ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – An ex-wife of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and 12 members of al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria were exchanged for 16 Lebanese soldiers on Tuesday, in a swap between the militants and the Lebanese government.
The exchange that included Saja al-Dulaimi, who is a former wife of Baghdadi, took place with al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra front on the Syria’s border with Syria, international news agency reports said.
TV footage broadcast on al-Jazeera showed the Lebanese captives in vehicles guarded by masked gunmen. They were released to the Red Cross Organization, which was acting as mediator in the exchange.
Dulaimi, fully veiled, was shown in live TV footage from the area with her three children, who were with her in prison.
“We accomplished the entire agreement with Nusra. We received our heroic soldiers and we are on our way back to Beirut,” Reuters quoted top Lebanese security official Abbas Ibrahim as saying by phone.
“This joy (will) not be complete until the return of those kidnapped by Daesh (ISIS) . We are ready to negotiate with Daesh if we find someone to negotiate with,” he added.
The Lebanese soldiers were captured during an attack launched by al-Nusra in August of 2014 on the county's border town of Arsal. Four of the captive were reportedly killed by the group.
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