Freeing of spy lifts hopes for prisoner swap

ISRAEL freed a convicted Hezbollah spy yesterday and the militant group turned over the remains of Israeli soldiers killed in the 2006 war in Lebanon.

The swap could be the preliminary stage of a prisoner exchange between the bitter enemies.

Israeli authorities released Nasim Nisr, an Israeli of Lebanese descent, after he completed a six-year sentence for espionage, driving him from a prison in central Israel to the northern Rosh Hanikra crossing.