Germany has relinquished its mediation for a Hizbullah-Israeli prisoners swap because it suspects that the three troops the Lebanese group kidnapped in a cross-border ambush in the Shabaa farms in late 2000 are now dead, the Beirut-based Al Mustaqbal newspaper reported on Thursday.
The senior German intelligence officer who had been shuttling between Beirut and Tel Aviv has no plans to resume his mission because the issue has become one of determining whether the Hizbullah-held Israeli captives were alive or dead.
"The German go-between is convinced that the matter now is up to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to decide upon the physical status of the captives. If they are dead, the reason for mediating a swap would cease to exist," Al Mustaqbal, which is owned by Lebanon's Premier, Rafic al Hariri, wrote.
Hizbullah's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah last week gave Israel a "last chance" to reactivate the swap mediation. Nasrallah also hinted that the fourth Israeli captive, retired army colonel Elhanan Tennenbaum might be dead, too, although Israel contends he is alive. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
