Hezbollah officials denied on Wednesday information circulated by An-Nahar newspaper stipulating that the party had freed its captive Imad Loubnan Ayyad in exchange for a Syrian detainee in the custody of the Lebanese authorities.
The newspaper had reported on December 02 that the release of Ayyad last week came to being through the exchange of two Syrians, one of whom was in the custody of the Lebanese authorities.
On November 25, Hezbollah officials announced that the group managed to secure the release of one of its fighters who had been in the custody of Syrian groups.
A statement said that captive Imad Loubnan Ayyad was freed at noon following weeks of negotiations, adding that his release came in exchange for 2 gunmen who were in Hezbollah’s custody.
On the 9th of October, Ayyad appeared in a video urging his family to meet the demands of the Free Syrian Army. In the same video, answering questions of his captors, Ayyad stated that Hezbollah tasked him with a mission in Qara and Assal Al-Ward in the mountainous region of Al-Qalamoun.
He also noted that he was among 4 Syrians and 3 Lebanese guarding a Hezbollah post in Al-Qalamoun.
On the 21st of October, he appeared in another video voicing his astonishment over lack of efforts to secure his release.
It is worth noting that Ayyad was taken captive during a deadly assault by Qalamoun-based militants against several Hezbollah posts along the Syrian-Lebanese border