Israel may release prisoners

[KashifAsrar]

Israel may release prisoners

Sep 4, 2006

Israel could release up to 800 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a single soldier, captured by Gaza militants in early June.

Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot says the deal's being discussed under secret talks, being mediated by Egypt.

The paper says Israel will release the prisoners in three stages, although the timetable of the prisoner release is delaying progress.

Gaza militants seized Corporal Gilad Shalit on June 25th, in a cross-border raid that left two other soldiers dead.

It sparked an Israeli offensive in the costal strip, to recover the serviceman and prevent rocket fire.

Israel has officially demanded an unconditional release, but local media say talks have been underway for some time.

 

[KashifAsrar]

Tue 5 Sep 2006

Annan to appoint 'secret' Middle East mediator
NADIM LADKI IN BEIRUT

KOFI Annan, the United Nations secretary-general, said yesterday he would appoint a secret negotiator to mediate between Israel and Hezbollah for the release of two Israeli soldiers seized in July.

"The two sides have accepted the effort of the secretary-general to help solve this problem," Mr Annan told a news conference in Saudi Arabia. "I will appoint a person to work secretly with the two sides ... I will not announce his name today or tomorrow," he said.

The release of the soldiers, whose capture by Hezbollah in a cross-border raid on 12 July sparked a 34-day war, is at the centre of a UN resolution for a permanent ceasefire on the Lebanon-Israel border. Hezbollah wants to exchange the soldiers for Lebanese prisoners held in Israeli jails.

There was no immediate reaction on the report from Israel or Hezbollah.

The Lebanese government agreed to file a complaint to the UN Security Council over Israel's nearly eight-week-old air-and-sea blockade despite the truce.

Israel says it has kept its embargo to prevent Hezbollah from rearming.

Qatar Airways resumed its direct service to Beirut on Monday, despite Israel's demand that all such flights pass through Amman, Jordan, for security reasons.

In another sign of progress, Major-General Alain Pellegrini, the commander of UN peacekeepers, said a joint meeting with Lebanese and Israeli officers on Monday had brought closer a full Israeli troop withdrawal from south Lebanon, in line with Resolution 1701.