Hashem Osseiran| The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun called Wednesday for including a representative of the families of captive servicemen in the government’s crisis cell, tasked with managing negotiations to win back the freedom of the 25 security personnel held by ISIS and the Nusra Front. “We recommend having a representative of the families in the crisis cell to update the relatives of the captives with the news, be it good or bad news,” Aoun said after meeting a delegation of the families at his Rabieh residence.
Aoun claimed that he knew nothing about negotiations, but insisted that families of the captives should be in the know, as stipulated by international laws.
Noting that none of his FPM ministers were attending the meetings of the crisis cell, Aoun assured the families that his party approved a swap deal to the release of the captives. “The government should pay a price for their liberation, including a swap deal within the framework of the law,” he said.
Aoun also suggested the Army and police assigned an officer from each institution to update the families on the progress of talks.
Spokesman for the families, Hussein Youssef, said the families had proposed to send a delegate to the crisis cell before they met with Aoun Wednesday. The FPM chief, however, reiterated the proposal because he felt as though the suggestion had been forgotten by the government.
Youssef denied the proposal would only be implemented if the families vow to dismantle their protest site in Riad al-Solh Square in Downtown Beirut. “We will only leave with our [captive] children.”
With negotiations becoming more complex, the families of the hostages say they are determined to unveil the party obstructing talks aimed at securing the release of their loved ones.
Youssef said the families have decided to set up a committee that would expose every politician who they believe is hindering a swap deal to liberate the captives.
“The tour of politicians which we have been conducting is meant to clarify matters and avoid making accusations here and there,” the spokesman said, adding that the families were planning to visit Future Movement official Nader Hariri and Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah in that pursuit.Meanwhile, Tripoli Sheikh Wissam Masri, who claims that he has been appointed as a mediator by the Nusra Front, was baffled when confronted with a report published by the Turkish Anadolou Agency Tuesday in which a Nusra commander denied that the group had appointed him as a mediator.
“They did commission me but they retracted the appointment because the Lebanese government failed to issue my official appointment,” he told The Daily Star, three days after media reports alleged that he was commissioned by the group.
Masri, who claims that he has held a written authorization from the Nusra Front for the past 10 days, said that Nusra would have denied his appointment immediately after it was publicized, rather than wait three days before making the remarks to Anadolou Agency.