With the beginning of the investigations into the case of the soldiers abducted in 2014, the exchange of accusations kicked off, among which reports stating that one minister from the cabinet of Prime Minister Tammam Salam transported an amount of USD 280 thousand in his vehicle to the terrorists located in the mountainous regions.
The event dates back to September 2014 when the army intelligence discovered that an amount of money was transferred from outside Lebanon to people linked to the Islamic State inside Lebanon, and that a cashier from al-Hujeiry family is set to receive the money from another cashier in Tariq al-Jdideh, more than one source revealed to LBCI.
Based on this information, the army intelligence went into action and managed to arrest the cashier from Arsal along with another Syrian national in Tariq al-Jdideh and confiscated the money.
Three days later, the news arrived to Islamic State fighters in the mountainous region of Arsal, leading them to send a threat to the Lebanese government: either the money is returned, or the abducted soldiers will be murdered, the sources told LBCI.
Consequently, PM Salam intensified his contacts and the crisis management cell held extraordinary meetings, during which they decided to turn in the money in exchange for a proof that the soldiers are still alive.
According to the information made available to LBCI, the amount of money was extracted from the fund of a security apparatus, after the judiciary refused to return the money to the Islamic State.
Following the cabinet’s authorization, it was decided to transport the money to Islamic State fighters using the vehicle of former Minister Wael Abou Faour.
For more details, watch the full report in the video above