BEIRUT: The families of the Lebanese servicemen being held hostage by jihadis said Tuesday that they had not yet received any assurances from authorities in recent days that negotiations with the captors are moving forward.
“There are no final assurances about the quick advancement of negotiations,” a spokesperson for the families said after a meeting with Health Minister Wael Abu Faour, who is tasked with briefing the families on developments in the case.
“We have been suffering for eight months and so far we haven’t been updated or told anything assuring.”
Speaking to The Daily Star over the weekend, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said that while negotiations with the Nusra Front have reached “advanced stages,” talks with ISIS are completely stalled due to internal divisions within the jihadi militant group.
Families called on premier Tammam Salam, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to speed up the progress in the file, “because we are no longer able to stand.”
They also expressed optimism about the current Qatari mediator carrying out the talks, describing him as “stronger that his predecessors.”
At least 25 servicemen have been held captive since last August on the outskirts of the northeastern town of Arsal.
The soldiers and policemen were captured by Islamist militants from ISIS and the Nusra Front during the five-day clashes with the Lebanese Army in Arsal.
Last week, the Lebanese Army said it arrested key ISIS militant Hasan Ghorli, nicknamed Abu Hareth al-Ansari who admitted that he would take the place of other guards protecting the kidnapped Lebanese servicemen and moving them from one place to another.
He also witnessed the murder of Lebanese Corp. Ali al-Ali and revealed the identity of the ISIS militant who beheaded soldiers Ali al-Sayyed and Abbas Medlej, an Army statement added.
The Army said Ghorli had been referred to judicial authorities for further interrogation.
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