Salam to Meet Families of Arsal Captives

Prime Minister Tammam Salam is expected to meet with the families of the abducted security personnel, days after the relatives boycotted a meeting for a ministerial panel, tasked with following up on the case of the abducted troops.

According to al-Mustaqbal newspaper published on Sunday, the meeting will be held on Tuesday at the Grand Serail.

The meeting reportedly aims at briefing the families on the latest developments regarding the case of abducted soldiers and policemen, who were taken hostage by Islamist gunmen while withdrawing from the northeastern border town of Arsal in August.

Salam is expected to explain to the relatives the role played by Qatar to ensure the safe release of the kidnapped security personnel.

On Saturday, several pro-jihadist Twitter accounts published gruesome pictures apparently showing Islamic State militants beheading a second Lebanese army soldier, around ten days after the same group executed captive army sergeant Ali al-Sayyed.

The so-called Qalamun branch of the Islamic State also published a statement confirming the execution of 20-year-old army soldier, Abbas Medlej, after he reportedly tried to escape.

Medlej hailed from a large Shiite clan from the eastern city of Baalbek.

About two dozen more members of the country's security forces remain held captive by the militants. They were seized in August when several Syrian rebel factions, including the Islamic State group and al-Qaida linked Nusra Front, overran Arsal, killing and kidnapping soldiers and policemen in the most serious spillover yet of the neighboring civil war.

An Nahar newspaper reported that the premier is following up the alleged beheading of Medlej.

Sources told the daily that Salam contacted security apparatuses to confirm the authenticity of the published images.

On Thursday, a ministerial panel following up on the case of the abducted troops convened amid a boycott by the families of the captives, who have accused Lebanese authorities of “negligence” regarding the case of their sons.

They called on Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji to “arrest all ministers and swap them for the abductees.”