According to Lebanon’s General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, who has returned from Doha, the Qatari officials promised to revive the prisoner exchange deal between the Lebanese authorities and terrorists

According to Lebanon's General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, who has returned from Doha, the Qatari officials promised to revive the prisoner exchange deal between the Lebanese authorities and terrorists who have taken Lebanese servicemen captive, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported Thursday.

Ibrahim, who is the official Lebanese negotiator in the case of the troops and policemen, returned to Beirut on Wednesday after a two-day visit to Qatar.

Al-Joumhouria said that Ibrahim asked the Qatari officials to revive the file of the servicemen who were taken hostage by al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front and ISIL militants in August last year.

The General Security chief inquired the officials on al-Nusra Front's freeze of the prisoner exchange.

Recent reports have said that the terrorist group was ready for the swap which was mediated by an envoy from Qatar.

The deal included the release of 16 soldiers and policemen taken by al-Nusra Front from the northeastern border town of Arsal last August in return for setting free extremists from Lebanon's prison of Roumieh.

But al-Joumhouria said that the Qatari officials promised Ibrahim to revive the file immediately after the Eid al-Fitr holidays.

ISIL has also taken servicemen as hostages but the negotiations with the militant group have reached a standstill over its crippling demands.