16 Lebanese Al-Nusra Captives into Freedom

Local Editor

Sixteen Lebanese servicemen captured by al-Qaeda-linked terrorists on the northeast border more than a year ago were delivered Tuesday to a meeting point to be swapped for prisoners including the ex-wife of "ISIS" leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, television footage showed.

"We came back the same way we went in," one of the soldiers said.

He was referring to the August 2014 battle when militants from the al-Nusra Front and "ISIS" rounded up 37 Lebanese servicemen, packed them into the backs of pickup trucks and headed east of Arsal.

Since then, eight servicemen have been released and four killed, leaving 25 in captivity. The body of one of the killed soldiers, Mohammad Hamieh, was released earlier Tuesday, signaling the start of the swap deal.

Several Red Cross vehicles crossed into Wadi Hmeid, with one carrying Saja al-Dulaimi, the ex-wife of "ISIS" chief Baghdadi.

The nine Lebanese servicemen being held by "ISIS" are not a part of the swap deal.

Al-Nusra militants stood on top of a building with their rifles pointed out as several pickup trucks carrying the 16 captives arrived.

Hours earlier, Lebanon's General Security announced that it had received the body of Mohammad Hamieh, who was shot dead by the militants in September 2014, about a month after his capture.

The militants started killing their hostages early on in the hostage crisis to put pressure on the government for prisoners swap.

A General Security convoy headed at dawn to a checkpoint in Wadi Hmeid to receive the body of Hamieh, which was later transferred by the Lebanese Red Cross to the military hospital in Beirut for DNA tests.

General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, supervised in person the swap deal."

"With the first morning hours things are taking the course that we have agreed on," he said.

News first emerged on Friday that a swap deal was imminent. It had appeared that the captives would be freed Sunday after security forces shut down roads in the area and a General Security aid convoy entered Arsal's outskirts.

But it later returned, reportedly after last-minute demands by the al-Qaeda-linked group prevented the swap from being carried out.

When news broke that Hamieh's body was released, the families of the 16 servicemen held by al-Nusra were seen singing and chanting from their tent in Beirut's Riad al-Solh Square in Downtown Beirut. Many cried in joy.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team