Riyadh- An Iraqi source, residing in an Iraqi neighboring country, revealed that kidnappers of the Qatari citizens, who have been held captive since December 2015, offered to exchange the Qataris for three corpses of Hezbollah combatants. The bodies belong to the group of nine of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah fighters ISIS had captured.

The source stated that the kidnappers originally were dispatched to Syria with Liwa Abu al-Fadhal al-Abbass (a brigade named after a Shi’ite historical figure). The division is missioned for the protection of Shi’ite shrines, and was previously located in Syria for the safe-keeping of a Shi’ite shrine in Damascus under the backing of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The original kidnappers of the Qataris had handed in the captives to the Iraqi-based Hezbollah faction- which is directly affiliated with the Lebanon-based Hezbollah- and requested that negotiations are kept confidential.
A measure taken for the conservancy of discretion was employing the Kuwaiti ambassador to carry out negotiations.

Negotiations are built on the ground of ISIS having nine Hezbollah members in its grip, thus the deal would comprise exchanging the Hezbollah captives for the release of Qatari captives.

ISIS had already taped the execution of three Hezbollah detainees; however, Hezbollah still demanded the corpses be delivered prior to releasing the Qataris.

On the other hand, Kuwaiti security sources confirmed Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that Kuwait has fixed a list of people banned to enter the country. The list includes hundreds of both Lebanese and Syrian names.

Moreover, many others residing in Kuwait will not have their residential permits renewed, after being exposed for both direct and indirect affiliation with Hezbollah. The aforesaid falls within the framework of recent decisions taken by the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) against Hezbollah.

The Lebanese government has informed all Arab fellow nations that any Lebanese person found guilty of being involved in action harming the hosting country will not be protected by Lebanon, said a source, domiciled in Lebanon, told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“A majority of Lebanese people working abroad in the Arab Gulf is highly qualified, and stands to help the development and economy of hosting countries. Only an insignificant few do not hold good will for their hosting countries, and those are the same people who don’t wish good to Lebanon,” the source added.