Report: Negotiations with Abductors of Servicemen Hit Brick Wall

Negotiations with al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) over the release of captive Lebanese servicemen had ceased, media reports said on Sunday.

According to Nizam Mogheit, the brother of soldier Ibrahim who was taken hostage by ISIL, information obtained by the families of kidnapped troops and policemen indicate that negotiations with al-Nusra Front led by Sheikh Mustapha al-Hujeiri, who is also known as Abu Taqiyeh and hails from Bekaa border village of Arsal, and that with ISIL and led by Ahmed Fleiti, the town's deputy municipal chief, reached a dead end.

“The relatives will hold a meeting soon to determine their new endeavors in light of the absence of any cooperation between them and the concerned state authority, in particular the crisis cell,” Mogheit said in comments published in the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam chaired on Thursday a meeting for the ministerial crisis cell tasked with following up on the case of the abducted servicemen.

He warned that the families will be ready to escalate their measures in mid-March.

“We have thousands of ways to escalate our moves other than blocking roads... we are ready as long as three months of discretion and patience weren't enough to achieve any progress,” Mogheit remarked.

A number of soldiers and policemen were abducted by al-Nusra Front and IS 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.

Media reports said recently that al-Nusra Front handed over to the Qatari appointed mediator a list of its demands in return for the release of the Lebanese soldiers and policemen in its captivity.

Sources told Asharq al-Awsat that Hizbullah said that it can't exert any effort to reach a breakthrough in the case, adding: “The party can only pray that the captive men return home safe.”