Whereabouts unknown. Arad (Archive photo)
Israel to receive Hizbullah report on Ron Arad next week
Report compiled by Shiite group as part of prisoner exchange deal to be handed over to Israel within days; if dossier complies with Israeli demands, Hizbullah, Israeli reps will leave for Europe to sign agreement
Israel will receive the report compiled by Hizbullah on the fate of missing Israeli Air Force navigator Ron Arad at the beginning of next week, this according to Ofer Dekel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's personally appointed emissary overseeing MIA affairs.
Dekel returned to Israel Thursday after meeting with German mediator Gerhard Konrad. The official signing of the prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hizbullah, in which IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev will be returned in exchange for the release of five Lebanese terrorists, including Samir Kuntar, is expected to take place next week as well.
During his meeting with Konrad, Dekel said Israel views the deal positively; a similar message was conveyed by Hizbullah. The Shiite group recently handed over its report on Arad to the German mediator, who will determine whether it complies with the terms of the exchange deal.
After it is handed over to Israel, Olmert is expected to study it. A senior Israeli government official said Israel does not hold any information on the fate of Arad, who went missing 22 years ago.
Should the report meet Israel's demands, representatives from both sides will leave for Europe to sign the prisoner exchange deal. According to Israeli intelligence assessments, Goldwasser and Regev are dead.
In the framework of the deal Hizbullah will also receive the remains of terrorists who were killed while attempting to infiltrate Israel since the Second Lebanon War. Israel has also agreed to disclose information on four Iranian diplomats who disappeared in June 1982.
Meanwhile, the efforts to renew the negotiations for the release of captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit are continuing. The dispute between Israel and Hamas revolves around Israel's demand that the Islamist group revise the list of 450 prisoners it wants Israel to free as part of an exchange deal.
