Israelis prepare for Hezbollah prisoner swap

ISRAELI soldiers yesterday began digging up 59 bodies of Lebanese militants buried in a small plot in northern Israel, a first step toward a prisoner swap with the Hezbollah guerrilla group take place this week

Ultra-Orthodox soldiers wearing skullcaps removed numbered metal grave markers from each burial site before removing bodies. The fenced-in plot overlooking the pastoral hills of Galilee has been a cemetery for Lebanese killed in clashes with Israelis.

Israel will hand over the bodies and also release 436 prisoners 400 Palestinians, 35 from Arab countries and a German convicted of spying for Hezbollah. In exchange, Hezbollah will hand over an Israeli businessman and the bodies of three soldiers captured by the Shiite group in 2000. Part of the swap is to take place in Germany.