A senior Lebanese security official who requested anonymity confirmed to Al-Monitor that negotiations between Lebanese authorities and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra concerning Lebanese army prisoners held by al-Nusra since Aug. 2, 2014, have concluded. According to the official, this does not mean that implementation of the agreement would occur anytime soon or that a date for implementation has been set.

The prisoners were taken hostage by armed terrorists in the aftermath of a clash between the Lebanese army and armed groups in the vicinity of Lebanon’s desolate lands of Arsal, situated in central Bekaa in eastern Lebanon, adjacent to the Lebanese-Syrian border.

The security official explained to Al-Monitor that negotiations took many months of discussions and brokered efforts, as well as a long series of back-and-forth trips between Beirut, Doha and Ankara. He said some Qatari and Turkish officials played positive roles in the negotiations. At the conclusion, the Lebanese side reached a comprehensive understanding with Jabhat al-Nusra militants holding captive 16 people from the Lebanese army and Internal Security in their rugged mountainous strongholds along the border region between Lebanon and Syria — which extends for dozens of square kilometers within Lebanon’s central Bekaa and Syria’s Qalamoun regions.

The same official revealed that the deal, concluded weeks ago, included several points, chief among them the liberation of the Lebanese soldiers in return for the release from Lebanese jails of a number of detainees suspected of being involved in terrorist activities. The names, identities and numbers of the subjects were detailed in the deal.