Copyright 2003 Haaretz
September 18
HEADLINE: Israel may include Palestinians in Hezbollah prisoner swap
BYLINE: Amos Harel and Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Service and Agencies
Israeli security sources acknowledged early
Thursday the information revealed in a speech
given by Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah
Wednesday, pertaining to the release of
Palestinian prisoners in a pending prisoner swap
with the Lebanese organization.
The deal is said to lead to the
release of Israeli businessman
Elhanan Tannenbaum and the
return of the bodies of three
IDF soldiers, all of whom were
abducted in 2000.
Channel One reported that a
Hamas official recently met
with Hezbollah leader Sheikh
Hassan Nasrallah to discuss the ongoing
negotiations with Israel.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said that the
talks were at an advanced stage and that there
was hope that a deal could be reached over the
High Holy Days, which begin at the end of next
week.
In a separate report, Channel Two said that
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon recently met with
the relatives of IAF navigator Ron Arad, who
has been missing since 1986, and told them that
he would soon have to make a difficult decision
concerning Arad.
According to the report, Sharon met with Ron's
brothers, Chen and Dudu, and his wife Tami. He
told them that it Israel might have to decide
to release Sheikh Abd al Karim Obeid and
Mustafa Dirani in a prisoner swap with
Hezbollah in order to free Israeli businessman
Elhanan Tannenbaum and to receive the bodies of
three IDF soldiers, all of whome were abducted
in 2000.
The two Lebanese men were abducted by Israel in
the early 1990s as bargaining chips in an
effort to determine Arad's fate.
Channel Two also reported that Defense Minister
Shaul Mofaz, in private talks, said that Israel
should not give up efforts to find Arad.
Talks on a possible prisoner exchange with
Hezbollah will be renewed next week in Germany,
the report said.
Nasrallah: Prisoner swap will include
Palestinians
Earlier Wednesday, Nasrallah said that a
possible prisoner swap with Israel was intended
to include Palestinian, Syrian and Jordanian
detainees in Israeli jails, in addition to
Lebanese prisoners.
"The exchange operation that we are working to
achieve will include Lebanese, Jordanians and
Syrians regardless of numbers, and definitely
Palestinians," Nasrallah said in a speech in
Beirut.
"Definitely the Palestinian [prisoners] will be
in any swap that is reached," he said. "We are
about to finish the stage of numbers to get
into the names and criteria."
His remarks were the latest round of public
negotiation in the prisoner swap talks, which
both sides say have picked up pace since Israel
handed over the remains of two Hezbollah
members to the group last month.
Nasrallah, whose group has previously sought to
include Palestinians and other Arabs in a swap
along with about a dozen Lebanese prisoners,
called the talks the "most favorable
negotiations that have taken place in the
recent past."
The handover was seen as a precursor to a
possible exchange, and Israel said it hoped for
a swap within months.
Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran,
abducted three IDF soldiers in October 2000,
months after then prime minister Ehud Barak
pulled the IDF out of southern Lebanon after
more than 20 years.
Weeks later, the group captured Israeli citizen
Elhanan Tannenbaum, claiming he was a Mossad
agent. Israeli officials said in exchange for
the bodies a German mediator was allowed to
visit Tannenbaum and found him in "reasonable
condition."
The three soldiers have been declared fallen in
action, but the return of their bodies is
considered a national priority. Israel also
wants information on long-missing air force
navigator Ron Arad, who was shot down over
Lebanon in 1986.