Israel transfers Lebanese prisoners ahead of exchange deal with Hizbullah
(Video) Lebanese newspaper says prisoner swap between Israel, Hizbullah to commence 9 am Wednesday at Nakura crossing; Israel transferring four prisoners slated for release to prison where Kuntar is held. Hizbullah planning mass rally in Beirut to honor returning prisoners
VIDEO - The Israeli Prison Service transferred Monday morning four of the Lebanese prisoners slated for release in the framework of the upcoming exchange deal with Hizbulllah from the Ashmoret Prison to the Hadarim Prison, where terrorist Samir Kuntar, who is also included in the deal, is held.
The four prisoners, who had been held at Ashmoret since the Second Lebanon War, were taken to Hadarim by van at around 10:40 am.
Video courtesy of infolive.tv
Lebanese newspaper Al- Safir reported Monday that the prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hizbullah will take place on Wednesday, at 9 am at the Nakura crossing, located north of Rosh Hanikra. German mediator Gerhard Konrad is expected to be present during the exchange.
According to the report, Hizbullah has dubbed the exchange Operation Raduan, in honor of its senior operative Imad Mugniyah, who was nicknamed Sheik Raduan. Mugniyah was assassinated in Damascus in February. The Shiite group has blamed Israel for his death.
Hizbullah is expected to hold a rally in the Dahiya quarter in south Beirut Wednesday afternoon to welcome the released Lebanese prisoners.
In the first stage of the exchange, the remains of some 200 slain Lebanese gunmen will be transferred to Lebanon via the Nakura crossing. In the second phase, the five Lebanese prisoners, headed by Kuntar, will also pass through Nakura and then be flown by a Lebanese military helicopter to the international airport in Beirut, where a ceremony will be held with the participation of senior government officials.
Prisoners taken to Hadarim (Photo: Ido Erez)
The ceremony at the airport will be followed by a mass rally in Dahiya, during which Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah is expected to speak and disclose additional details on the July 12, 2006 operation in which Golwasser and Regev were captured.
Al- Safir quoted diplomatic sources in Beirut as saying that Hizbullah has received Israel's report on the four Iranian diplomats who went missing in 1982. UNIFIL officers and eyewitness told the Lebanese daily that Hizbullah gunmen in civilian clothing have arrived at the border area to coordinate the prisoner swap.
The swap deal was approved by the government in principle about two weeks ago, under the condition that Hizbullah submits the report on Arad.
The Israel Prison Service on Sunday published a list containing the names of the Lebanese prisoners currently behind bars in Israel, who are to be released over the next few days as part of the prisoner swap deal with Hizbullah. The list appears on the service's website.
Raanan Ben-Zur contributed to the report
