The four Israelis, three soldiers and a reportedly senior Mossad agent, captured and imprisoned by the Lebanese Hizbollah are in good condition, Naoto Amaki, Japan's ambassador to Lebanon, said Thursday.
According to a report in Lebanon's Al-Mustakbal newspaper, cited by The Jerusalem Post, Hizbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah updated Amaki and the Japanese foreign minister during a meeting at the beginning of June.
”Hizbollah is treating the four abducted Israelis as if they were members of the organization,” Amaki said.
Hizbollah is seeking a swapping deal by which Israel releases 19 Lebanese and hundreds of Palestinian and Arab prisoners in Israeli Jails. Palestinian sources put the number at 1600.
German mediation between the two sides has been underway but failed so far in hammering out a deal satisfactory to both – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)