Arab, Israeli Prisoners Leave for Germany

29/01/2004| IslamWeb

Arab prisoners and a kidnapped Israeli flew on separate planes to freedom in Germany Thursday, in a long-awaited prisoner swap between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah. A plane carrying 36 Arab prisoners took off from Jerusalem shortly before 4 a.m., while another plane left Beirut, Lebanon, carrying businessman Elhanan Tannenbaum and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers. "My name is Elhanan Tannenbaum and I am an Israeli citizen," he told The Associated Press at Beirut's airport as he walked to the plane. Asked about his treatment, he replied: "I was treated very well by the Hezbollah." The German-mediated swap was expected to be completed later Thursday with Israel releasing 436 prisoners in exchange for the businessman and the soldiers' bodies. Israel is freeing the 400 Palestinians into the West Bank and Gaza and releasing the 36 non-Palestinian prisoners, including two Lebanese guerrilla leaders, in Germany. The deal boosts the Lebanese guerrilla group's standing in the region because of its success in freeing Palestinian prisoners, while Israel wins its first pledge of concrete information about an airman captured in 1986 in Lebanon. Hezbollah announced that the three Israeli soldiers were dead only hours before it delivered them to a German air force plane at Beirut airport. Hezbollah had long refused to divulge the fate of the soldiers whom it captured on the Israeli-Lebanese border in 2000. An Israeli forensics team, including Israel's chief pathologist, medics and rabbis, flew to Germany on Wednesday in preparation for the swap. Positive identification was to set off the rest of the events. Israeli military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they received information that the bodies of the soldiers had been preserved in formaldehyde, which could speed up the identification process. Military officials said the crucial stage in the swap would be after the planes reach Germany and the identification process begins. Since Israel's founding in 1948, Israel has participated in several prisoner exchanges with its Arab neighbors. In 1985, Israel freed 1,150 Palestinians in exchange for three soldiers held in Lebanon. There is opposition to this deal among both Israelis and Palestinians. Some Israelis complain the price is too high and hands Hezbollah a victory that could help it destabilize the area. Many Palestinians expressed disappointment with the deal, complaining that no prominent uprising figures are included. Also, most of the 400 were scheduled to be released this year. "The Palestinians had hoped that the deal would include prisoners with long sentences, that it would include the sick, or those with life sentences," said Fadwa Barghouti, the wife of the most prominent Palestinian prisoner, Marwan Barghouti, on trial for his alleged role in attacks that killed 26 Israelis. He is not included in the deal. In Berlin, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's spokesman, Bela Anda, said Germany "is thankful to be able to contribute to humanitarian progress here, to the extent that it is possible." Israel says the three soldiers - Beni Avraham, Adi Avitan and Omar Souad - were captured after a Hezbollah roadside bomb hit their jeep during a patrol along the Lebanese border. Hezbollah's announcement didn't say how or when they died. The soldiers had been presumed dead, but their families had held out hope that the men were alive. Tannenbaum, who was also captured in October 2000 while conducting a questionable business deal in an Arab country, faces questioning by authorities. Earlier in Beirut, Hezbollah's Al Manar television showed film footage of Tannenbaum, the first such pictures of the businessman since he was seized in October 2000. The clip showed a man with graying hair, folding clothes on a bed. The presenter said Tannenbaum was preparing to leave for freedom. It was not clear if Tennenbaum was under any extra duress. He spoke about why he went to the undisclosed Arab country where he was kidnapped, saying "the purpose was to seek and locate information about the missing Israeli airman Ron Arad." Tannenbaum also said he "paid a heavy personal price" and was eager to go home. "The first thing I want to do is go home and see the family and then face the accusations." After the swap is completed, the sides are to launch a second stage of negotiations. Israel is supposed to receive within three months concrete information about the fate of Arad, who was shot down over Lebanon in 1986 and captured alive. In exchange, Israel would release Samir Kantar, a Lebanese who has been in an Israeli prison since 1979 for killing three Israelis. The most prominent Arabs being released are Lebanese guerrilla leaders Mustafa Dirani and Sheik Abdel Karim Obeid. They were kidnapped in 1994 and 1989, respectively, as bargaining chips for Arad. On Wednesday, Israel's Supreme Court rejected petitions by two Israeli groups opposed to the exchange, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Mustafa Dirani, a captive since 1994, prepares for freedom