Report: State Refuses to Yield to Terrorists' Execution Logic
General Security chief Major General Abbas Ibrahim is holding onto a decision to execute terrorists convicted by the Lebanese judiciary in retaliation to the death of Lebanese soldiers and policemen in the captivity of the Islamic State group and al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front.
A minister, who spoke on condition of anonymity to As Safir newspaper on Friday, said that Ibrahim insisted during an emergency security meeting at the Grand Serail on executing sentenced terrorists in retaliation to the execution of the Lebanese servicemen.
The minister however stressed that the government rejects to yield to the logic used by terrorists, pointing out that “there are no magical or swift solutions to the abduction case.”
On Friday night al-Nusra Front said it had killed a captured Lebanese policeman Ali al-Bazzal to avenge the arrest of Islamic militants' wives and children.
The group posted a photograph that it said showed the execution of the captive policeman, in a statement on its Twitter account picked up by the SITE terrorism watchdog.
Bazzal was one of around 30 Lebanese soldiers and policemen abducted by jihadists in August during fighting in the northeastern border town of Arsal.
The official, who refused to reveal his identity, held Qatar responsible for the deterioration of the negotiations with the jihadists.
“The Turks decided to dissociate themselves from the case, but the Emir of Qatar (Sheikh Tamim bin Hamid al-Thani) vowed more than once to secure the release of the servicemen,” the minister added.
The minister accused the Qataris of not dealing with the abduction case in a “serious manner.”
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Tammam Salam telephoned the Qatari Emir to urge him to help “end the suffering of the families.”
Top jihadist militant Anas Sharkas, aka Abu Ali al-Shishani, announced that the Qatari-appointed negotiator, Ahmed al-Khatib, should not try to visit Syria's Qalamun before Lebanese authorities release his wife, Syrian national Alaa al-Oqaili, who was arrested in the northern region of Zgharta along with her children.
The Lebanese army has also managed to arrest an Iraqi woman identified as Saja al-Dulaimi, whom Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq identified as a divorcee of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the chief of the Islamic State group that has seized vast swathes of Iraq and Syria.
A source told As Safir newspaper that Khatib's recent visit to the outskirts of Arsal didn't hold any developments.
The source said that the kidnappers, in particular al-Nusra Front, didn't hand over to Khatib a full list of names for inmates they are seeking their release from Roumieh prison.
“They gave him a list of 89 names instead of 1,300,” the source said, pointing out that the demands of the IS group are still the same.
The IS group reportedly announced its readiness to release the Lebanese soldiers and policemen in its captivity, if the Lebanese state sets free five Islamist inmates in return for each captive.
However, al-Nusra has said that the three-month hostage crisis would end if 10 inmates held at Lebanese prisons would be freed for each hostage, or seven Lebanese inmates and 30 female prisoners held in Syria would be released for each abducted serviceman, or if five Lebanese and 50 women inmates would be freed.
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D.A.
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