Lebanon’s FM cancels Paris trip amid prisoner swap negotiations

Prime Minister Tammam Salam cancelled his trip to Paris amid the deliberations regarding the release of Lebanese servicemen being held hostage by al-Nusra Front, his media office said Sunday.

“Amid the developments taking place regarding the release of the Nusra Front kidnapped servicemen, Prime Minister Tammam Salam has decided to cancel his trip to Paris on Monday where he was supposed to attend the Climate Change Summit in order to overlook the deliberations happening,” the statement said.

Salam was supposed to attend the 21st United Nations Conference of the Parties, or COP21, which begins in Paris on Monday, which aims to unite around 150 nations for a single agreement on tackling climate change.

A potential swap deal however has been on the horizon in Lebanon since Friday evening, where the Lebanese government and Nusra seem to be undergoing heated negotiations to release the Lebanese soldiers and policemen still being held captive by the al-Qaeda linked group on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal, in exchange for prisoners demanded by Nusra.

The Lebanese army has heavily guarded the entrances of Arsal all day Sunday, as a General Security convoy entered and later left the town for unknown reasons according to a security source who spoke to The Daily Star.

The Nusra Front and ISIS (Daesh) kidnapped more than 30 Lebanese servicemen during a brief takeover of Arsal in August 2014, some of whom were either killed or released afterwards.

The militant groups are still holding at least 25 soldiers and policemen captive.