Captors Make New Demands as IS Threatens to Execute 2 Troops

Health Minister Wael Abu Faour on Monday confirmed receiving a letter from the abductors of the Lebanese troops and policemen, as the Islamic State group threatened to behead two soldiers and al-Nusra Front halted the execution of Ali al-Bazzal.

In remarks to state-run National News Agency, Abu Faour said he “received from the government a letter containing the captors' demands,” without specifying if it is from the IS or al-Nusra.

Earlier, al-Jadeed TV said it was the minister who conveyed to the Lebanese authorities a demand from the kidnappers, describing the new request as “achievable.”

Meanwhile, the father of one of the captive servicemen told NNA that “the abductors telephoned the wife of abducted soldier Khaled Moqbel Hassan and he told his wife that the captors contacted Minister Wael Abu Faour and asked for a demand that is not hard to achieve, without revealing its nature.”

They also told her that should Lebanese authorities fail to fulfill their demand, they will “kill Khaled and his comrade Seif Zebian and would announce tomorrow (Tuesday) morning the name of a third soldier that they might also kill if their demand was not executed.”

In another development, al-Nusra revealed that it has been contacted anew by the Qatari mediator with the aim of “resuming the negotiations.”

It said the mediator is trying to secure the release of the Lebanese hostages “in return for freeing arbitrarily-arrested, non-convicted inmates from the Roumieh prison.”

“We are willing to meet with him on condition that all details be announced by the media, because some parties are manipulating this case and taking advantage of time in order to torpedo these negotiations,” al-Nusra added.

“We have agreed to halt the execution of the captive Ali al-Bazzal in exchange for the return of calm to Tripoli,” the group announced.

It claimed that it has forced “the Lebanese army ... to comply with the demands of the Sunni community,” in an apparent reference to the end of the military operation against Islamist gunmen in Tripoli.

“Some virtuous Sunni clerics contacted us, including Sheikh Mustafa al-Hujeiri, who in turn communicated with Minister Wael Abu Faour, and Sheikh Salem al-Rafehi, who coordinated with (Justice) Minister Ashraf Rifi and the Interior Minister (Nouhad al-Mashnouq,” said al-Nusra.

“We were also contacted by the Qatari envoy and all of this is aimed at containing the crisis in Lebanon,” the group added.

The army on Monday denied making “any settlement” with the militants in Tripoli, stressing that any claims in this regard are “part of the political exploitation by some politicians who were affected negatively by the army's quick and decisive success in eradicating these groups” from the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood.

Al-Nusra and the IS have been holding 27 troops and policemen hostage since August 2, when they overran the northeastern border town of Arsal and engaged in bloody clashes with the army.

The two groups have since executed three troops and threatened to murder more hostages if Lebanese authorities do not fulfill their demands.

Y.R.