BEIRUT: The families of some 25 Lebanese servicemen held hostage by jihadis on the Syrian border were optimistic Wednesday over negotiations to free their loved ones, hours after ISIS militants executed a captured Jordanian fighter pilot.
The upbeat mood came after a meeting Wednesday morning between a delegation representing the hostage families and General Security head Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim.
Spokesman for the hostage families, Hussein Youssef, said Ibrahim explained to the visiting delegation what was happening in terms of negotiations with the captors.
“Our main demand was to know what is going on. And thank God, today Gen. Ibrahim put us in the picture of the negotiations,” Youssef told The Daily Star.
“God willing, things are moving on the right track,” he added.
The families had threatened to block roads once again unless they received updates from authorities on the progress of negotiations.
While Youssef condemned the killing “in the most horrible way possible” of 26-year-old Jordanian pilot Lt. Moaz al-Kassasbeh, who was burned alive by ISIS militants, he said the pilot’s case does not resemble that of the Lebanese hostages.
“No doubt this ugly killing has raised fears among us [hostage families], but we believe this case is a separate one,” he said. “We cannot tie the two cases together, God forbid.”
He said he was hopeful that progress was being made to secure the release of the Lebanese soldiers and policemen held captive on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal since early August.
Militants from ISIS and the Nusra Front briefly took over Arsal last August and kidnapped more than 30 Army soldiers and policemen. They are still holding at least 25.
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