Jihadists Set Tough Conditions to Free Arsal Captives

Jihadists have set hard demands in exchange for the release of the Lebanese soldiers and policemen, who were abducted in the northeastern border town of Arsal, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The daily pointed out that the al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) raised the ceiling of their demands when Qatari and Turkish authorities announced that they entered the line of negotiations to release of the kidnapped security personnel.

The Islamist gunmen, according to sources, added a crippling condition which is the release of prominent opposition figures from Syrian prisons.

Media reports have said that the jihadists have a list of demands, including the withdrawal of Hizbullah from battles in Syria and the release of ten Syrian inmates held at Roumieh prison in return for each captive soldier and policeman.

A Lebanese delegation headed by Prime Minister Tammam Salam traveled to Doha on Sunday on a one-day visit.

Salam announced that Qatar agreed to negotiate the release of kidnapped soldiers and policemen as General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim, who accompanied the premier on his trip, remained there to follow up the case with Qatari and Turkish officials.

Al-Joumhouria reported that Ibrahim is expected to return to Beirut on Tuesday along with the Qatari negotiating delegation.

The soldiers and policemen were taken captive by Islamist militants in August in light of clashes in Arsal between the army and the gunmen who infiltrated the town from Syria.

A few of the captives have since been released, while two others were beheaded, prompting a backlash against Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

A ministerial panel has been tasked with following up the case.

H.K.

G.K.