Families of Arsal Captives Block Roads to Press State to Negotiate their Release
The families of the soldiers and policemen abducted from the Arsal region briefly blocked on Monday the Tarshish-Zahleh road in an attempt to pressure the government to exert more efforts to release their loved ones.
They also blocked the Dahr al-Baydar road.
The roads were also closed off against humanitarian cases, reported various media outlets.
The families placed sand barriers on the Dahr al-Baydar road to ensure that no vehicles crossed the area.
They later blocked the both lanes of the al-Qalamoun highway, said the Traffic Management Center.
All roads have since been reopened.
Earlier, one of the relatives declared to LBCI television: “The government has been adopting a lax approach in the case.”
“The Qatari mediator abandoned the case because the government has not been receptive of his efforts,” he said.
Asked if any state official has been contacting the families, he responded: “We hail the efforts of Health Minister Wael Abou Faour, who has been the most proactive in the file.”
He also lamented the Free Patriotic Movement's stance that opposes carrying out negotiations with the captors.
“Had the government had any dignity, it would stage negotiations,” said another one of the relatives.
She pleaded to the al-Nusra Front to release one of the captives “as a goodwill gesture in order to determine the gunmen's true intentions.”
The soldiers and policemen were abducted by Islamist gunmen in August in the wake of clashes with the army in northeastern town of Arsal.
Three of the captives have since been executed, a few were released, while the rest remain held by al-Nusra Front and Islamic State gunmen from Syria.
The families of the hostages have staged demonstrations and blocked roads throughout Lebanon to pressure government to exert more efforts to release them.
A Qatari mediator was carrying out negotiations to release the hostages, but media reports said Sunday that he withdrew from the case after the talks stalled.
The gunmen have reportedly been demanding the release of Islamists held in Roumieh Prison and withdrawal of Hizbullah fighters from Syria in exchange for freeing the Lebanese hostages.
M.T.
H.K.
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