BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri vowed Monday to assist in the release of 25 Lebanese servicemen being held hostage by ISIS and the Nusra Front on Arsal’s outskirts.
During a meeting with the families of the hostages in his Beirut residence Monday, Hariri said that he wouldn’t spare any effort to resolve the 7-months-old crisis, according to a statement released by his media office.
Hariri also voiced his support for the crisis cell in charge of dealing with the hostage case, saying that negotiations should be restricted to the government. The abundance of actors involved in the case would only hinder a solution, he added.
Hariri expressed his solidarity with the families and said that he is sympathetic to their demands.
Speaking during a news conference in Riad al-Solh Square in Downtown Beirut, Mohammad Taleb, the father of one of the captives, said that Hariri vowed to hold talks with members in the Cabinet in addition to Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblatt and General Security head Abbas Ibrahim in an effort to reach a deal that would secure the servicemen’s release.
Taleb noted that the government was adamant on ending the issue and was willing to trade Islamist inmates detained in Lebanese prisons in return for the captives.
The case of the captive soldiers and policemen held by both the Nusra Front and ISIS since August has been shrouded in secrecy after the prime minister criticized media leaks by officials, saying they harmed talks. At least 37 servicemen were originally abducted by the militants during a five-day battle with the Lebanese Army. Eight hostages have since been released and four were killed.
Spokesperson for the families, Hussein Youssef, said that the committee would keep a tight-lip over developments in the hostage dossier, in line with the government’s secrecy over the issue.
Youssef also noted that Sheikh Mustafa Hujeiri, an informal mediator close to the Nusra Front, has been tasked with negotiating the release of the hostages.
The spokesman also highlighted the credibility of comments made by Hujeiri with regards to the hostage crisis, stressing that the sheikh’s role as a mediator confirms his extensive knowledge on the case.
Speaking to The Daily Star Sunday, Hujeiri said the government and the Nusra Front resumed serious negotiations earlier this month with efforts leading to “a preliminary agreement that will make way for the release of the Lebanese servicemen.”
“There is one small complication left but when that is resolved the next step would be the implementation of the deal,” Hujeiri said.
Another source, tasked with following the issue, confirmed that the government has resumed talks with the Nusra Front primarily, and that positive signs had led to encouraging results.
The source did not elaborate on the nature of the new developments but cited the recent resumption of Qatari mediation as a factor, adding that members of the crisis cell, the government committee that follows the hostage case, had been briefed on the matter, including Prime Minister Tammam Salam.
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