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Jailed Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar (Archives)
Last update - 22:53 15/06/2008
Lebanon terrorist's lawyer: No word to us on imminent release
By The Associated Press
Tags: Israel, Hezbollah 

The attorney representing jailed Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar told Haaretz on Sunday that his client has not received any information regarding his imminent release, despite reports to the contrary circulating over recent weeks.

Kuntar is serving multiple life sentences for killing four Israelis in a 1979 infiltration of an apartment building in northern Israel. Among the victims were a 28-year-old man and his four-year-old daughter, whose head Kuntar repeatedly smashed against a rock before crushing her skull with a rifle butt.

Her mother, who was hiding in a crawl space, accidentally smothered her other daughter to death while trying to silence the two-year-old's cries.
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A senior government official confirmed earlier Sunday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has concluded that Israel should swap the perpetrator of this particularly grisly terror attack for the two abducted Israel Defense Forces soldiers held in Lebanon since 2006.

The source's confirmation of the deal comes after the pro-Syrian Lebanese newspaper a-Diar on Thursday reported that Kuntar has been told to pack up his belongings and prepare to return to Beirut in the near future, possibly by the end of the month.

Defense attorney Elias Sabag on Sunday denied the reports, however, saying Kuntar "has not received any notice from a single source, not from Israel and not from the Red Cross, and therefore, as far as we are concerned, all of these reports are irrelevant."

Still, he said his client felt more confident than ever that his release was approaching. "There is no doubt that our general feeling is optimistic, because on the face of things it seems a deal is in the works."

Israel had hoped Kuntar would be a bargaining chip to wrest information from Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas about the fate of Ron Arad, a missing Israeli navigator captured in Lebanon in 1986.

But Olmert and other senior Israeli leaders have concluded Hezbollah has no new information about Arad, government officials said.

However, the prime minister is willing to swap Kuntar for two Israeli soldiers Hezbollah kidnapped in a July 2006 cross-border raid that sparked a month-long war with Israel, they added, speaking on condition of anonymity because no deal has been finalized.

IDF Soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev are believed to have been badly wounded during their capture, and Hezbollah has offered no proof they are alive.

Olmert plans to meet with the Arad family on Tuesday to inform them about the impending deal, the officials said.

Arad was forced to parachute out of his fighter jet on a mission over Lebanon in October 1986 after one of his aircraft's bombs apparently malfunctioned. The jet's pilot was rescued by Israeli forces, but Arad was captured by guerrillas from the Shi'ite Amal organization.There have been reports that Arad later was transferred to Hezbollah and then to Iran, but no reliable evidence of his fate has ever surfaced.

Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said last year that he believed Arad was dead.

No timetable for a swap has been disclosed.

Because of the brutal nature of Kuntar's attack and his lack of remorse, his release would be highly controversial in Israel.

But the swap would end a difficult chapter here and bringing him the two abducted soldiers would offer the embattled Olmert a rare political victory. The two soldiers have come to symbolize what is widely seen in Israel as a failed war. Olmert saw his own popularity plunge in response, and is now fighting for his political survival after a U.S. businessman accused him of taking envelopes stuffed with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash.

In all, Israel is believed to be holding seven Lebanese prisoners, including Kuntar. Four others would be swapped for the soldiers in addition to Kuntar, the government officials said.

There have been recent signals from Hezbollah and Israel that a prisoner exchange could be in the works. Nasrallah predicted last month that Israel would soon release prisoners it is holding, and two weeks ago, his Islamic group unexpectedly turned over body parts of IDF soldiers killed in the 2006 war.

A senior Israeli military official confirmed at the time that a deal was in the making.



