Channels

Ron Arad - Incomplete report
Nasrallah - Gave his signature
Photo: Reuters
Preparing for Kuntar's return
Photo: Reuters

Israel waiting for clarifications on Arad report

German mediator Gerhard Conrad receives Hizbullah report on MIA navigator Ron Arad but demands number of clarifications. Olmert, Nasrallah sign exchange deal. IDF begins exhuming bodies of Lebanese fighters

The initial stages of the prisoner exchange deal with Hizbullah are already underway – but the much-anticipated Hizbullah report on the fate of MIA navigator Ron Arad may delay the proceedings.

 

German mediator Gerhard Conrad recently received the report, but the United Nations envoy was unsatisfied with the extend of the information provided and asked the Hizbullah representative to rework and clarify a number of points before the report is handed over to Israel.

 

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's specially appointed envoy overseeing MIA affairs, Ofer Dekel, is expected to meet with Conrad in the coming days to receive the full report. It will then be reviewed by the prime minister along with Israeli defense and intelligence officials, who will determine whether it answers the clauses stipulated in the agreement between Israel and Hizbullah.

 

Members of the cabinet will then be briefed on the content of the report and convened to vote for or against the completion of the exchange. Israel, on its part, will hand over a report on the four Iranian diplomats who have been missing since 1982.

 

Israel confirmed on Monday that Dekel has officially signed the agreement in a meeting with Conrad. A Lebanese source said Hizbullah secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, also signed the deal.

 

The second issue on the ministers' agenda will be the number of Palestinian prisoners Israel intends to release as a goodwill gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. A diplomatic official in Beirut said he expected the swap itself, in which Hizbullah will return kidnapped soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser to Israel in exchange for high-profile prisoner Samir Kuntar and four additional Lebanese prisoners, to take place by the middle of next week.

 

A senior government official in Jerusalem confirmed the deal was expected to be completed sometime next week.

 

IDF begins exhuming Hizbullah bodies

Meanwhile on Monday, ahead of the exchange itself, IDF troops began exhuming the bodies of 190 Hizbullah fighters buried in the cemetery for enemy combatants near Kibbutz Amiad, under the supervision of the Military Rabbinate.

 

From Amiad, the bodies are placed in coffins and taken to a special command center ahead of their transfer to Lebanon. Military officials explained that after being exhumed the bodies are placed in coffins, and the coffins in special cooling containers.

 


Work begins at Amiad cemetery (Photo: AP)

 

The containers are built to run for an extended period of time, so any unexpected delays in the proceedings should not affect the condition of the bodies. "We treat the dead, whoever that may be, with all due respect," they said.

 

The cemetery has been declared a closed military zone and the security measures surrounding it, namely fences, have been reinforced to prevent civilians or journalists from accessing the site.

 

Captives' families say don't expect changes

The Regev and Goldwasser families said they have not been briefed on any of the recent developments in the burgeoning exchange.

 

Shlomo Goldwasser, Ehud's father, told Ynet: "At present time we're not up to date on the developments, but we're also not trying to bother anyone for them. We know what everyone knows – that the deal has

been signed and that Dekel has come back with the report and given it to the government. We have no fear that things will suddenly change once the deal is authorized by 22 ministers.

 

"In terms of the timetable, we read what everyone is reading in the papers. The ball is in Nasrallah's hands and if he says it will happen on the 15th – then I believe that's when it will happen."

 

Hagai Einav, Ahiyah Raved contributed to this report

 


פרסום ראשון: 07.07.08, 18:52
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment