Lebanon
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Report: Negotiations on Arsal Captives 'Very Difficult' as Muslim Scholars Proposal Being Considered

The situation regarding the release of the policemen and soldiers kidnapped from the northeastern border town of Arsal is “dangerous” as Lebanon is living “under constant threats,” reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

Ministerial sources told the daily that negotiations to release the Arsal captives “are very difficult.”

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Salam Heads to Paris Wednesday for Talks with Hollande

Prime Minister Tammam Salam is scheduled to travel to the French capital Paris next week where he will meet with President Francois Hollande and a number of officials, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

It said that the premier will discuss with the French president the three-billion dollar grant to the army and implementing it on the ground “as soon as possible through providing weapons to the army.”

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Hujeiri: Arsal Not Surrounded by Gunmen

Head of the municipality of the northeastern border town of Arsal Ali al-Hujeiri denied that the town came under fire by sympathizers of the Bazzal family, whose son was executed by Islamist gunmen who had kidnapped him and a number of servicemen in August, reported the Kuwaiti al-Seyassah daily on Sunday.

He told the daily: “Contrary to reports, the town was not surrounded by the sympathizers and was not subject to shelling.”

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IS Threatens to Execute Captive Servicemen, Families Call on Cabinet to Resign if Ordeal Continues

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant threatened on Saturday to execute Lebanese soldiers and policemen in its captivity as the families of abducted servicemen called on the cabinet to resign if it was incapable of ending the kidnapping ordeal.

The families held the government responsible for the execution of policeman Ali Bazzal by al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front on Friday, announcing an open-ended escalation across Lebanon.

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Bogdanov Continues Meetings with Lebanese Politicians

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov accompanied by Russian ambassador Alexander Zasypkin held several meetings with Lebanese politicians on Saturday, the National News Agency reported.

Bogdanov met with Free Patirotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun but he left without giving any statement, the agency said.

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Army Targets Militant Posts on Outskirts of Arsal

The Lebanese army targeted on Saturday posts for militants on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal with heavy artillery, the state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA, said that the shelling was accompanied by a reconnaissance plane that fired surface-to-air missile.

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Angry Family Demands Execution of Islamist Inmates in Retaliation to Bazzal's Murder

The al-Bazzal family called on Saturday on the state to start executing inmates linked to terrorist groups to ease the tension on the streets after the execution of captive policeman al-Bazzal by al-Nusra Front.

The family also urged the state to start the executions by murdering Amed al-Atrash and Joumana Hmeid, after al-Nusra linked release to the freedom of Bazzal earlier this month.

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Berri Considers Hybrid Electoral Law as 'Best' Option

Speaker Nabih Berri described on Saturday the hybrid electoral draft-law that combines the winner-takes-all and proportional representation systems as “the best proposal.”

He stressed that the division of parliamentary seats between the two systems makes it hard for anyone to predict the result of the elections, considering the hybrid law to have “comprehensive mysteriousness.”

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Mashnouq: al-Dulaimi and Sharkas, Negotiation Cards to Free Soldiers

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq stated angrily on Saturday that the media outlets made a huge mistake when they leaked the names of the latest army arrests of the wives of Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and IS official Anas Sharkas.

“Leaking the names has deeply harmed and complicated the thorny file of the abducted Lebanese servicemen,” Mashnouq stressed to the al-Akhbar daily.

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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.

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