Hezbollah: We did not expect war over soldiers' capture

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said he would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers if he had known it would lead to the Lebanon war.

Guerrillas from the Islamic militant group killed three Israeli soldiers and seized two more in a cross-border raid on July 12, which sparked 34 days of fighting that ended with a ceasefire on August 14.

“We did not think, even 1%, that the capture would lead to a war at this time and of this magnitude. You ask me, if I had known on July 11 … that the operation would lead to such a war, would I do it? I say no, absolutely not,” he said in an interview with Lebanon’s New TV station.

He also said Italy and the United Nations had made contacts to help mediate a prisoner swap with Israel, but did not specify whether they had contacted Hezbollah directly. He did not say in what capacity Italy had expressed interest - on its own or on Israel’s behalf.

Nasrallah said Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri was in charge of the negotiations and the subject would be discussed during United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan’s visit to Beirut today.

There had been “some contacts” to arrange a meeting between him and Annan, he said, but that was unlikely for security reasons.

“The Italians seem to be getting close and are trying to get into the subject. The United Nations is interested,” Nasrallah said. “The Israelis have acknowledged that this (issue) is headed for negotiations and a (prisoners) exchange.”

A senior Israeli government official would not comment on such contacts, saying only that Israel “does not negotiate with terrorists” and continued to demand the unconditional release of the two soldiers.

Israeli military officials said earlier this month that Israel was holding 13 Hezbollah prisoners and the bodies of dozens of guerrillas that it could swap for the two captive soldiers, but would not include any Palestinian prisoners in such a deal.

Meanwhile, 245 French soldiers arrived at Beirut’s airport yesterday to help the Lebanese army rebuild bridges destroyed or damaged by Israeli air strikes.

The troops were separate from a French contribution of 2,000 soldiers to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, known as Unifil, which was being expanded to 15,000 members under the UN Security Council resolution that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert had received assurances from Annan that new peacekeepers would be on the ground in Lebanon within a week, the prime minister’s office said.

Nasrallah, whose whereabouts are unknown as he went into hiding on the first day of the war, said he did not believe a second bout of fighting would break out with Israel, even though he claimed more than half his group’s rocket arsenal was still left.

“The current Israeli situation, and the available information tells us that we are not heading to another round,” he said.

But he called any possible attacks on Israeli troops “legitimate” as long as even one Israeli soldier remained in Lebanon.