Mashnouq Retracts Remarks, Says Dulaimi in Jail and Oqaili in General Security Custody
Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq announced Tuesday that Saja al-Dulaimi, a divorcee of Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was still in a Military Court jail, while Ola al-Oqaili, the wife of top jihadist Abu Ali al-Shishani, is “in the custody of the General Security,” retracting an earlier statement that said both women were referred to the security agency.
“The interior minister wrongfully announced that Saja al-Dulaimi and Ola al-Oqaili are in the custody of the Lebanese General Security, and the truth is that Dulaimi is still in prison after the judiciary issued an arrest warrant for her, while al-Oqaili is in the General Security's custody,” Mashnouq's office said in a statement.
In a communique published by state-run National News Agency, the minister had announced that both women were referred to the General Security.
“Any claims to the contrary would be aimed at disrupting the negotiations that (General Security chief) Maj. Gen. (Abbas) Ibrahim is conducting,” Mashnouq said in the communique.
His remarks come following hours of conflicting reports on whether or not the Military Court had referred the two women to the General Security.
Earlier on Tuesday, Military Court chief Brig. Gen. Khalil Ibrahim told the National News Agency that “arrest warrants were issued for al-Dulaimi and her Palestinian husband,” denying earlier reports that said they had been referred to the General Security.
For his part Muslim Scholars Committee chief Sheikh Salem al-Rafehi quoted Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi as saying that “only al-Oqaili” was referred to the General Security.
The Military Court's move indicates that the release of al-Oqaili has become imminent and that she has been cleared of any major offenses.
“There will be no deportation or expulsion of any Syrian brother or sister, whether the sister Ola or any other Syrian woman, as deportation is prohibited in Lebanese law,” al-Rafehi quoted al-Mashnouq as saying after a meeting at the ministry.
“We thanked him for his stance,” al-Rafehi added.
According to Mashnouq, Saja al-Dulaimi is an Iraqi national who had been married to al-Baghdadi in the past. Their daughter, Hajar, was also arrested by the army.
Al-Dulaimi, her Palestinian husband and Hajar were arrested at a checkpoint on al-Madfoun Bridge in the North. The arrest took place last month and was kept a secret until the media put it out to public.
Ola al-Oqaili, the wife of Anas Sharkas, aka Abu Ali al-Shishani, was arrested two months after extensive surveillance.
She was apprehended along with her brother Rakan in the Zgharta area of Hilan in northern Lebanon at a public school hosting Syrian refugees.
In retaliation to the arrest, al-Shishani threatened to start kidnapping the wives and children of soldiers until the Lebanese authorities release his spouse and two children, announcing the suspension of negotiations in the case of the abducted servicemen.
The soldiers and policemen were abducted when militants from the two groups briefly overran the northeastern border town of Arsal in August.
The fighters withdrew after a truce negotiated by clerics, but took with them 30 hostages, four of whom have been executed.
Y.R./H.K.
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