Nusra execution threat leaves hostages’ families in panic

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Nusra execution threat leaves hostages’ families in panic
Hashem Osseiran| The Daily Star/Dec. 02, 2014

BEIRUT: A state of confusion and panic prevailed Monday among the families of the 26 Lebanese soldiers and policemen held by militants, shortly after the Nusra Front threatened to execute one of the captives.

The Nusra Front was reported to have threatened to execute soldier Ali Bazzal at 10 p.m. Monday in protest at the government’s delay in implementing a reported prisoner swap deal. However, the execution threat had not been carried out as The Daily Star went to press early Tuesday.

To protest the government’s failure to act over the execution threat, the hostages’ families blocked roads in the north, the Bekaa Valley region and in Downtown Beirut.

They also burned tires near the Grand Serail.

“The threat is still on, and the government has done nothing to eliminate it,” Hussein Youssef, the father of captive soldier Mohammad Youssef, told The Daily Star by phone.

Youssef said that Sheikh Mustafa Hujeiri, an influential sheikh and unofficial negotiator, told the wife of Bazzal, Rana Fliti, that he could not give the kidnappers what they want to refrain killing Bazzal.

“It seems that we are still at the starting point,” Youssef said, adding that attempts to reach government officials were unsuccessful.

“We are trying to contact officials for new information but they are not responding,” he said. “Minister Wael Abu Faour, whose information is always transparent, said the talks with the kidnappers are ongoing to ensure they commit no executions before reaching a swap deal.”

The Lebanese government has been following up on the issue through a crisis cell that includes top security officials and ministers. The negotiations have been carried out through a Qatari-appointed Syrian mediator. The kidnappers are demanding the release of Islamist prisoners in Lebanese and Syrian jails

Ministerial sources said the Cabinet has not taken any decision on whether to enter into direct negotiations with the militants.

A ministerial crisis cell tasked with the hostage issue can take the measures it deems fit to secure the release of the captive soldiers, the sources told The Daily Star.

The sources said they did not expect a breakthrough in the hostage crisis soon in view of the complications and uncertainty of the kidnappers’ demands.

MP Walid Jumblatt called for a quick solution to the hostage crisis through a swap deal with the kidnappers. “I hope there will be no objection to my statement. Whoever is the negotiator, no problem. What matters is the negotiations, a swap and the lives of the kidnapped soldiers,” Jumblatt said on Twitter Monday night.

Earlier Monday, Hujeiri warned that the Nusra Front could carry out the execution of Bazzal within hours.

“An escalation will happen in hours, not days or weeks,” Hujeiri, who hails from the Bekaa town of Arsal, told The Daily Star by phone. He claimed that a violation of the agreement that delayed the execution of Bazzal would prompt the militants to go through with the killing.

According to the sheikh, in an agreement brokered with the Nusra Front Friday, the Lebanese government was set to carry out its first swap deal in return for one of the captives that should have been released Monday.

Hujeiri said he had started negotiations with the Nusra Front on Skype Thursday, moments after they released a threat to execute Bazzal unless a female terror suspect was released from a Lebanese jail.

The negotiations, which went on till past midnight Friday, resulted in a decision to hold off the execution on the condition that a swap deal would be carried out within days, Hujeiri said.

Even though the government has accepted the principle of a swap deal, a delay in its implementation has left the captors frustrated.

“How do I benefit from an acceptance of the principle if there is no actual implementation?” Hujeiri asked.

He said Ahmad al-Khatib, a Syrian mediator appointed by Qatar, was not currently on the outskirts of Arsal, criticizing him for “neglecting” the case.

“I want the Qatari mediator to be beside me when the crisis is happening. I don’t want him to show up after the crisis is resolved and everything is agreed upon,” Hujeiri said.

In response to the threat to kill Bazzal, a group calling itself “The Bazzal Family Youth” threatened to target residents of Arsal and Syrian refugees if the soldier was executed.

“We will not refrain from taking revenge if Ali Bazzal is harmed. Be sure that we will not show mercy with any elderly, woman, man or child from Arsal or with any Syrian,” the group said in a statement. “Don’t say they are not involved.”

“We will not show mercy, eye-for- eye and tooth-for-tooth,” the group said. The group also said Hujeiri would be held responsible if Bazzal was harmed.