JERUSALEM – Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese guerrilla group, are in secret negotiations for a large swap of prisoners, officials on both sides said yesterday.
The talks, conducted through German intelligence, were described as “positive” and covering a wide range of individuals – including a senior Palestinian militant, Marwan Barghouti, now on trial in Israel for terrorism.
An East Jerusalem newspaper, Al Quds, said Hezbollah is seeking the release of two of its commanders, Mustafa Dirani and Sheikh Abdel Karim Obeid, and 14 other members as well as substantial numbers of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Israel is asking for the release of a businessman who was kidnapped three years ago and the remains of three soldiers believed to have been killed before Israeli forces pulled out of Lebanon in 2000.
An Israeli negotiator in Berlin is also seeking information about Ron Arad, an Israeli jet navigator whose plane exploded over Lebanon 17 years ago.
The last information about Arad received by Israel is that he was “sold” by Dirani to Iranian agents for a large sum of money.
Hezbollah, which waged war with Israeli troops in Lebanon for years, has repeatedly denied knowledge of Arad. But yesterday its general secretary, Hassan Nasrallah, offered to make “extraordinary efforts to collect information” about his fate.
With Post Wire Services