Nasrallah: Deal with Israel a Lebanese victory
Hizbullah chief comments on prisoner swap deal, says he assumes exchange will occur within next two weeks; also promises new info regarding Ron Arad. 'We have reached decisive evidence,' he says
Kidnapped soldier Eldad Regev's father, Tzvi Regev, said Wednesday night that the speech given by Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, is another attempt at mocking the kidnapped soldiers’ families. In his first reference to the prisoner swap deal, Nasrallah said that Israel has no information regarding the fates of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.
Tzvi Regev said that he didn’t watch the televised speech but understood that this was another opportunity to laugh in their faces, “Just like he has ceaselessly done in the last two years.
“Anyway, according to the information we have, the deal has been concluded and it's only a matter of time." Regev also said that "whenever there's something on that devil, I prefer not to listen."
Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah formally announced on Wednesday that his group accepts the prisoner exchange deal with Israel. Speaking at a press conference convened in Beirut following the approval of the deal Nasrallah said: "All the points have been agreed on and we will work out the technical aspects. All that remains is to set a schedule."
In his first public comments on the prisoner exchange agreement, Nasrallah postulated that the swap would occur on July 15. However, he said, "if I set a date, the Israelis will attempt to thwart it. I assume it will occur within the next week or two. They need to complete the work at the cemetery and the legal aspects related to Samir Kuntar's release."
Nassrallah also commented on the manner in which the talks had been conducted. "Negotiations were complicated and at times came to a halt," he said. "The delegation that supervised the talks on our side has the experience of all past negotiations, especially the Germans. The UN's German envoy invested all of his efforts in this and we would like to thank him for that."
The Hizbullah leader promised to transfer new information regarding the subject of captive Israeli navigator Ron Arad. "Regarding the issue of Ron Arad, I would like to say that we have been working on the subject since before the war. We knew he was connected to Samir Kuntar, and we tried to discover what his fate was.
"We conducted field investigations and took testimonies from people. We investigated the issue from the beginning and now have decisive evidence. I don't want to report it. We will transfer everything… The report with the conclusions to the UN mediator, and he will hand it over (to Israel)," he stated.
"Since July 12 2006 I have not set a specific standard (for release). I spoke of Samir. I said the subject at hand was (the release of) brother Samir Kuntar, though I knew it would complicate negotiations. I knew Israel would attempt to harm our credibility and break our word."
Nasrallah also criticized the media, and especially the Israeli press. "Our experience from previous negotiations is that the media complicates the progress of negotiations. From the first moment we have stayed away from the press. There were no leaks on our part. Even recently, when the enemy government had to make its decision, the Israeli media published the details, but it was not so on our side. We were interested in the success of the talks."
Not the king of Arabs
In an attempt to ward off recent criticism from the Arab nations, Nasrallh adopted a modest veneer. "I have heard Israeli officials say that giving Hizbullah everything they asked for means that Nasrallah will become king of the Arab world. I don't want to be a king or anything, merely to serve these poor oppressed souls.
"I would like to take this opportunity to stress a few more points: First, I would like to congratulate the Lebanese people on this victorious achievement. I hope all of the Lebanese people will see this achievement as their own. We are not attempting to utilize this to gain leverage in interior Lebanese affairs. It's everyone's victory," Nasrallah added.
On Sunday the government approved the prisoner exchange deal with Hizbullah, following many months of deliberation and debate. The agreement sees the release of kidnapped soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser in exchange for the freeing of jailed murderer Samir Kuntar and four other captive Hizbullah operatives. The bodies of over 100 terrorists buried in Israel will also be returned to Lebanon, according to the agreement.
