Lebanon receives body of soldier executed by Nusra last year

Lebanon received Tuesday the body of slain soldier Mohammad Hammieh from al-Qaeda-affiliate Nusra Front militants, the General Security announced.

A general security convoy headed at dawn to a checkpoint in Wadi Hmeid on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal to repatriate the body of Hammieh.

Hammieh's family vowed that it will not rest until Mustapha al-Hujeiri, who is known as Abu Takiya, hands himself over. "Our problem is with him."

Hammieh's body was transferred by the Lebanese Red Cross to the military hospital in Beirut for DNA tests.

General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim said in comments to NBN "the first signs of implementing a prisoners swap deal has began."

"With the first morning hours things are taking the course that we have agreed on," he added. Lebanon and Nusra had reportedly reached a deal Friday in which the 16 servicemen, held on the outskirts of Arsal, would be exchanged for a number of militant prisoners. But last-minute demands by the al-Qaeda-linked group prevented it from being carried out Sunday.

A security source told The Daily Star Tuesday that a delegation from the Hammieh family arrived at the headquarters of the 8th Army Brigade in nearby Labweh, apparently to receive the body of soldier Mohammad Hammieh that would be handed over by Nusra as part of the deal. Hamieh was executed by the militant group in 2014.