Army Arrests Syrian Refugees in Minieh Raid

The Lebanese army arrested on Thursday several Syrians during a raid in the northern district of Minieh-Dinniyeh, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The military raided al-Siddiq compound in the town of al-Minieh, which houses Syrian refugees, and arrested several young men, it said.

LBCI quoted officials from the Muslim Scholars Committee as saying that raids on Syrian refugee encampments and the arrest of the wounded complicate the negotiations with the kidnappers of Lebanese soldiers and security forces members in the northeastern town of Arsal.

“Negotiations could not continue this way,” the officials, who were not named, said.

The Muslim Scholars Committee is involved in the negotiations with jihadists to release the hostages.

On Wednesday, it handed Prime Minister Tammam Salam a video of seven of the captured soldiers.

Committee spokesman Sheikh Adnan Imama told As Safir newspaper published on Thursday that some of the captors who belong to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have demanded the release of several Roumieh prison inmates to exchange them with the Arsal captives.

They have also called for “guaranteeing the safety of wounded rebels in Lebanese hospitals,” and “ending the siege on the refugee encampments and securing humanitarian assistance to them.”

G.K.

H.K.