'Dead soldier' claims dismissed
2008-02-18 09:03
Jerusalem - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday denied reports he planned to declare that two Israeli soldiers captured by the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in 2006 were dead.
The German weekly Der Spiegel reported on its website that Olmert was considering declaring Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev as dead, stirring a storm of criticism in Israel.
"I will continue to act on the basis they are alive as long as we don't get any other information," Olmert said in a speech before the Jewish Conference of Presidents.
The two servicemen were seized by Hezbollah militants in a cross-border raid on July 12, 2006 that sparked a devastating 34-day conflict between the Jewish state and the Shi'ite group in Lebanon.
Since the war's end, the two sides have been holding secret negotiations on a prisoner exchange.
But there has been no sign of life from the two reservist soldiers, while an Israeli military report has said they were likely to be dead or in serious condition after the Hezbollah raid on their patrol jeep.
- AFP