LEBANON: Residents of town where two Israeli soldiers were captured say they do not favour an unconditional release

The United Nations may have started work to try to secure the release of two Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah in July, but residents of Aita Ech Chaab, where the kidnapping took place are against an unconditional release. The unconditional release of the soldiers is called for in the U.N. Security Council resolution that brought about a ceasefire. The same resolution "encourages" the settling of the issue of Lebanese prisoners detained in Israel. "We should not return the soldiers. All this war and the suffering, everything would be in vane, for nothing? They should give us back our prisoners and we should give them back their prisoners," Nayefe Jmil, a resident in Aita Ech Chaab, said. "I was a prisoner yesterday. I felt the suffering our people endure inside Israeli jails. They took us for no reason, they treat civilians badly, and no one question what they are doing," said Ali Ahmed Mehri who was held by Israel for questioning for less than 24 hours. The kidnapping of the two soldiers in a cross-border raid started a 34-day war that killed nearly 1,200 people in Lebanon, mainly civilians, and 157 Israelis, mainly soldiers. Deputy U.N. Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown told Reuters in Abu Dhabi that a "facilitator" had been appointed and is now working with both sides on the release of the soldiers. Lebanon has said the soldiers would not be released unless Israel was prepared to discuss a prisoner swap. Israel's official position remains that it will not enter into negotiations to free the men, but political sources say the Jewish state would be willing to enter into talks if they were conducted through the Lebanese government, not with Hizbollah. While residents of the town where the two Israeli soldiers were captured are against an unconditional release there are differing opinions amongst other Lebanese. "If it's a step, we will support it because we want peace and we want to get this all over with. And Hizbollah isn't a destructive party. They defended our country" Chamoun, a resident of Beirut said. The recent withdrawal of the Israeli army from some outposts they occupied in Lebanon has allowed the Lebanese army to deploy its troops over the last week. There are still a handful of small Israeli outposts in Southern Lebanon, like the one in Alma Ech Chaab. For decades, the Hizbollah controlled the region de facto. The United Nations expects Israel to complete its pullout from Lebanon once there are 5,000 U.N. peacekeepers on the ground. UNIFIL forces are set to reach an eventual 15,000 and will work alongside a similar number of Lebanese troops in a southern zone to be free of any Israeli or armed Hizbollah presence.

ITN Source | September 12, 2006

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