Political sources informed "Al-Akhbar" that "the visit of the head of the liaison and coordination unit in Hezbollah, Haj Wafiq Safa, to the UAE is restricted solely to following up on the file of detainees in the UAE." They noted that this visit came after a long process of discussions that began about six months ago. The sources revealed that the UAE had previously attempted more than once to open channels for direct communication with the party while the latter had rejected this. At that time, the file was handled by the former Director-General of General Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, who was entrusted with its follow-up. The contacts made at that time led to the release of several individuals in 2021, with the UAE releasing eight Lebanese who returned to Beirut under an agreement between the Lebanese and UAE authorities for their release, after being detained for several months in the Gulf state on charges of dealing with Hezbollah. Ibrahim was also promised that consideration would be given to releasing the rest of the detainees on any upcoming national or religious occasion. However, the file remained open, and the UAE continued to detain several citizens until they were compelled to release five Lebanese detainees mid-last year after the death of one of the detainees, Ghazi Azeddine, in custody, who was buried in the UAE.
While Safa is expected to return from the UAE today, sources indicate that there is information suggesting he might bring the released detainees with him, namely: Abdullah Hani Abdullah (Khayyam - sentenced to life), Ali Hassan Mubdar (Sidon - life), Ahmad Ali Makawi (Tripoli - sentenced to 15 years), Abdul Rahman Talal Shuman (Kfardounin - life), Ahmad Faour (Khayyam - sentenced to 15 years), Fawzi Mohammed Dakroub (Zuqaq al-Blat - life), and Walid Mohammed Idris (Beka'a - sentenced to 10 years).
The sources disclosed that the opening of communication channels between the UAE and the party came after mediation from a regional state. Notably, efforts were made by Lebanese security officials with their Syrian counterparts and the Iraqi government to mediate with the UAE to close this file. They confirmed that the existing communications were kept completely confidential and that no one was aware of them, not even the party's allies at home, who inquired about this after the news was leaked. The Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, assigned the task to Safa, considering it purely a security matter with no political dimensions, asserting that the file of the detainees is the only matter Safa is discussing in the UAE, with no relation to the presidential file or the war file, according to "Al-Akhbar."
