OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 20 August 2003 — Israeli officials confirmed yesterday that they have renewed indirect contact through Germany with the Lebanese militia Hezbollah about the possibility of prisoner exchanges.
An official quoted in several newspapers said Hezbollah “had very slightly adjusted its demands” but was still “unrealistic” about the prospects of an agreement.
Reserve Gen. Ilan Biran, who is in charge of efforts to secure the release of up to four Israelis held since October 2000, visited Germany two weeks ago for talks about the exchanges, Israeli television reported on Monday night. Earlier this month, a German intermediary visited Israel, as well as Lebanon, where he met with Hezbollah leaders, according to the same report.
Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said in remarks published on Monday that negotiations with Israel would begin soon over the exchange of prisoners. “Some contacts have already started and negotiations will begin shortly ... We are looking to see through the current mediation to a happy end to this issue,” Nasrallah told Saudi Arabia’s Al-Watan newspaper.
Nasrallah warned that if the proposed talks fail, Hezbollah will work to capture more Israeli soldiers in order to force the Jewish state to accept a solution.
