BEIRUT: Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate freed on Tuesday 16 Lebanese soldiers and police it captured more than a year ago, in a prisoner swap that partially ended a long-running hostage crisis.

The release was greeted with jubilation in Beirut, where families of the kidnapped have manned a protest camp demanding their freedom for the last 16 months. But it also underlined the uncertainty over the fate of nine other servicemen who were also kidnapped in August 2014 from the border town of Arsal, and are being held by the militant Islamic State (IS) group, also known by its Arabic acronym Daesh.

The 16 hostages — 13 policemen and three soldiers — were transferred from territory held by Al Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front on the mountainous border with Syria by Lebanon’s Red Cross.

Television footage showed the men, some sporting long beards and hair, boarding four Red Cross vehicles before being driven to an army checkpoint.

Around them, armed and masked Al-Nusra fighters waved the group’s black flag and chanted slogans.

Hours later, the freed men arrived in Beirut, dressed in their police and military uniforms, clean-shaven and with their hair freshly cut.

They were greeted by Prime Minister Tammam Salam, who pledged to continue efforts to free the remaining nine hostages.

The head of Lebanon’s general security body, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, who oversaw the release efforts, also made reference to those still in captivity.

“Today is a day of joy, but we look forward to a day of joy when we bring back the servicemen kidnapped by Daesh,” he said.

Also present was the ambassador of Qatar, which played a key role in mediating the swap.

Under the deal, Lebanon freed more than a dozen prisoners, including the former wife of IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Saja al-Dulaimi.

It also gave Al-Nusra several trucks of humanitarian aid.

The prisoners were originally intended to be handed to Al-Nusra, but a security source said that at least 10 of them were returned to Beirut instead, at their request. Dulaimi appeared to be among that group, telling Al-Jazeera television during the exchange process that she wanted to go to Beirut and possibly on to Turkey.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2015