Report: Israel sends to Hizbullah ''by mistake'' body of Jewish man

Published February 20th, 2004 - 03:00 GMT

Hizbullah is demanding that Israel give it the bodies of 30 fighters in exchange for the body of a man that Israel mistakenly transferred to the Lebanese resistance movement, a Nazareth-based newspaper reported Friday.

The corpse in Hizbullah's hands was accidentally sent during the January 29 prisoner swap in place of Mohammed Biro, a Lebanese drug dealer who died in an Israeli prison 11 months ago.

The newspaper, Kul Al-Arab, quoted a senior Lebanese official saying the body Israel forwarded is that of a Jewish man.

Meanwhile, an Israeli source told Army Radio on Friday that he was not aware of any demand from Hizbullah, but that Israel intends to return Biro's body to Lebanon in any event.