Freed Soldier Says Ali al-Sayyed 'Not Beheaded, Still Alive'
One of the soldiers freed by Islamists on Saturday revealed that soldier Ali a-Sayyed, who was allegedly beheaded by the extremists, is in fact alive, various media outlets reported on Sunday.
Ibrahim Shaaban sad that he was informed by al-Nusra Front that Sayyed “was not beheaded, but he is still alive.”
He made the revelation upon his return to his family in the northern region of Akkar.
Meanwhile, another freed soldier said Ahmed Ghiyeh said that all the captives are “alive and well.”
Four soldiers and a security forces member were released by Islamists on Saturday after being kidnapped earlier in August in the northeastern border town of Arsal following clashes between the army and extremists in the area.
Conflicting reports emerged on Saturday over the validity of images showing Sayyed being beheaded by an alleged Islamic State militant calling himself Abu Musaab Hafid al-Baghdadi.
Security sources questioned, in comments published in the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Saturday, the validity of the pictures, estimating that the beheaded man is not soldier Ali al-Sayyed.
On Thursday, al-Baghdadi posted pictures on his Twitter account that show him cutting off the head of a blindfolded man with a medium beard.
He identified the supposed victim as “Ali al-Sayyed, an apostate soldier belonging to the army of the cross (Lebanese army).”
The militant said the purported execution is in response to “the attempts of the party of Satan (Hizbullah) to torpedo the negotiations” over the captive Lebanese soldiers and policemen who were abducted after jihadists overran the Bekaa border town of Arsal on August 2.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/145582 |