Arsal deputy mayor appointed hostage mediator, meets ISIS
Hashem Osseiran/The Daily Star
Dec. 21, 2014 |
BEIRUT: Health Minister Wael Abu Faour has appointed Arsal Deputy Mayor Ahmad Fliti to mediate talks between the government and jihadi militants holding 25 Lebanese servicemen captive, Fliti and the hostage families said.
Fliti told The Daily Star that he was commissioned by Abu Faour under the directive of Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt to take charge of mediation. Jumblatt was “adamant on resuming negotiations to release the hostages,” Fliti said.
Fliti added that he met with ISIS militants on the outskirts of Arsal earlier Sunday, during which the group expressed its readiness to work with him.
During the meeting, ISIS militants also conveyed their demands, Fliti said, noting that the group wants a unified government stance over the acceptance of a swap deal.
Fliti refused to disclose their other demands.
Fliti, who would serve as a liaison between the militants and Abu Faour, noted that he was commissioned by only a faction in the Lebanese government and not the Cabinet as a whole.
An official appointment by the Lebanese government may be possible, he said.
With regards to his next meeting with the captors, Fliti said there was no scheduled date, but highlighted that he would go if Jumblatt or the health minister requested him to.
The deputy mayor expressed confidence in his appointment.
“I am on the ground, and always at the scene of events so in case of any emergency, I would always be ready,” he said.
Earlier Sunday, a spokesperson for the families of the captives, Hussein Youssef, told The Daily Star that one of the family members had received a call from ISIS militants in which the jihadi group announced that it had accepted Fliti’s appointment as a mediator in negotiations with the Lebanese government.
According to the spokesperson, the Nusra Front has yet to officially accept the appointment.
Youssef was optimistic over Fliti’s appointment, expressing his beliefs that the deputy mayor could play a positive role in negotiating the release of the captives.
“The acceptance of Fliti’s appointment is a very positive indicator,” Youssef said.
On Saturday, Jumblatt affirmed that Abu Faour has remained in contact with the jihadis despite stalled negotiations.
“Upon my authorization, Wael [Abu Faour] will remain in contact with ISIS and the Nusra [Front] because what matters to us are the lives of the servicemen,” Jumblatt wrote on Twitter.
Fliti clarified that he has been acting as Abu Faour’s liaison with the militants, denying that the health minister was holding direct contact with the captors.
In a series of tweets Saturday evening, Jumblatt called on Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk and General Security Chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim to join efforts to free the policemen and soldiers by accepting a swap deal.
ISIS and Nusra have been keeping the captives on the outskirts of Arsal since August, when they engaged in fierce battles with Lebanese Army troops.
Each of the two fundamentalist groups has so far executed two of the servicemen.
