Negotiations with ISIS, Nusra ongoing despite prison raid: Lebanon minister

BEIRUT: Ongoing negotiations aimed at securing the release of 25 Lebanese servicemen held hostage by ISIS and the Nusra Front won't be disrupted by the recent raid on a notorious prison bloc that had become an operation room for Islamist inmates, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said.

“Negotiations to secure the release of the servicemen are ongoing,” Machnouk said in remarks published Thursday by local newspaper As-Safir. “There is no reason for the Roumieh Prison operation to backfire on negotiations because the prisoners were unharmed.”

Lebanese police removed some 900 inmates, including more than 300 labeled terrorists, in a raid on Roumieh Prison Bloc B Monday and transferred them to the newly renovated Block D.

The move came after police intercepted calls between Islamist prisoners and members of the cell suspected to be behind Saturday's twin suicide bombing in the northern city of Tripoli.

“Perhaps the building [Bloc D] is much cleaner than Bloc B,” he said in a clear indication that the transferred inmates should be thankful.

Up until the early hours of Monday morning, the Internal Security Forces had avoided using force to impose order in the notorious Block B.

Authorities had previously refrained from using force because of the consequences it might have on the ongoing negotiations to free 25 servicemen captured by ISIS and Nusra Front jihadis during a five-day gunbattle in the northeastern border town of Arsal in August.

Meanwhile, the hostages’ families called off plans to escalate their protest. The families earlier this week briefly blocked a road Nusra threatened to kill hostages in the wake of the prison raid.

In a statement Thursday, the families said the decision was made after receiving assurances from Health Minister Wael Abu Faour that Nusra had withdrawn its threats to kill some of the hostages and after receiving confirmation that efforts were ongoing to negotiate the hostages’ release.

Security sources from Roumieh Prison have repeatedly told The Daily Star that the negotiations over the hostages had bolstered the confidence of some prisoners. The release of Islamist inmates is a key demand for the militants.