[VIDEO] Security forces reopen al-Saifi road; clash with reporters, cameramen

The Internal Security Forces members forcibly reopened al-Saifi road on Friday, after it was blocked by the relatives of the abducted soldiers earlier in the day.

The security forces hosed the protesters with water to disperse them after a scuffle erupted between ISF members and the cameramen, who were banned from the protest site.

The relatives of the abducted troops had earlier on Friday blocked the road in the region of al-Saifi in Beirut, near the Kataeb headquarters, amid tight security measures, causing a heavy traffic jam in the area.

This escalation came after al-Qaeda-linked group al-Nusra Front issued a statement as a "final warning," whereby it threatened to execute one of the Lebanese hostages after 24 hours from the date of the issuance of the statement.

The group added in its statement that the execution will take place if the Lebanese government does not prove its seriousness in practically pursuing the negotiations by releasing "Joumana Hmeid" as a gesture of good will, before starting the implementation of the proposal chosen by the Lebanese government.

In this context, Minister Wael Abou Faour called on the protesters to grant the government time to perform its duties, noting that blocking roads will not benefit any party.

In a statement to LBCI, Abou Faour said that he will meet with the relatives on Saturday evening to brief them on the latest developments.

Earlier this month, al-Nusra Front presented three proposals concerning the prisoner swap deal, and the Lebanese government showed tendency to accept two of them.

According to well-informed sources, the said offers demand the exchange of prisoners held in Lebanese jails and female prisoners held in Syrian jails with the Lebanese hostages, adding that one of the proposals require the release of 5 inmates from Lebanon and 50 female inmates from Syria for every Lebanese soldier. 

The captives' relatives have been staging sit-ins and blocking roads in order to urge the release of the troops who were kidnapped by militants from the Islamic State and the al-Nusra Front in the border town of Arsal back in August.

The Islamic State and al-Nusra Front have been calling for the release a number of Islamist inmates from Roumieh prison in exchange for the Lebanese hostages, as well as other demands.

Several Lebanese troops were taken hostage when militants from Syria took over the Lebanese border town of Arsal for five days in the month of August before withdrawing toward the Syrian frontier, taking with them Lebanese soldiers and policemen as hostages. The clashes were the most dangerous spillover of violence from the civil war in neighboring Syria.

On August 28, the Islamic State posted photos and a video online depicting a militant beheading a blindfolded hostage who was identified as Lebanese Armed Forces Sergeant Ali al-Sayyed. 

On August 31, Lebanon's military said an al-Qaeda-linked Syrian rebel group released five members of the Lebanese security forces captured earlier in August in a cross-border raid.

The al-Nusra Front released on September 20 a video depicting the execution of the Lebanese soldier Mohammad Hamieh with a bullet to the head. 

The video also showed Lebanese soldier Ali al-Bazzal pleading his family to act or else he would face execution. 

In the same regard, Turkey's Anatolia news agency quoted on September 06 a commander of the Islamic State as saying that the group had executed one of the captured Lebanese Armed Forces soldiers for trying to escape.            

The captives' relatives have been staging a sit-in in Riad al-Solh Square in order to exert pressure on the politicians to hasten the negotiations to release the hostages kidnapped by militants from the Islamic State and the al-Nusra Front in the border town of Arsal.