Hizbullah Fighter Ayyad Freed in Return for Two Captives
Hizbullah managed Tuesday to secure the release of one of its fighters who had been in the custody of Syrian groups in the mountains of the Qalamun region near Lebanon's border, which has been witnessing fierce clashes in recent months.
“The captive Imad Ayyad was freed at noon following weeks of negotiations with the abductors,” Hizbullah's media department announced in a statement.
Ayyad was released “in exchange for two gunmen who were in Hizbullah's custody,” the statement revealed.
Earlier on Tuesday, Hizbullah's al-Manar television said “the captive Imad Lobnan Ayyad was freed following weeks of negotiations with al-Nusra Front,” al-Qaida's official Syria affiliate.
A Hizbullah source, meanwhile, flatly denied to Agence France-Presse any al-Nusra involvement in the deal, referring instead to Ayyad's kidnappers as "gunmen in Qalamun."
OTV meanwhile said that negotiations over Ayyad took place between Hizbullah and the rebel Free Syrian Army.
Later on Tuesday, Ayyad received a hero's welcome as he arrived at his residence place in Beirut's southern suburbs.
“We congratulate all Lebanese on the liberation of resistance hero, freed captive Imad Ayyad,” deputy head of Hizbullah's Executive Council Sheikh Nabil Qaouq said in a speech from the location.
“The joy will not be complete before the (Lebanese) servicemen are freed from the captivity” of al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State, Qaouq added.
He also conveyed the congratulations of Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to Ayyad and his family.
Hizbullah is allied to Syria's President Bashar Assad, and has sent thousands of fighters to support his army's bid to quell a nearly four-year revolt across the country.
The Lebanese group has played a key role in fighting around Damascus, especially in Qalamun.
The prisoner swap comes as Qatar-mediated talks try to secure freedom for 27 Lebanese soldiers and policemen held hostage by al-Nusra and the IS since August after a fierce battle for the Lebanese border town of Arsal.
Three soldiers held by the jihadist groups have already been executed.
Ayyad had appeared in an Internet video published on October 9, in which he urged his family to “meet the demands” of the Free Syrian Army should they be contacted by the rebels.
The Hizbullah fighter also announced that he hails from southern Lebanon as websites close to the party said the 24-year-old man is from the Tyre District town of Tayrfilsay.
Answering the questions of his captors in the video, Ayyad said Hizbullah tasked him with “a mission in Qara and Assal al-Ward in Qalamun's mountains,” noting that he was a “Hizbullah reservist.”
He said he was among “four Syrians and three Lebanese” guarding a “Hizbullah-commanded” post in Qalamun's mountains.
“There are 200 Hizbullah fighters in Qalamun's mountains and there are Syrians operating under our command … We also have fighters specialized in air defense,” Ayyad added.
On October 21, the young fighter appeared in another video in which he expressed surprise over “lack of efforts” to secure his release and urged his family to communicate with Hizbullah officials.
Ayyad was taken captive during a deadly assault by Qalamun-based militants against several Hizbullah posts along the Syrian-Lebanese border.
Y.R.
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