The Israeli Prison Service on Monday moved four of the Lebanese detainees slated for release in the framework of the upcoming exchange deal with Hizbullah from the "Ashmoret" Prison to the "Hadarim" Prison, where Samir Kintar, who is also included in the deal, is detained.
Kintar was imprisoned 29 years ago after he was convicted of killing an Israeli family and two police officers in a shooting attack.
The four detainees have been held at Ashmoret since the 2006 War.
Lebanese daily a-Safir reported Monday that the prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hizbullah will take place on Wednesday, at 9 am at the Naqura crossing. German mediator Gerhard Konrad is expected to be present during the exchange.
According to the report, Hizbullah has dubbed the exchange Operation Al-Radwan, in honor of its senior military command Imad Mugniyah, who was nicknamed Sheikh Radwan. Hizbullah is expected to hold a rally in the Dahiya quarter (Southern Suburb) in south Beirut Wednesday afternoon to welcome the released Lebanese detainees.
In the first stage of the exchange, the remains of nearly 200 Lebanese will be transferred to Lebanon via the Naqura crossing. In the second phase, the five Lebanese detainees, headed by Kintar, will also pass through Naqura and then be flown by a Lebanese military helicopter to the international airport in Beirut, where a ceremony will be held with the participation of senior government officials.
The ceremony at the airport will be followed by a mass rally in Dahiya, during which Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah is expected to deliver a speech and disclose additional details on the July 12, 2006 operation in which the two Israeli soldiers were captured.
Al- Safir quoted diplomatic sources in Beirut as saying that Hizbullah has received Israel's report on the four Iranian diplomats who went missing in 1982. The swap deal was approved by the Israeli government in principle about two weeks ago.
