Ibrahim Threatens to Quit Arsal Mission, Dispatches Humanitarian Convoy to Syrian Refugees

General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim resented on Friday what he called a “disarray” in the thorny issue of the abducted soldiers and policemen, warning to leave the issue to other parties to tackle if that confusion persisted.

Meanwhile a convoy of humanitarian aid dispatched by Ibrahim arrived on Thursday to the Syrian refugee encampments in the northeastern border of Arsal.

Sources close to Ibrahim said that the Maj. Gen. was seriously upset and has threatened to quit his mission over what he described as an “intentional confusion” carried on regarding the said file, An Nahar daily reported.

Ibrahim had requested a “calm follow up on the matter” and demanded that the channels of mediation are left without any disarray in order to reap the desired results because “any confusion could damage the negotiation process,” the sources added.

Families of the abducted soldiers have announced earlier that Al-Nusra Front abductors have claimed that “Ibrahim has been hampering the release of the soldiers and that Health Minister Wael Abou Faour was the person with serious efforts in that regard.”

On his part, Ibrahim declared in a statement: “For over a month, we have been waiting for the kidnappers to present their conditions to release the soldiers. But they have been adamant to give them solely to the Qatari mediator.”

On the other hand and as a goodwill gesture, Ibrahim has dispatched a convoy of 7 trucks of humanitarian aid to the Syrian refugee encampments in Arsal, media reports said.

They pointed out that the Qatari envoy has accompanied the convoy to Arsal with the support of officers from the Lebanese General Security, before heading to the outskirts of the area to continue the negotiation process with al-Nusra Front to release the soldiers.

Jihadists from the Islamic State group and al-Qaida's Syrian affiliate al-Nusra Front have abducted more than 27 soldiers and policemen in August during fierce clashes in Arsal.

Efforts and negotiations to free them have been ongoing since then.

D.A.

G.K.