BEIRUT: Lebanon is not without leverage in the negotiations to release the captive soldiers and policemen that jihadis are holding in Arsal’s outskirts, Speaker Nabih Berri said Wednesday.
“We possess many elements of power to release the servicemen kept by ISIS and the Nusra [Front],” Berri reportedly told MPs in his weekly meeting in Ain al-Tineh.
Discussing both the hostage crisis and the swap deal that Hezbollah accomplished earlier this week with militants who had captured one of its militants, the speaker stressed on the necessity to keep the negotiations secret to ensure their success.