Hermel-Arsal Negotiations to Release Tit-for-Tat Abductees at Standstil
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Negotiations to free Hussein Jaafar, who was kidnapped over the weekend, stumbled after media reports said that a hostage swap took place between the Jaafar clan and the residents of the eastern Bekaa town of Arsal.
The former mayor of Arsal, Basel al-Hujairi, denied in comments to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) on Tuesday that Jaafar was released.
He expressed hope that all the kidnapped people would be released later in the day, pointing out that negotiations stumbled at the last-minute.
Al-Hujairi said that an ambulance driver, kidnapped by al-Jaafar clan, identified as Hassan Ezzedine was the only one released.
Ezzedine was abducted after an ambulance he was driving came under fire overnight Sunday for transporting wounded Free Syrian Army fighters from Arsal to Bayan hospital in Baalbek.
Baalbek Mufti Sheikh Ayman Rifai confirmed that negotiations are ongoing to release the men, also denying the reports.
Several men, who hail from Arsal, were abducted over the weekend in retaliation for the kidnapping of Jaafar, from the town of al-Bustan in Hermel, by unidentified gunmen.
Media reports said that Jaafar was taken to Syria.
The Jaafar clan had urged the security forces to assume their duties in the case and condemned the abduction.
The clan released Malek al-Hujairi late Sunday, who was among five other Arsal residents kidnapped.
The four men are identified as Malek al-Fliti, and Mohammed, Ashraf and Massoud Rayed.
Arsal is a majority Sunni town whose inhabitants generally support the revolt in neighboring Syria, while most of the population of Hermel and Baalbek are Shiites.
26 March 2013, 12:27
22
law of the jungle ,when will the Hizb wake up for the sake of Lebanon.
26 March 2013, 13:14
12
its all political and sectarian.there should be no weapon outside the government.
26 March 2013, 14:11
21
this is a result of hezballahs extremist iranian/shia army, Lebanon does not exclusivly allow one sect to have an army while others are scared for their lives, as a result the law of the jungle takes over. Hezb weapons should & MUST be incorporated into the army for all this to stop. Then the army can steam roll anyone with weapons outside the army.
26 March 2013, 18:24
00
Come on now ehab...one sect to have an army? Its proven time and time again that all sects in Lebanon in fact have weapons. The clashes in Tripoli are between two sects firing at each other. Look to Saida too now and you'll see Assir and his goons also show up on the streets with weapons.
26 March 2013, 14:09
21
the thuggish members of terrorist islamic Iranian organization operating in lebanon and their bee2at al 7adinat have gone mad with overflowing power, from the mekdad and jaafar military wings to the lessa residents just a month ago threatening the maronite residents of keserwan following the death of two of their thugs who lost a simple personal dispute by stupidly bringing swords to a gun fight.
26 March 2013, 16:41
11
Still, if my neighbor has a gun & i know he was raised to hate me, the logical thing to do is buy a gun. Hezballah must be incorporated into the army, I want to see the hezballah wing of the Lebanese Armed Forces, with Maronites,Sunnis,Druze,Orthodox fighting with in it. Why does statement make some members of the shia community enraged.
26 March 2013, 18:22
00
This is all true ehab11, but is a different topic from the one written about in the article. Hezbollah has nothing to do with the Jaafar clan as a whole. While we all would like to see the weapons of the country's militias incorporated into the state, do we automatically blame the weapons outside the state for an individual's choosing to kidnap another Lebanese? Anyway, there's no use arguing; sectarian clashes are inevitable. Too many rumors about the FSA readying for an attack on Hezb members in the Bekaa along with the help of fighters from Tripoli, as well as rumors Hezb might be preparing to preemptively launch an attack to send the sectarian clashes into a coma...too many rumors for them to be rumors.
