A week after the incident of Arsal, which resulted in the killing of resident Hussein al-Hujeiri, and the kidnapping of his two companions by Syrian army forces, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry entered the line of negotiations with a letter by Minister Gebran Bassil to the Syrian regime’s foreign minister, Walid Moallem.
Hujeiri was reportedly tortured before being killed by Syrian forces, Al-Mustaqbal movement said on Sunday.
Contacts are underway to release his two companions, Wissam Karnabi and Nayef Raed, who were with Hujeiri on Thursday evening in the region's villages, before news about their disappearance spread.
A statement by the party said that Hujeiri and his friends were taken into Syrian territory after assaulting them as they were on a hunting trip in the Wadi al-Shahout area.
Hujeiri’s body, which was retrieved by Lebanon’s General Security agency on Saturday, carried “torture” marks, according to the statement.
A delegation from the municipality of Arsal met on Wednesday with Bassil, asking him to intervene for the release of Karnabi and Raed, Deputy Mayor Rima Karnabi told Asharq Al-Awsat.
She added that the foreign minister contacted the head of the General Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, who had entered the line of communication with the Syrian regime, at the request of the head of Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc Bahia Hariri.
Bassil also sent a letter to his Syrian counterpart in this regard, Karnabi said, adding that the delegation was promised a positive outcome.
In its statement, Al-Mustaqbal said the incident was a “dangerous attack on Arsal and its people,” adding that “the Lebanese border is being violated daily by the Syrian regime’s army.”
“Arsal cannot accept the continuation of this dangerous situation on its border and calls on the Lebanese state to pay attention to its border area and to activate the Lebanese Army’s missions in controlling the border and preventing the violation of Lebanese sovereignty,” the statement read.
