German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer on Tuesday hoped to meet Hizbollah's secretary general to discuss a possible swap of four Israelis captured by the Lebanon-based resistance group for several Arabs detained by Israel. However, the meeting was not cofirmed as having taken place, a Lebanese newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The Beirut-based Daily Star said that Fischer, who is currently on a visit to Lebanon, planned to meet Nasrallah on Tuesday, possibly to discuss a deal to exchange a number of Lebanese and other Arab prisoners in Israeli prisons for three Israeli soldiers and a suspected Mossad operative held by Hizbollah.
The paper, however, did not confirm whether the meeting had actually taken place, describing his meeting with Nasrallah as "speculation," and cited an unnamed Hizbollah spokesman as denying any plans for such a meeting.
"I have nothing to declare on this issue," the Star quoted Fischer as saying.
Hizbullah captured three Israeli soldiers last October near the Lebanon-Israeli border, in a zone Lebanon claims is still occupied. A few days later, the resistance group captured a fourth Israeli, whom the Star said was a suspected Mossad (Israeli Intelligence) agent in Europe.
The Israeli daily Haaretz, however, said that the fourth Israeli captured was a businessman.
Nasrallah hinted Friday that negotiations on the prisoner exchange had reached the final stage and that only the agreement over the number of Palestinian prisoners that Israel would be asked to release remained, according to Haaretz.
Citing unnamed sources, the Israeli paper added that Fischer's visit had been preceded by eleven months of negotiations between German intelligence officers and representatives of Israel and Hizbollah - Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
