REPORT: Cabinet to hold session in 3 days over Arsal situation – Interior Minister

During the session, the cabinet issued a decree that includes exceptional provisions related to the official academic certificates of 2014 that are usually issued by the Education Ministry, allowing the students to pursue their higher education.

In this regard, the Education Ministry will announce the directives to explain the details of the procedure to be followed by the students to receive their certificates across Lebanon.

The cabinet also approved a request presented by the Interior and Municipalities Ministry to pay the dues to extend the contract brokered with waste and service management companies of the Independent Municipal Fund, which works on collecting and transporting waste within the region of Jezzine.

The cabinet is scheduled to hold a session next Tuesday to discuss pending financial matters, as well as a regular session next Thursday to tackle its weekly agenda.

For his part, Interior Minister Nouhad Mashnouq said that a cabinet session will be held in three days in order to discuss the situation in Arsal.

Prior to the session, Minister Machnouq asserted that efforts are being deployed to ensure the return of the kidnapped soldiers who were held at the northeastern border town, stressing however that dealing with such a case should be kept under wraps.

For his part, Minister of Justice Achraf Rifi asserted that discretion regarding the case of the kidnapped troops falls in the interest of both the troops and the country.

Clashes erupted between the Lebanese army in the northeastern town of Arsal on Saturday (August 02) and armed men due to the arrest of Imad Jomaa at a checkpoint in the town.

The clashes left at least 20 soldiers dead and 86 injured, while at least 30 ISF and LAF soldiers remain missing, presumably kidnapped by the Islamic State and al-Nusra Front militants.

On Thursday (August 07), a military source stated that a truce in Arsal appeared to be holding and the situation in the border town was quiet.

The Muslim Scholars Committee had launched an initiative to ensure the return of the kidnapped soldiers and served as a mediator between the gunmen and the Lebanese authorities.

Later on, the Association declared that it will suspend all activities to make way for other sides to deploy efforts in this regard.

The gunmen had issued a list of demands, which include the release of several Islamist inmates from the infamous Roumieh prison.

A demand the interior minister had rejected. Lebanese security officials say the fighters include members of al Qaeda's Syria branch, the Nusra Front, and an al Qaeda splinter group, the Islamic State, which has seized swathes of land in Syria and Iraq.



For more details, watch Raneem Bou Khzam's full report in the video above