Lebanon: Information on Ron Arad to delay swap deal
Diplomatic sources in Beirut tell Ad-Diyar newspaper prisoner exchange between Israel, Hizbullah to take place within days. Only thing which may delay deal is Israeli demand to receive information on missing navigator's fate, they say
Diplomatic sources in Beirut have said that a prisoner swap deal between Israel
and Hizbullah
is expected to take place within several days, Lebanese newspaper Ad-Diyar reported Friday.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak
on Friday morning summoned the families of kidnapped soldiers Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev
and Gilad Shalit
for a meeting at his Tel Aviv office, ahead of the implementation of the deal with swap Hizbullah.
According to the sources, the only thing which may delay the implementation of the deal is if Israel demands to receive information on the fate of missing navigator Ron Arad.
Poll
On eve of potential prisoner swap between Israel and Hizbullah, public expresses support for deal even in return for bodies of kidnapped soldiers Goldwasser and Regev. Defense Minister Barak to meet with captives' families Friday
As part of a previous prisoner exchange deal, Israeli hostage Elhanan Tennenbaum and the bodies of three IDF troops – Benny Avraham, Omar Suweid and Adi Avitan – were returned to Israel in exchange for Lebanese "bargaining chips" Sheik Abdul-Karim Obeid and Mustafa Dirani and other prisoners.
The second part of the deal was meant to include the release of Samir Kuntar, who murdered the Haran family in Nahariya in 1979, in exchange for information on Ron Arad's fate, but such information was never received.
According to recent reports, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert planned to meet with the Arad family members and inform them that Hizbullah was no longer capable of providing information on the missing navigator's fate.
