Al-Masri Urges State to Cooperate with ISIL Demands
Salafist Sheikh Wissam al-Masri urged on Thursday the state to deal in a flexible manner with the demands of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
“I am ready to continue my mediation but I still need the state to officially task me with the file,” al-Masri said in comments published in As Safir newspaper.
He revealed that ISIL has prioritized the conditions of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon, stressing that the group didn't inform him about any intention to swap prisoners.
Al-Masri noted that some of the demands issued by ISIL are applicable, adding that the release of Saja al-Dulaimi and Ola al-Oqaili will compel it to pledge not to harmed any serviceman in its captivity.
Dulaimi is a divorcee of IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, according to Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq. She was arrested at the army's al-Madfoun checkpoint in the North in recent weeks.
Al-Oqaili has been meanwhile identified as the wife of top Islamist militant Abu Ali al-Shishani. She was referred to the General Security department on December 9, according to Mashnouq.
On Tuesday, Sheikh Wissam al-Masri announced after a brief visit to Islamic State militants on Arsal's outskirts that the group is demanding a border “buffer zone” to “protect” Syrian refugees in the area as well as a “hospital” for treating the wounded and the release of women prisoners from Lebanese jails.
The Lebanese troops and soldiers were taken hostage during deadly clashes in and around Arsal in early August by the al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front and the IS group.
Sixteen policemen and soldiers are still being held by al-Nusra, and nine by IS.
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