start of this new year.”
The case of the soldiers and policemen held by the Nusra Front and ISIS since August has been shrouded in secrecy for the past week after Prime Minister Tammam Salam criticized media leaks and statements by officials that he said only harmed the negotiations.
While the government has only officially tasked the head of General Security, Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, with the case, it has remained open to other self-proclaimed mediators who are in close contact with Nusra and ISIS.
The groups, which have so far killed four of their hostages, have demanded the release of Islamist detainees in Lebanese and Syrian prisons in exchange for freeing the servicemen.
The government has not yet officially announced it was accepting a swap deal, but prominent political parties in the Cabinet have supported such a solution to end the five-month crisis.
Machnouk spoke about Lebanon’s future amid regional and internal crisis, including the failure to agree on a new president, saying that dialogue was the only means for the Lebanese to safeguard the country.
“No matter how much Lebanon [is shaken], it will ever fall. I reassure the Lebanese that Lebanon's future will be excellent, thought it may not happen so quickly,” the minister said.
“I am very optimistic, and I hope we will overcome this difficult phase in the short run and this would be achieved through dialogue among the various groups, which is what protects Lebanon.”
The minister said his meeting with Matar discussed the presidential paralysis, saying the bishop was optimistic about a possible solution.
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