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Nasrallah confirms Israel-Hizbullah prisoner swapCalls exchange a ‘new victory’ for HizbullahBy ICEJ News  Israeli negotiator Ofer Dekel is expected to arrive in Germany on Thursday to finalize the German-brokered prisoner exchange with Hizbullah that will see the return of captive IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, or their bodies.Dekel will meet with Gerhard Konrad, who mediated the swap approved by the Israeli cabinet on Sunday. The swap will see the return of Regev and Goldwasser, who were abducted by Hizbullah in a cross-border raid in July 2006, in exchange for Israel freeing notorious PLO terrorist Samir Kuntar and four Hizbullah fighters, plus returning the bodies of several other Lebanese terrorists and infiltrators held by Israel. Hizbullah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah confirmed the swap terms on Wednesday, adding it will occur by mid-July. Latest reports indicate the exchange will take place sometime next week. Nasrallah has yet to reveal if Regev and Goldwasser are dead, but Israeli authorities are now presuming they died during or soon after their capture. During a press conference yesterday, Nasrallah insisted that reports stating the soldiers as dead are “speculation… not based on anything tangible.” Nasrallah described the swap talks as “long, tough, and complicated” but called the results a “new victory" for Lebanon. Under the deal, Nasrallah is also to provide a report on the disappearance of IAF airman Ron Arad, who has been missing since his plane crashed over southern Lebanon in 1986. Nasrallah said that after a four year probe, he has “absolute conclusions” on Arad’s whereabouts but did not give further detail. He did assure that Arad was not moved or sold to Iran, as is often reported. Within two days, Konrad will arrive in Lebanon to get the report on Arad, said Nasrallah. During their meeting, the prisoner-exchange agreement will be signed, said Israeli officials. |
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