Israel, Hizbollah to swap prisoners

Two of the most bitter enemies in the Middle East, Israel and Hizbollah, will carry out the first stage of a German-mediated prisoner swap on Thursday, the leader of the Lebanese guerilla group said yesterday.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, defending the exchange against criticism in Israel that it would strengthen Hizbollah and Palestinian militants, called the agreement a "correct, moral and responsible decision".

The deal, three years in the making, includes the release of 400 Palestinian, 23 Lebanese and 12 other Arab prisoners as well as a German citizen in return for an abducted Israeli businessman and three soldiers, presumed dead.

Hizbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said a second stage of negotiations would deal with the fate of Israeli airman Ron Arad, missing in Lebanon since 1986, and four Iranian diplomats kidnapped in Lebanon in 1982 during the Israeli invasion.

Mr Sharon has been accused by Mr Arad's family and other Israelis who have mounted a campaign to keep him in the public eye of abandoning the airman, who has become a national hero in Israel.

"Thursday will be the date of the exchange of prisoners who are alive," Mr Nasrallah told a news conference in Beirut. He said Israel would return the bodies of 59 Lebanese and Palestinian guerillas on Friday.