What’s behind Hezbollah's Wafiq Safa rare UAE visit?
Wafiq Safa's visit is the first public trip by a Hezbollah official to the United Arab Emirates.
BEIRUT — A prominent Hezbollah official headed to the United Arab Emirates this week in an unprecedented visit by a member of the militant Iran-backed Lebanese group to the Gulf nation.
Wafiq Safa, the head of Hezbollah's Liaison and Coordination Unit, traveled to the UAE on a private jet Tuesday. His visit was aimed at negotiating the release of Lebanese citizens detained in the UAE for years, several local media outlets reported.
A spokesperson for Hezbollah confirmed Safa’s visit to L’Orient Today. Hezbollah’s media department and Emirati officials have not commented on the trip.
Safa has headed Hezbollah’s Liaison and Coordination Unit, which coordinates with the group's security services, since Lebanon’s civil war ended in 1990. He is considered the movement’s main negotiator on prisoners and hostages.
