Report: 'Secret' Mediator in Case of Arsal Captive Dies in Detention

The case of Lebanese hostages is expected to further complicate after a secret mediator in the case died while in the custody of Lebanese security agency, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Thursday.

Mustapha Behlok, who has been playing the role of mediator between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Lebanese state, was detained recently on Wadi Hmeid checkpoint in the northeastern border town of Arsal.

Behlok also known as “al-Qadi” was arrested by the army while trying to smuggle a woman through the checkpoint.

Military sources told the daily that he died from a heart attack on his way to investigation. However, skeptics linked to al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front and ISIL said that he died after security officers tortured him.

Behlok hails from the neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh in the northern city of Tripoli and has reportedly offered to play the role of a mediator between the Lebanese state and the extremist groups in order to rectify his security record.

Media reports had said that Qatar's mediation to release the servicemen abducted by Islamist gunmen have intensified in recent days as General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim recently expressed his satisfaction with the course of the negotiations.

A number of soldiers and policemen were abducted by al-Nusra Front and Islamic State group gunmen in the wake of clashes in Arsal in August.

A few of them have since been released, four were executed, and the rest remain held.

The captors have been demanding the release of Islamists held in Lebanon as a condition to set them free.

H.K.

G.K.