Israel set for Hezbollah prisoner swap

Israel today released the names of prisoners to be freed in a swap with Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, after soldiers started exhuming the bodies of Lebanese fighters to be returned as part of the deal.

The three-part list includes 371 Palestinian prisoners, 60 Palestinians being held without trial and 30 Lebanese, other Arabs and a German citizen. The lists were posted on the Israeli prison service’s internet web site.

The list of Lebanese included the two most prominent inmates to be freed - guerrilla leaders Mustafa Dirani and Sheik Abdel Karim Obeid, abducted from south Lebanon in 1994 and 1989 respectively.

In the exchange, to take place on Thursday, Israel will turn over the bodies and release 436 prisoners in return for a captive Israeli businessman and three soldiers, snatched along the border with Lebanon in 2000 and presumed dead.

The Israelis listed more than 400 Palestinian prisoners, allowing appeals against their release to the Israeli Supreme Court. Officials said extra names would be posted to ensure that Israel would be able to fulfil its part of the bargain if the court accepts any appeals. The prison service said none were convicted of killing Israelis.

The Israeli public remained split over the lopsided exchange, with many feeling the deal would boost Hezbollah’s status in the region and reward its tactic of kidnapping Israelis to secure release for its fighters.

A poll in the daily Maariv showed 44% of Israelis support the deal and 43% oppose it.

“There is no doubt that this is a difficult decision, but it was a necessary and correct decision,” Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said.

Under the deal, Israel will release 400 Palestinians – none involved in killings – 35 prisoners from Arab countries and a German citizen convicted of spying for Hezbollah.

Israel will get businessman Elhanan Tannenbaum, who reportedly was kidnapped while engaged in shady business deals and has been tortured in captivity. Tannenbaum’s family said they expected the Israeli security service to question him after his return.

Israel will also receive three of its soldiers abducted by Hezbollah guerrillas near the Lebanese-Israeli border in October 2000. Military rabbis have declared the men dead, though some of their relatives still hold out hope.

Following the exchange, the sides are to open a second round of talks to obtain information on missing Israeli airman Ron Arad, who was shot down over Lebanon in 1986 and captured alive.

Israel has said that if it receives detailed information on Arad’s fate, it will release Lebanese militant Samir Kantar, who has been held in an Israeli jail since 1979 for killing three Israelis.