Beirut: Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah movement said one of its members captured in Syria by Al Qaida’s affiliate there was released on Tuesday in exchange for two militants held by the Shiite group.
“Prisoner Emad Ayyad has been freed, in exchange for two members of Al Nusra Front who were being held by Hezbollah, after weeks of negotiations,” the group’s television channel reported.
Hezbollah confirmed the swap in a later statement without mentioning Al Nusra.
It said Ayyad was exchanged for two “armed men”, without specifying when he had been captured.
A Hezbollah source, meanwhile, flatly denied any Al Nusra involvement in the deal, referring instead to Ayyad’s kidnappers as “gunmen in Qalamun”, a Syrian region bordering Lebanon.
Hezbollah is allied to Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad, and has sent thousands of fighters to support his army’s bid to quell a nearly four-year revolt across the country.
The Lebanese group has played a key role in fighting around Damascus, especially in Qalamun.
The prisoner swap comes as Qatar-mediated talks try to secure freedom for 27 Lebanese soldiers held hostage by Al Nusra and Daesh since August after a fierce battle for the border town of Arsal.
Three soldiers held by Al Nusra and Daesh have already been executed.
