Salam Says Authorities Don't Know Hostage-Takers' Full Demands

Prime Minister Tammam Salam has stressed that the jihadists, who have taken Lebanese soldiers and police hostage, have not made clear demands and revealed that a Qatari negotiator's mission has been so far fruitless.

“There is nothing new except for the Qatari envoy who has held several rounds of negotiations that have not yet yielded results,” local newspapers quoted Salam as telling his visitors.

“We don't have details on what he's doing,” Salam said in the remarks that were published on Monday.

“The kidnappers haven't yet set specific conditions” for the release of the hostages, he added.

The soldiers and policemen were taken captive during the bloody gunbattles that took place in the northeastern border town of Arsal in August.

The jihadists from al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State group overran the town and later withdrew to Syrian territories on the porous border.

“Until now, we don't know what the kidnappers want exactly,” said Salam. “They haven't provided us with guarantees or made goodwill gestures.”

However, As Safir daily quoted informed sources as saying that “there are a lot of complications because the demands of the kidnappers are increasing by the day.”

The sources confirmed that the Qatari envoy has not come up with anything new.

In his remarks to his visitors, Salam talked about the burden of Syrian refugees, who have escaped the fighting in their country.

He reiterated that the international community was not doing enough to help Lebanon meet the needs of the displaced, whose numbers in the country have reached around 1.5 million.

Lebanon is expected to attend the Berlin international conference on October 27 that will tackle the problem of refugees.

Around 40 states are slated to attend the meeting.

G.K.

H.K.