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Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah (Reuters)
Last update - 09:20 23/07/2008
Hezbollah chief to UN: Ready to swap more prisoners with Israel
By Reuters
Tags: israel, hezbollah, nasrallah 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday released details of a letter he received from Hassan Nasrallah, in which the Hezbollah leader expressed willingness to carry out further prisoner swaps with Israel and outlined his group's conditions for future deals.

The letter was dated July 7, a week before Hezbollah returned the bodies of captured Israeli soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, in return for five Lebanese militants and the bodies of 197 militants buried in Israel.

Last week the leader of the Lebanese guerrilla group made a rare public appearance in Beirut to welcome the five prisoners released from captivity in Israel as part of the July 16 swap.
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Israel is due to release Palestinian prisoners in the future as a gesture to the UN secretary-general. Nasrallah said he had written to Ban asking him to use his good offices to see that move implemented.

In a letter to the current president of the UN Security Council, Vietnamese Ambassador Le Lunong Minh, Ban said that Nasrallah "declared his readiness for participation in the remaining humanitarian cases of Israeli MIA (missing in action) of the 1980s."

But Ban said Nasrallah was "conditioning his positive attitude to the nature and extent of Israeli humanitarian moves on behalf of Palestinian and Arab victims."

Ban quoted Nasrallah's letter saying the Hezbollah chief informed him that further prisoner releases by Israel should "be adequate to the high level of government commitment to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and to the importance of results achieved under the UN facilitation."

In other direct quotes from Nasrallah's July 7 letter, Ban said he referred to "the high number of innocent victims caused by the war of 2006," adding that he considered it "as a minimum requirement that the releases comprise a maximum number of minors, women and elderly people being held in...detention.""

These cases "go into the hundreds" according to non-governmental organizations, Ban quoted Nasrallah's letter as saying.

These must be resolved immediately in order to secure Hezbollah's support in other humanitarian cases, Nasrallah wrote to Ban.

Under last week's deal arranged by a UN-appointed German mediator, Israel also returned the bodies of eight Hezbollah fighters slain in the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as those of four Palestinians, including Dalal Mughrabi, a woman guerrilla who led a 1978 raid on Israel.

In his letter, Ban said: "I strongly commend Israel's readiness to engage in another release of Palestinian detainees and welcome Hezbollah's willingness in principle to further contribute to the solution of the humanitarian cases.

Ban said he hoped the next releases lead to "further humanitarian moves."

