Four prisoners included in swap deal transferred to Kuntar's jail

The four Lebanese prisoners to be released as part of the prisoner exchange deal with Hezbollah are to be transferred on Monday from Ashmoret prison to the Hadarim prison, which is currently holding Samir Kuntar, a focus of the upcoming swap for kidnapped soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser.

Kuntar has been jailed since 1979 for a terror attack in the north, in which a father, his four-year-old daughter, and an Israeli policeman were killed.

Kuntar began saying good-bye to his cellmates at Hadarim Prison on Sunday. Kuntar has been told that he will be released soon.

The Israel Prisons Service made public the names of the five Lebanese prisoners to be released. The names of the four Lebanese prisoners are Chadar Zidan, Maher Kurani, Mohammed Sarur and Hussein Suleiman. The names were revealed following a government decision on June 29 which approved an outline of the prisoner swap deal with the Hezbollah organization.

Reportedly, the list of names was made public at this stage in the process so as to enable petitions against the release of the prisoners in the next 48 hours.

Kuntar, a Druze, received four life sentences after he infiltrated Israel in 1979, murdered three people - Danny Haran, Haran's four-year-old daughter Einat and a policeman - and caused two-year-old Yael Haran's death by suffocation as her mother, Smadar, tried to quiet her crying while hiding from Kuntar.

President Shimon Peres will formally pardon Kuntar only after Tuesday's cabinet vote on the prisoner exchange with Hezbollah. The President's Residence said Peres has been briefed and is aware of the intelligence agencies' opposition to the release, but is not expected to present any obstacles.

Kuntar's lawyer, Elias Sabag, visited him Sunday in jail for the last time. "The feeling is that I will never see him again; at least not in the near future," Sabag said. "He is very excited, as are his cellmates."

Sabag said Kuntar has not been officially informed of his release, "but all signs indicate that this is his last week behind bars. He will be free after 30 years."

Kuntar has refused to give interviews to the Israeli media, but is expected to grant extensive interviews when he returns to Lebanon. His lawyer and cellmates said Kuntar denies murdering the Haran family.