Nusra Suspends Anew al-Bazzal Execution as Distressed Families Block Roads
The Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front on Monday retracted a new threat to execute captive Lebanese soldier Ali al-Bazzal, as the distressed families of the hostage servicemen took to the streets and blocked several roads.
The developments came after Sheikh Mustafa al-Hujeiri, a mediator from the Bekaa border town of Arsal, announced that he was suspending his talks with al-Nusra over Bazzal's fate.
“The government has informed al-Nusra Front of its rejection of a swap deal and the group has decided to murder al-Bazzal tonight,” MTV quoted a Syrian source in Syria's Qalamun as saying.
But Sky News Arabia television said al-Nusra “announced postponing the execution of two Lebanese troops, following contacts with the (Lebanese) government.”
As al-Nusra launched its threat, youths from al-Bazzal's family issued a statement warning that “any elderly person, woman or man who hail from Arsal and any Syrian national will not be safe from our revenge if Ali al-Bazzal suffers any harm.”
“Our son is not for bargaining or for settling scores by any party and Mustafa al-Hujeiri is to blame for anything that might happen,” the statement added.
Residents of the Bekaa town of al-Bazzaliyeh also took to the streets and blocked the road leading to neighboring al-Labweh with their vehicles.
The families of the captive troops and policemen meanwhile blocked the vital Saifi road in downtown Beirut and the al-Qalamoun highway in the North.
“I told al-Bazzal's wife that I did everything in my capacity and that the government has not responded to al-Nusra's demands, which puts the lives of the servicemen in danger,” Hujeiri told LBCI earlier in the day.
Hujeiri -- whom the judiciary has charged with “belonging to the terrorist al-Nusra Front” -- has been acting as an intermediary between Health Minister Wael Abou Faour and the Qaida-linked group, although the government has not officially authorized his mediation.
Several members of the Internal Security Forces were in the cleric's custody during the deadly Arsal clashes in early August, before they were abducted by al-Nusra to the outskirts of the northeastern border town.
At the moment, al-Nusra and the extremist Islamic State group are holding around 27 troops and policemen. They have executed three troops since August 2.
In a related development, Hussein Youssef, a spokesman for the families, dismissed in remarks to the Central News Agency reports claiming that General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim had suspended his mediation in the case.
“He is still very active and he has been commissioned by Prime Minister Tammam Salam, as he has announced,” Youssef said.
Asked about Salam's remarks that the Qatari mediator has been acting in a sluggish manner, the spokesman said the families “have sensed the Qatari mediator's slowness for a while now.”
“But I don't think that the Qatari mediation will stop. More speed is needed but we can't deny the presence of a positive Qatari role in the case of our sons,” Youssef added.
Al-Nusra has sent its list of proposals to the government through Qatar's Syrian mediator Ahmed al-Khatib, while the Islamic State is reportedly demanding the release of five inmates from Lebanon's prisons in return for each serviceman in its custody.
However, OTV quoted officials following up on the case of the hostages as saying that “the Qatari mediator has not arrived in Lebanon and nothing indicates that he will return soon.”
Y.R.
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