Families of the nine Lebanese servicemen being held by ISIS (Daesh) said Monday they would resume protests if negotiations to secure their release did not show signs of progress in the next few days.
“We are welcoming the next phase with a positive attitude, and we will wait a few days before staging demonstrations,” said Nizam Mogheit, the brother of one of the kidnapped servicemen, during a meeting with Health Minister Wael Abu Faour.
The delegation of families said the meeting aimed to "rekindle trust" with the minister. The families of ISIS hostages have in recent weeks held a new series of protests denouncing the government over its failure to secure the release of the captives.
Hussein Youssef, the father of one of the captives, said the “families whose sons are ISIS captives felt sad after the Nusra hostages’ relatives visited the soldiers on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr.”
A Nusra Front commander had invited the families of Lebanese hostages to visit their loved ones during Eid al-Fitr.
“The delegation representing the families tried to get in contact with the servicemen that were detained by ISIS, but all their efforts were in vain,” Youssef said.
He urged a "quick solution because the families are living a tragedy.”
At least 25 policemen and Lebanese army soldiers are being held by ISIS and Nusra Front militants on the outskirts of Arsal. Of the 25, 16 are being held by Nusra, and nine by ISIS.
They were kidnapped when the militants briefly invaded Arsal last August.
