Ibrahim in Qatar to Discuss Case of Abducted Servicemen as Negotiations Reach Standstill

General Security chief Major General Abbas Ibrahim traveled to Qatar to follow up the case of abducted soldiers and policemen, As Safir newspaper reported on Monday.

The daily said that Ibrahim will kick off discussions with Qatari officials, who are tasked with negotiating the safe release of the captive servicemen.

The Lebanese government had requested from its Qatari and Turkish counterparts to help in mediating the release of the kidnapped soldiers and policemen.

Meanwhile, al-Liwaa newspaper reported that negotiations with al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) forcefully ended due to the bad weather conditions on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal, where the jihadists are taking positions.

Sources also told the newspaper that confusion marred the negotiations after the emir of al-Nusra Front in Qalamoun, Abu Malek al-Talli, was replaced by Abou Omeir, who is negotiating with mediators the swap of servicemen with Roumieh prison Islamist inmates and a safe passage to Arsal.

The daily said that the latest round of negotiations failed to reach a breakthrough.

The troops and police were kidnapped by militants when they overran the town of Arsal in August and engaged in bloody clashes with the army.

Their capture and the failure of the Lebanese authorities to secure their release sparked protests across Lebanon. The families are fearing that the extremists would kill their loved ones after they executed three of the hostages in August and September.

H.K.

G.K.