Last update - 00:00 28/02/2007
UN envoy talks to Hezbollah about abducted IDF soldiers
By Amiram Barkat and Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service
A senior UN envoy met Hezbollah officials in Lebanon on Wednesday to discuss the fate of two Israel Defense Forces soldiers, whose capture by the militant group sparked the second Lebanon war.
The visit by the UN Secretary General's Special Adviser to the Middle East, Michael Williams, comes ahead of a key report on Lebanon that the UN chief, Ban Ki-moon, will deliver to the Security Council on March 16.
Williams, accompanied by Geir Pederson, the UN representative in Lebanon, drove to the militant group's stronghold in Beirut's war-devastated southern suburb where they held talks with former energy minister from Hezbollah ranks, Mohammed Fneish, and Wafik Safa, a senior Hezbollah security official.
Besides discussing efforts to free the two IDF soldiers, the talks also touched on the Aug. 14 ceasefire, Hezbollah's alleged weapons buildup, Lebanese prisoners held in Israel, Israeli overflights in Lebanon and the problem of thousands of land mines and cluster bombs scattered by IDF troops in southern Lebanon, local media reported.
Williams described the meeting as very good but stressed the need for full commitment to implement the cease-fire. "We want to build on that commitment so that we can see things delivered," he told reporters.
UN chief vows to work for release of abducted IDF soldiers
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Wednesday promised to work for the release of Israel Defense Forces soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, who were abducted last summer by Hezbollah guerillas.
Ban met with the soldiers' families in New York Wednesday.
Over 1,000 people on Tuesday participated in a support rally for the kidnapped soldiers and their families on Washington's Capitol Hill.
The rally was attended by the families of Goldwasser and Regev, as well as by U.S. Congressmen and leaders of various Jewish organizations.
The rally was organized by the UJC - the federation of United Jewish Communities - and the JCPA - the Jewish Council of Public Affairs.
UJC chairman Nachman Shay said that a petition calling for the release of the kidnapped soldiers is being circulated around the U.S., and that he hopes to gather over a million signatures.
After the rally, the families of the kidnapped soldiers traveled to NY ahead of a meeting with the UN secretary general.
Ehud Goldwasser's wife, Karnit, was also scheduled to meet with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday.