Samir Kuntar returns to Lebanon
Photo: AP
Kuntar says envies 'enemy's treatment of hostages'
A day after being released from prison and returned to Lebanon, terrorist tells Hizbullah's al Manar network, 'To tell you the truth, I envy our enemies. The way they care for a body and will go all the way to return it.' He once again denies killing Israeli toddler Einat Haran
Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar made a rare statement Thursday, saying that he envies Israel.
Kuntar added that he did not murder Israeli toddler Einat Haran in a 1979 terror attack in Nahariya.
"To tell you the truth, we envy our enemies. The way they care for a body and will go to the end of the world in order to get it back, and how they care for the hostage and will go all the way to return him," Kuntar said in an interview with Hizbullah's al-Manar television network, a day after being released from jail and returned to Lebanon as part of a prisoner swap deal with Israel.
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"I'm innocent. I did not kill the Israeli girl and I'm not defending myself for fear of the enemy," the terrorist said, adding that Israel invented the girl's murder.
Kuntar said that after arriving at the Nahariya coast through the sea, he turned towards a three-story building in a bid to take its tenants hostage and return to Lebanon. According to him, after entering the Haran family house, he and his men began shooting in all directions. After descending to the first floor, they found Danny Haran holding tightly to his daughter.
The cell members took Haran and his daughter to the beach, where a long battle erupted with IDF forces. Two of the cell members were killed and two others were injured, including Kuntar.
According to the terrorist, Danny Haran insisted on holding on to his daughter, and had he not done that, they would have only taken him to Lebanon.
Kuntar added that he had read "in the Zionists' report from 1979" that Haran's daughter was killed by IDF fire.
He also said that during his years in prison he had read "the books of the enemy about the '67 and '73 wars", and had felt that the Arab person had no meaning in these wars. He said he felt disregard for human beings' value in Arab countries, adding that this was manifested in Egypt's attitude toward its MIA's.
