Hezbollah's Wafiq Safa heads to UAE for talks on detained Lebanese
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The top Hezbollah negotiator heads to the UAE to follow up on the cases of detained Lebanese nationals, sources tell Al Mayadeen.
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Wafiq Safa, head of Hezbollah's Liaison and Coordination Unit, attends an event marking al-Quds Day, in the Southern Suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on June 23, 2017. (AFP)
Wafiq Safa, the head of Hezbollah's Liaison and Coordination Unit, left for the United Arab Emirates accompanied by an Emirati mediator on Tuesday, sources informed on the matter revealed to Al Mayadeen.
The top Hezbollah negotiator headed to the UAE to follow up on the case of several detained Lebanese citizens who remain behind bars in the Emirates, according to our sources.
Sources told Al Mayadeen that the envoy expressed positivity regarding the talks.
Earlier in March last year, the UAE arrested 10 Lebanese nationals, accusing them of establishing contact with the Lebanese Resistance party Hezbollah. The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed earlier that UAE authorities plan on releasing them.
This has been a long-standing issue, as Emirati authorities had previously arrested several groups of Lebanese nationals, releasing eight of them on February 2, 2021. Authorities released the citizens after then General Director of the Lebanese General Security, Abbas Ibrahim, led negotiations with Emirati officials.
At the time, Ibrahim told Reuters that the eight released citizens were "detained in the Emirates for a period ranging from a few months to seven years, while others had completed their sentences."
More recently, in November 2023, sources from the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Al Mayadeen that Emirati authorities detained a number of Lebanese nationals and did not state the reasons for their arrest.
According to our sources, the number of detained Lebanese nationals is currently 12, all of whom are residents of the UAE who have never been charged with criminal or illegal acts.
