Family of Hostage Taken by ISIL to Block Qalamun Highway

The relatives of captive serviceman Ibrahim Mgheit threatened Sunday to block the al-Qalamun highway in the North to protest the cabinet's procrastination regarding the ongoing abduction of the Lebanese soldiers and policemen taken captive by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

“The dangerous situation that we reached and the negligence by the state... compelled us to take such a measure as an escalatory action,” Nizam, the brother of Ibrahim said.

He revealed that the Qalamun highway will be blocked on Tuesday from 4:00 pm until 10:00 pm as a preliminary warning.

“We will announce the upcoming measures during a press conference,” he noted.

Nizam stressed that the “family of Mgheit will solely block the road.”

A number of soldiers and policemen were abducted by al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front and ISIL gunmen in the wake of clashes in the northeastern border town of Arsal in August.

A few of them have since been released and four were executed.

Al-Nusra Front has in its captivity 16 soldiers and policemen, while nine remain held by ISIL.

Negotiations with al-Nusra Front are reportedly on the right track, but mediation with ISIL reached a dead end after the group placed tough conditions to release the servicemen in its captivity.

H.K.