BEIRUT (The Daily Star) : The Nusra Front threatened Thursday to execute one of the 26 Lebanese captives being held by jihadis on the northeast border unless Lebanon releases a female terror suspect within 24 hours.
The statement said that if the government wanted to prove that it is willing to carry out serious negotiations then it should release Joumana Hmeid, who was formally charged by Military Prosecutor Saqr Saqr for involvement with Al-Qaeda-linked groups, after she was caught driving a car rigged with 50 kilograms of explosives on the Arsal-Labweh road last February.
Hmeid is the first woman to be accused of complicity with a terrorist organization since the spate of car bombs and suicide attacks targeted areas seen as sympathetic to Hezbollah over the past year and a half.
After Hmeid’s release is secured, the Lebanese government should start carrying out demands the Nusra Front had previously issued, which involves the release of 5 prisoners Lebanon and 50 female prisoners in Syria for each Lebanese captive, the statement said.
“If the government doesn’t comply, then we will carry out the [execution of a soldier], and we will change the [list of demands],” the statement read.
The Nusra Front also accused the government of implementing a media blackout over negotiations in an effort to maintain the current stalemate.
The statement also slammed Hezbollah for “disrupting negotiations,” while accusing the party of using immoral means to free one of its fighters who was held by the Free Syrian Army earlier this week.
More than 30 Lebanese servicemen were abducted by the Nusra Front and ISIS during a five-day battle with the Lebanese Army in Arsal. The jihadis have since executed three and released seven.
The threat sparked an outcry among the families of the captives who vowed to close off all entrances to Beirut Friday morning, LBCI reported.
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