Sayyed Says Syria Offered 'Safe Corridor' for Qalamun Militants but Lebanon Refused

Former General Security chief Maj. Gen. Jamil al-Sayyed claimed Monday that the Lebanese government had recently rejected an offer from Damascus on granting jihadists based in Arsal's outskirts a "safe corridor" to leave for areas inside Syria in return for freeing the Lebanese servicemen who are in their custody.

Syrian President Bashar Assad "was willing to give the militants a safe corridor to areas inside Syria,” Sayyed said in an interview on al-Jadeed TV.

Such a step would have represented “a major sacrifice by Syria towards its stance on the Syrian and Lebanese security in this region,” Sayyed noted.

He pointed out that the corridors were supposed to be established “under the supervision of the United Nations.”

“The Lebanese army would have been granted an international cover from Saudi Arabia and the United States in order to stitch the open wound between Lebanon and Syria,” the former security chief added.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly “contacted a government official” and he was told that the Lebanese government had “major reservations that prevent it from giving the army a cover to turn the page on the Arsal file,” Sayyed alleged.

The Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State have more than 25 Lebanese troops and policemen in their custody. The servicemen were taken hostage in August during deadly clashes with the Lebanese army in and around the town of Arsal.

Al-Nusra had proposed swapping the captives for Islamist detainees held in Syrian and Lebanese prisons but the negotiations ground to a halt after Qatar announced that it was ending its mediation in the case.

In his interview, Sayyed hinted that Damascus would reject any deal involving the release of inmates from its prisons.

“If Syria agrees to hand over prisoners and Lebanon agrees and the detainees become in our custody, what guarantees that these groups will not go to Arsal and kidnap more soldiers?” Sayyed added.

He also attributed the alleged Lebanese refusal to “foreign” influence.

Foreign forces “still consider Arsal to be a window for annoying Hizbullah and the Syrian regime,” Sayyed said.

Y.R.