GAZA: Blair meets familes of kidnapped Israeli soldiers

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is in the region for a two-day visit to encourage the revival of Middle East peace negotiations, has met on Sunday (September 10) with family members of three Israeli soldiers, two abducted by Hizbollah guerillas and another by Gaza militants. Relatives of Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped in a June 25 cross border raid, and Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, whose kidnap triggered a month-long war in Lebanon, met Blair in Jerusalem. "Tony Blair assured us that he and his government are standing behind resolution 1701 (UN). He mentioned that he is going to meet with some leaders in Lebanon and in Gaza Strip and he will emphasise to them that he will stand behind the resolution and will, I will say it in his words, let them understand that there is no normalisation before this problem of the kidnapping is coming to an end, to say it in his words," Benny Ragev, father of 26-year-old Eldad who was abducted by Hizbollah guerillas, told a news conference after the meeting. At his meeting with Blair on Saturday (September 9) in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he is willing to hold his first summit with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas but ruled out any gestures towards the Palestinians before militants in Gaza free the abducted Israeli soldier. Israel rejected demands to release Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners in exchange for the release of its troops. A senior United Nations official said on Sunday that the UN has started work to try to secure the release of two Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hizbollah. "A facilitator" had been appointed to work for the release of the soldiers, Deputy UN Secretary-General Mark Malloch said in Abu Dhabi. Lebanon said the soldiers would not be released unless Israel was prepared to discuss prisoner swap. In the past few days the families expressed anger over the Israeli government's decision to lift an aerial and sea Lebanon blockade before receiving a sign of life from their beloved ones. Nearly 1,200 people in Lebanon, mainly civilians, and 157 Israelis, mainly soldiers, were killed in the war in Lebanon. Israel has killed more than 200 Palestinians, about half of them civilians, during an offensive in Gaza to try to free Shalit, whose captors have demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange. The unconditional release of the soldiers is called for in the permeable to a UN Security Council resolution that brought about a ceasefire.

ITN Source | September 11, 2006

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