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      1.   FURTHER humanitarian moves? Like returning mutilated bodies? 02:50  |  McQueen 23/07/08
      2.   the balls in your court israel 03:20  |  VIPER 23/07/08
      3.   Nasrallah asks UN.Did he follow the UN 1701 that he agreed to 03:36  |  PETER SM 23/07/08
      4.   I Didn`t Know That Hezbola was a UN Member State 04:17  |  MIKE 23/07/08
      5.   BAN_BAN_BAN 04:36  |  Jake 23/07/08
      6.   Hizbollah really does run things in Lebanon, doesn`t it 05:11  |  Conroy 23/07/08
      7.   Who does Nasrallah think he is: Mother Theresa? 05:40  |  Free Gilad Shalit 23/07/08
      8.   What`s in it for Israel? 05:55  |  US CITIZEN 23/07/08
      9.   Ban knows who is truthfull 06:14  |  Fawad 23/07/08
      10.   Guys, relax. We don`t listen to the UN 06:26  |  Ari 23/07/08
      11.   UN has lied for Hesballa,acted as their human shields,allowed 07:28  |  PETER SM 23/07/08
      12.   Nasrallah follows the path of Menachem Begin and Itzhak Shamir 07:45  |  Natallie Durson 23/07/08
      13.   the UN is accepting letters from terrorists?? 08:06  |  vik 23/07/08
      14.   We should not wait : We should beat the Hezbullah to the ground. 08:57  |  Jean Van Daem 23/07/08
      15.   #13, "UN acepting letters from terrorists?" 09:43  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 23/07/08
      16.   UN made a huge mistake 09:48  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 23/07/08
      17.   Natallie - # 12 09:50  |  Michael 23/07/08
      18.   #12 - Natalie 10:47  |  Yitz 23/07/08
      19.   DURSON BEGIN& SHAMIR Both fired thousands of missiles loaded with 10:56  |  PETER SM 23/07/08
      20.   VIPER.Murdered instead of live prisoners are a Hesballa specialty 11:00  |  PETER SM 23/07/08
      21.   #natallie durson 11:14  |  israel winicki 23/07/08
      22.   PREPARE FOR THE NEXT CONFRONTATION 11:30  |  indrajaya 23/07/08
      23.   israel winicki - Numbers don`t lie 11:46  |  Natallie Durson 23/07/08
      24.   Terrorist or freedom fighter? 12:19  |  Bon Levi 23/07/08
      25.   Michael 12:31  |  FreeOne 23/07/08
      26.   Israel winicki 12:39  |  FreeOne 23/07/08
      27.   Michael and Yitz 12:57  |  Natallie Durson 23/07/08
      28.   Just stay underground and you`ll be fine 13:26  |  Ilan 23/07/08
      29.   DURSON.Numbers do not tell Israel mandates bomb shelters and Hesb 13:32  |  PETER SM 23/07/08
      30.   Hezballah and Nassarallah Terrorists 13:43  |  Maya 23/07/08
      31.   Civilian targets 14:04  |  Ahmed 23/07/08
      32.   To Israeli Winicki #21 14:31  |  oetis 23/07/08
      33.   #15 Quite right, Cipora Julianna Kohn 14:31  |  O.B. Vious 23/07/08
      34.   Peter SM 14:48  |  FreeOne 23/07/08
      35.   PETER SM - You are mixed up 15:05  |  Natallie Durson 23/07/08
      36.   Is BKM such an idiot? 15:27  |  Mr Ipp 23/07/08
      37.   Natelie`s cluster-buster avoids hitting the truth 15:41  |  Ramius 23/07/08
      38.   Ramius 16:00  |  Natallie Durson 23/07/08
      39.   Sorry Natalie I just joined the post, I`m not picking on you 16:05  |  Ramius 23/07/08
      40.   to # 13, what is terrorism?? 16:07  |  najour 23/07/08
      41.   Mr Ban, when Osama contacts you "on behalf of the Palestinians" - 16:14  |  ivo 23/07/08
      42.   Durson on math: me + me makes me special 16:20  |  Ramius 23/07/08
      43.   Nasrallah vs Shamir & Begin 16:20  |  ClearCut 23/07/08
      44.   Natalie #27 16:28  |  GSW 23/07/08
      45.   Natalie leave Ramius alone as the truth really hurts 16:33  |  Maya 23/07/08
      46.   Cluster bombs- quantity not quality 17:46  |  Avrum 23/07/08
      47.   Acutally he meant: ready to kidnap more Israelis and soldiers 17:53  |  Benjamina 23/07/08
      48.   Maya, you seem to be lacking any knowledge of attacks from 18:03  |  Jewish American 23/07/08
      49.   RE 12: PLEASE DON`T COMPARE NASRALLAH WITH THOSE RACIST TERRORITS 18:14  |  JACKAL 23/07/08
      50.   Why wouldn`t he? 18:22  |  GHook93 - US Jew 23/07/08
      51.   Clickfool 18:23  |  George 23/07/08
      52.   To Ramius and Durson: What was meant is... 18:33  |  Monitor 23/07/08
      53.   JACKAL, shhhh, this is a no-yelling zone. 18:50  |  Ramius 23/07/08
      54.   #51 George! A Name not Associated with Genius Nowadays! 18:52  |  Monitor 23/07/08
      55.   Nasrallah = Begin = Shamir ? 18:52  |  Argentinian 23/07/08
      56.   natallie,,,try doing this math! 18:55  |  terrornator 23/07/08
      57.   Studying the reactions from this forum... 19:05  |  Argentinian 23/07/08
      58.   HUMANITARIN CASES?THEN WHAT`S STOPPING NASRALLAH? 19:07  |  Ian 23/07/08
      59.   Re 53: Ramuis, no caps this time 19:07  |  JACKAL 23/07/08
      60.   Monitor #52: we sure do need the anonymous Monitor from nowhere - 19:13  |  ivo 23/07/08
      61.   # 56 Enough of this Hiding Behind Civilians Crap 19:25  |  Monitor 23/07/08
      62.   Monitor and St Nasrullah 19:28  |  x-ray 23/07/08
      63.   ...funny 19:38  |  aline 23/07/08
      64.   x-ray - In the sunlight or underground? Matters not! 19:39  |  Monitor 23/07/08
      65.   BIG JAW 19:45  |  Zoe 23/07/08
      66.   This "swap" is part of the deal that WAS 20:03  |  Tosefta 23/07/08
      67.   monitor,if you don`t like the "hiding behind civillians crap"dont 20:10  |  terrornator 23/07/08
      68.   monitor,nASSarallah,is most efective,like most islamic terrorist 20:18  |  terrornator 23/07/08
      69.   Cipora 20:26  |  Connie 23/07/08