Nusra Threatens to Kill Captive Soldier, Says Army Controlled by Hizbullah
The Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front on Tuesday threatened to execute captive Lebanese army soldier Mohammed Maarouf Hamiyeh over what it called the army's “persecution” of Syrian refugees and “procrastination” in the negotiations between the group and Lebanese authorities.
“Let everyone know that the path of negotiations was not blocked by us and that we do not have crippling demands as they are claiming,” the Front said in an “urgent statement” on one of its official Twitter accounts.
“When we heard their statements today that negotiations might take a month or two, we knew that they have blocked the way,” the group added.
“We became sure when we noticed how the (Lebanese) army, which is under the control of the Iranian party (Hizbullah), is pressing on with its systematic persecution of Syrian refugees inside Lebanon and on Arsal's border, so don't blame us if we lose our patience,” the Front warned.
Along with the text of the statement, the group published a photoshopped image showing the soldier Hamiyeh in a black casket.
“Mohammed Maarouf Hamiyeh might be the first one to pay the price,” says a slogan written on the computer-generated illustration.
Hamiyeh was among nine Lebanese security personnel who featured in a video posted by the Front on August 23, in which he was the only one donning army fatigues as the rest appeared in Internal Security Forces uniforms. He was the only one to identify himself with his full name.
“I urge our people in Taraya (in Baalbek district) to repel this apostate party (Hizbullah) … I urge them to stage demos against it and to mobilize, because if they don't act we will be killed,” Hamiyeh says in the video.
Al-Nusra's photoshopped collage also contains a picture of a southern young man who had threatened to slaughter three Syrian children in a video described by police as a “sick prank.”
It also features pictures of refugee tents that had been set ablaze last week in the Bekaa areas of Zahle and Brital and the southern region of Tyre at the hands of angry protesters.
The army has in recent days pressed a crackdown on Syrian refugee gatherings across the country. Several suspects were arrested and weapons and ammunition were seized in some raids.
The clampdown started in the wake of deadly clashes in early August between the army and Nusra and Islamic State gunmen in the Bekaa border town of Arsal.
Nineteen troops were killed in the fighting as 35 soldiers and policemen were taken hostage. The Front later released seven security personnel who were in its custody.
Y.R.
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