Olmert admits `no escape` from prisoner swap

Source: Compiled by Daily Star, 24-4-2007
BEIRUT: "Israeli" Premier Ehud Olmert said Monday his government would not repeat past mistakes by releasing prisoners who then carried out more attacks against "Israelis". Speaking during his Memorial Day speeches, Olmert touched on the issue of possible prisoner swap deals for the release of an "Israeli" soldier held by Palestinian militants in Gaza and for two others held by Hizbullah in Lebanon.
However, the premier admitted there would be "no escape in the end from making a difficult decision" on trading prisoners for the captured "Israeli" troops.
In Lebanon, a top Hizbullah official said Sunday UN-mediated negotiations on a prisoner swap are going on in a "serious" manner, but so far there have been no results.
Hizbullah number two Sheikh Naim Qassem said the two "Israeli" troops, captured by Hizbullah on July 12, before last summer`s war, would be released only in exchange for freedom of all Lebanese prisoners held in "Israel".
"The negotiations are serious and when they reach any result, it will be announced, because we have agreed not to announce details of the negotiations to secure their success and to keep them away from political and media blackmail," Qassem said.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the war on August 14, called for an unconditional release of the two troops.
On the same day the two "Israelis" were captured, Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah told a news conference that the two troops would be released only through a prisoner exchange with "Israel".
"Israel" had initially rejected calls for a prisoner swap to secure the troops` freedom, calling instead for their unconditional release. It later accepted UN mediation in the case.
An unidentified special UN envoy dispatched last September by then-UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan has been mediating between Hizbullah and "Israel" on a possible exchange of prisoners.
Hizbullah has not released any details on the conditions of the two troops, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, or provided any sign that they are still alive since their capture.
Qassem hoped the indirect negotiations between "Israel" and the resistance party would end "quickly and in a better way," stressing that all Lebanese prisoners must be freed in any deal.
"We are committed to this slogan regardless of the patience and sacrifices we endure. We are confident that the `Israelis` will eventually comply," he said.
Qassem was speaking at a Hizbullah rally in a mosque in Beirut`s war-devastated southern suburbs to mark the 28th anniversary of Samir Kantar`s captivity in "Israel".
Kantar, the dean of Lebanese prisoners, is serving a 542-year prison sentence in "Israel" for killing three "Israelis" during an attack in 1979.
"There can be no solution to the prisoners` issue except through an equal exchange that will release our prisoners, on top of them is Samir Kantar," Qassem said, drawing cheers from the crowd which included Kantar`s mother as well as family members.
"Israel" says it will not release Kantar until it receives information about Ron Arad, an air force navigator who went missing after his plane was shot down over Lebanon in 1986. His fate is unknown.