Arsal Evacuation Delayed to Wednesday as Last Hurdles Reportedly Resolved
The evacuation of some 9,000 refugees and militants from the outskirts of the Lebanese border town of Arsal to a jihadist-dominated corner of Syria under an agreement between Lebanon, Syria, Hizbullah and al-Nusra Front ran into new hurdles on Tuesday and the process was postponed to Wednesday, media reports said.
“Negotiations between the Lebanese General Security and al-Nusra Front have been concluded and the buses will move tomorrow from Arsal's outskirts,” MTV reported.
It said an agreement was reached Tuesday to allow the exit of Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian fugitives from the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, in addition to five inmates from the Roumieh Prison – four non-convicts and a fifth who has finished his jail term.
Hizbullah's al-Manar TV meanwhile said buses were still trickling in to Arsal's outskirts to pick up the 9,000 Syrians seeking to relocate. It said some 200 buses will be in the caravan that transports the Syrians to Idlib.
General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, who is playing a key role in the negotiations, had told reporters that “things are very delicate.” The National News Agency had also reported that the negotiations were going through a “very critical stage.”
Earlier, LBCI reported that “conditions set by al-Nusra Front group related to the release of around 20 Nusra inmates from the Roumieh Prison have reportedly hampered the exchange deal.”
The second round of the exchange was supposed to take place on Monday with the evacuation of Nusra's militants and their families from Arsal's outskirts to north Syria. Reports said the process was suspended after al-Nusra "insisted on taking the three (Hizbullah) captives who are in its custody in Arsal's outskirts to areas inside Syria in order to release them there."
Hizbullah and Ibrahim "rejected this condition, with Maj. Gen. Ibrahim telling Nusra that it is prohibited for the convoys to head to Syria while Hizbullah's captives are still in its custody," MTV said.
The exchange and evacuation deal comes in the wake of a military offensive by Hizbullah fighters and Syrian troops during which they captured border areas between the two countries and left hundreds of Nusra fighters besieged in a small rugged mountainous area.
The fighting ended with a ceasefire on Thursday.
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