Possible deal to free soldiers

2006-08-13 20:42

Jerusalem - Israel will negotiate for the release of two soldiers whose capture by Hezbollah militants on July 12 sparked the offensive in Lebanon, foreign minister Tzipi Livni said on Sunday.

It marked the first time that an Israeli official publicly said that the Jewish state would negotiate for the release of the pair.

Previously it had demanded an unconditional release for the servicemen.

"The Israeli government does not intend to let go of the issue," Livni told reporters at a news conference in Jerusalem after the cabinet voted to approve a UN resolution on a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon.

"The prime minister will personally appoint a person who would take care of the issue," she said.

"We will have to enter a process which means negotiations."

Prisoner exchange

The mother of one of the missing soldiers later told Israeli television that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told her in a meeting early on Sunday that Israel would conduct a prisoner exchange to get back the captured troops.

The two soldiers were seized by Hezbollah fighters in a cross-border raid on July 12 during which three other servicemen were killed.

Five other Israeli soldiers were killed the same day in attempts to recover the captured troops.

Hezbollah has been demanding that Israel release Lebanese political prisoners in return for the two soldiers.

Abstention

The only member of the Israeli cabinet who did not vote to accept the UN resolution during Sunday's cabinet meeting, transport minister Shaul Mofaz, said the issue of the missing soldiers partly motivated his decision to abstain during the vote.

"We cannot decide on the return of our soldiers and then have a ceasefire that does not refer to the issue," he said.

"The resolution doesn't state clearly that Hezbollah should be dismantled and therefore it will not be disarmed," Mofaz said.

"Any other state against which 4 000 rockets are fired would not have accepted such a wording."

- AFP