An Israeli businessman who is also a colonel in the Israeli reserve army may have been abducted in Switzerland by the Lebanese Hizbollah movement, Israeli public radio reported.
He was reported missing on Saturday, military sources told AFP.
The Israeli authorities were checking reports that the man, who works for the Israeli electronics company Tadiran, a military supplier, was abducted, the radio said.
Earlier, Israeli security service sources told AFP that an ex-officer of the former Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army (SLA) could have been abducted by Lebanese Hizbollah militia, and not an Israeli officer as claimed by Hizbollah.
Hizbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said Sunday morning in Beirut that the group's fighters had captured a colonel in an apparently planned abduction.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak told the weekly meeting of his cabinet Sunday that Israel knew of no missing soldier but was still checking the claims.
Nasrallah gave no further details of the alleged capture, which if true would be a further blow to the peace process on the eve of a summit meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh which could make or break Middle East peace.
The Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hizbollah captured three Israeli sergeants on the Lebanese border on October 7 and is still holding them.
"We don't know about any military event on our northern border today. We don't know about any kidnapping along the border. We are still checking other channels," Israeli army chief of staff Shaul Mofaz told a news conference.
"We are also sure there was no military event along the Syrian border and we have to check other channels and it will take time. Hopefully we will know by the end of the day." -- (AFP)
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