Soldiers 'seized for swop'

2006-07-12 17:07

Beirut - Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said on Wednesday that Israel's military assault in Lebanon would not win the freedom on two captured Israeli soldiers, saying they would only be released as part of a prisoner swop.

Nasrallah said it would be an "illusion" if Israel thought a military campaign could win the release of the soldiers.

"No military operation will return them," he told a news conference in Beirut.

"The prisoners will not be returned except through one way: indirect negotiations and a trade."

He warned that the Shi'ite Muslim guerrilla group was ready to fight, but was open to any cease-fire proposal.

"We have no intention to escalate," he added.

He said the captured soldiers were "in a safe and very far place", saying the attack - although planned for a long time - would serve to ease the pressure on the Palestinians in Gaza, where Hamas-linked militants are holding an Israeli soldier seized two weeks ago.

"The timing, no doubt, provides support for our brothers in Palestine," he said.

- AP