A delegation of families of the nine Lebanese servicemen being held by ISIS headed Saturday to the northeastern border town of Arsal to press for a meeting with the captives, a security source told The Daily Star. The delegation is comprised of 12 people from four families. It met with Arsal's mayor Ali Hujeiri to coordinate their visit to the outskirts to meet with their loved ones. The state-run National News Agency reported that Hujeiri would task a representative to accompany the families to the outskirts of the town. On Wednesday, the relatives said they will head to Arsal's outskirts and not to return until they receive information on the fate of their sons. "We are going there to beg them and do anything to ensure their safe release," Hussein Youssef, the father of captive Mohammad Youssef, said. He revealed that the families decided to "link their fate with that of their sons and put their lives on the line." The families of hostages held by Islamist militants continuously expressed disappointment with the state's course of action in the case. Officials over the past year have repeatedly said that negotiations to secure the release of the captives were on track, and on some occasions indicated that their release was imminent. But so far, nothing has materialized, and the families complain that they are being kept in the dark over the case's progress. Sixteen servicemen are being held by the Nusra Front on Arsal's outskirts in addition to the nine held by ISIS. The Nusra captives have been in frequent contact with their relatives, who have on several occasions been allowed to visit them.