Related articles:
  • Free the monster Samir Kuntar
  • ANALYSIS / Nasrallah preparing for Kuntar's homecoming
  • Terror victim's brother: Samir Kuntar must stay in prison
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      1.   Olmert only good for himself 13:31  |  george 15/06/08
      2.   Let`s be blunt but honest: we are geting bodies 13:43  |  Ilan 15/06/08
      3.   FREE KUNTAR NOW!!! 14:34  |  Tim 15/06/08
      4.   Either 2 live Israelis or one dead Kuntar 14:40  |  Murray the Mongoose 15/06/08
      5.   Lacks for humanity 14:55  |  Imad 15/06/08
      6.   So Lebanon 2 was fought by Olmert for nothing then? 15:21  |  Chris Linthwaite 15/06/08
      7.   If our boys are not returned alive....... 16:16  |  Ronnbo 15/06/08
      8.   IMAD You are getting back your baby killer in return for?? 16:18  |  PETER SM 15/06/08
      9.   smart Tim (#3) 16:20  |  Imad 15/06/08
      10.   This all could have been done on July 13, 2006 16:30  |  Bernie 15/06/08
      11.   NO political victory for Olmert here 16:36  |  Tzfonit 15/06/08
      12.   Bernie-Hezballah "forced" to capture more soldiers 16:53  |  Tzf 15/06/08
      13.   Chris Linthwaite 16:54  |  rich 15/06/08
      14.   LINTHWAITE LEBANON 2 was fought because your lot bombed Israel 17:04  |  PETER SM 15/06/08
      15.   Bernie-Hezballah "forced" to capture more soldiers 17:05  |  Tzfonit 15/06/08
      16.   PETER SM #8 17:06  |  Imad 15/06/08
      17.   rich #13 17:15  |  Imad 15/06/08
      18.   Morality of capital punishment 17:18  |  Shlomo from Tel-Aviv 15/06/08
      19.   Don`t trade Kuntar 17:19  |  MarkC 15/06/08
      20.   #6 Chris: Get Out Much? Especially To The Middle East? 17:22  |  Lavi 15/06/08
      21.   Why today and not on 12 June 2006 17:32  |  CM 15/06/08
      22.   Will Olmert get it? 17:37  |  Mike 15/06/08
      23.   Imad 16 17:38  |  ChanahS 15/06/08
      24.   Mossad and Kuntar 17:39  |  Sam 15/06/08
      25.   This article is ZERO considering its main issue: 17:41  |  S 15/06/08
      26.   no word of the 3 MIA s of Sultans Pool. 17:43  |  Vogel 15/06/08
      27.   KUNTAR WAS NOT WORSE THAN DICHTER 17:45  |  indrajaya 15/06/08
      28.   A shameful deal! 17:45  |  MARK KLEIN, M.D. 15/06/08
      29.   #10 Bernie`s Brain Fart 18:20  |  DesMnsDave 15/06/08
      30.   #6 Chris, guess you forgot the rockets as a cause 18:25  |  DesMnsDave 15/06/08
      31.   #21 Why today? Olmert wants to keep his job 18:31  |  DesMnsDave 15/06/08
      32.   Tzfonit ... regarding force and Hezbollah honesty 18:36  |  Bernie 15/06/08
      33.   DesMnsDave 18:41  |  Bernie 15/06/08
      34.   #13 Rich 18:48  |  Chris Linthwaite 15/06/08
      35.   One Last Thing regarding Hezbollah 18:52  |  Bernie 15/06/08
      36.   #14 Peter SM 18:53  |  Chris Linthwaite 15/06/08
      37.   #20 Lavi of Seattle 18:58  |  Chris Linthwaite 15/06/08
      38.   Don`t release Kuntar 19:03  |  Ezer 15/06/08
      39.   right on Tim, lets get the guys home and then kill the savage. 19:17  |  Steve -nyc 15/06/08
      40.   how to release Kuntar 19:23  |  Joey 15/06/08
      41.   Indrajaya, how about bashing a 4 year olds brains out, Kuntar is 19:23  |  Shocked 15/06/08
      42.   #34 Chris Linthwaite 19:43  |  * BEN JABO 15/06/08
      43.   RELEASE KUNTAR NOW! 20:00  |  Ian Robertson 15/06/08
      44.   #42 Ben Jabo 20:03  |  Chris Linthwaite 15/06/08
      45.   Im-Mad 20:08  |  Rambo 15/06/08
      46.   Bernie minces words 20:09  |  Tzfonit 15/06/08
      47.   Ian Robertson & her majisty 20:28  |  Imad 15/06/08
      48.   #37 Chris: Stop Doing The Debka Around All My Questions 20:42  |  Lavi 15/06/08
      49.   Imad, if Israel, like Hezbo, was after civilians, we did a terrib 20:42  |  Dan 15/06/08
      50.   Imad out of your so called 1000 dead civilians, 600 are Hezbos 20:44  |  Dan 15/06/08
      51.   Hezbo murders us and we spare their terrorists who murder us 20:48  |  MIA Irony 15/06/08
      52.   # 41, SHOCKED 20:56  |  indrajaya 15/06/08
      53.   Good Idea #24,how about a micro implant 20:56  |  ROBOCOP 15/06/08
      54.   Dan from stolen Haifa 21:02  |  Imad 15/06/08
      55.   #37 Chris: Stop Doing The Debka Around All My Questions (2) 21:02  |  Lavi 15/06/08
      56.   Indrajaya, I am waiting when Indonesia face the rule of law 21:08  |  Dan 15/06/08
      57.   Kancer Kunta 21:08  |  Mr. Z. 15/06/08
      58.   Good and brave 21:37  |  Keops 15/06/08
      59.   Some Na-zi-ralla quotes for rabid Linthwaite living in denial 21:38  |  Na-zi-rall loves IL 15/06/08
      60.   #47, Imad; Not all Brits are Jew haters. 21:39  |  Ian Robertson 15/06/08
      61.   IMAD #54 21:49  |  Murray the Mongoose 15/06/08
      62.   #48 Lavi 21:56  |  Chris Linthwaite 15/06/08
      63.   #55 Lavi 22:02  |  Chris Linthwaite 15/06/08
      64.   no live terrorist for Israeli bones 22:28  |  Hilda 15/06/08
      65.   Imad from Hezbanon 22:38  |  Dan 15/06/08
      66.   Imad: You`re Mad 22:44  |  Tex 15/06/08
      67.   No Release for Mad-dog Kuntar! 22:56  |  utagawa 15/06/08
      68.   Kuntar, we are waiting for you!!! 23:10  |  Lebanese 15/06/08
      69.   Bernie # 35 (hez supporter who care nothing for US dead) 23:12  |  Gina 15/06/08