Post by Salem6 on Oct 16, 2007 9:28:38 GMT
Israel and the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah have exchanged the remains of an Israeli civilian for a prisoner and the bodies of two Hezbollah guerrillas.
The International Red Cross transported the bodies over the border near the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura.
Israel's Channel 2 TV identified the Israeli as Gabriel Dwait, who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea in 2005.
Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers in July 2006 provoked a 34-day war in which some 1,250 people died.
Both Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser are still believed to be in captivity, although officials have raised the possibility that they may not have survived the cross-border raid by Hezbollah.
In a statement after the exchange, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the deal was "in the framework of negotiations to return the captured soldiers".
Negotiations between Israel and Hezbollah are currently being conducted through a UN-appointed German mediator, Ernst Uhrlau.
'Very proud'
Lebanese troops kept journalists and civilians away from the border area ahead of the exchange on Monday, but an Israeli military vehicle was seen crossing into the demilitarized zone around sundown and returning shortly afterwards.
Two Red Cross ambulances also drove into the zone near the Israeli border, apparently to receive the Lebanese prisoner and the remains of the two Hezbollah fighters.
Israeli journalists were also unable to report the exchange, as the country's military censor imposed a day-long blackout.
Once it was lifted, Israel reported that Hezbollah had handed over the body of Mr Dwait, an immigrant from Ethiopia whose body washed up on the Lebanese coast after he drowned.
One Lebanese official earlier told the Reuters news agency that the Israeli man had "died of a cause unrelated to last year's aggression".
The Lebanese prisoner released by Israel has been identified as Hassan Naim Aqil, a 50-year-old who is reported to be suffering from a mental illness.
The dead Lebanese are said to be Ali Wizwaz and Mohammed Dimashqiya, two Hezbollah fighters who were killed during the 2006 conflict with Israel.
"I'm very proud of my son who gave up his life for his nation," Hussein Wizwaz, the father of one of the two men, said whilst waiting near the border crossing.
The exchange is believed to have been arranged through the UN.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7045707.stm