Monday, June 30, 2008

Again Sayyed Nasrallah Fulfills His “Sincere Promise”


Al-Manar

"30/06/2008 “The detainees are our commitment and Samir Kintar and his brothers will soon return to Lebanon." Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has made this pledge on more than an occasion, and today the true promise of the resistance leader is to be fulfilled within a few days when Kintar and his brothers will put years of detention behind them.

On Sunday, the Israeli cabinet approved on a prisoner exchange deal with Hezbollah in which two Israeli occupation soldiers captured by resistance fighters in July 2006 are to be released and in return Israel is to set free Lebanese detainees and dozens of Palestinians.

Sources in Israel said the swap deal would probably take place by July 12, when Lebanon and Hezbollah mark the second anniversary of victory.

After five hours of tense debate, 22 ministers voted in favor of the deal and three others - Finance Minister Roni Bar-On, Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann and Housing and Construction Minister Ze'ev Boim - voted against it.......

In the final stage, within a month after the swap is made, Israel will release a number of Palestinian detainees of its choosing. Cabinet members are set to discuss the list in the coming weeks.

At the cabinet meeting on Sunday, Mossad chief Meir Dagan objected to Dekel's statement that he and Konrad believed Hezbollah had no significant information about Arad. Dagan, who said Dekel "did not have the tools" to evaluate this because he lacked all the information, came out strongly against the deal, insisting that it would damage Israel by strengthening Hezbollah.

"Samir Kintar is the bargaining chip for Ron Arad," said Dagan. "He is a symbol." However, Dagan conceded that leaving Kintar in jail would not get Israel new information about Arad.

BAR-ON: IF WE CEDE KUNTAR, BARGHOUTI WILL BE NEXT

The three ministers who voted against the swap said that the deal constitutes a victory for Hezbollah. "After the release of Kintar, who will be able to stop the release of Marwan Barghouti?"

Finance Minister Bar-On expressed his objection to the release of Palestinian detainees. “It will give (Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan) Nasrallah solutions for the Palestinian issues, which I believe is a dangerous precedent," he said, adding that it will also push the price for (Gilad) Shalit up.”

Justice Minister Friedmann argued during the debate that approval of the deal will send a message of weakness. "It is a terrible deal. The price is too high. We must not release Samir Kintar, because it will be a huge victory for Hezbollah" Friedmann said. "

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