Stage two of prisoner swap begins, Haniya Congratulates Al-Quntar's adoptive mother, Um Jabr Washah, over prisoner release

Stage two of prisoner swap begins

Date: 16 / 07 / 2008 Time: 09:34
Bethlehem – Ma'an –

Just after 10 am Wednesday morning the first stage of the prisoner swap was concluded. The bodies of the two Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were handed over to Israel, and the Red Cross worked on making positive IDs on the bodies.

Stage two of the swap will begin once the bodies of the Israeli solders are positively identified, and will see the return of the five live Lebanese prisoners, including Samir Al-Quntar, and the bodies of an additional 200 fighters.

Vehicles started transferring the 190 corpses from Ras Al-Naqoura and will head to Lebanon later after stopping at an Israeli military post located near the border.

Although the Dalal Al-Mughrabi Brigades confirmed in a statement Tuesday that the body of Dalal – a symbol of the women's resistance movement - will be returned to her family in the current exchange (contrary to an earlier channel 10 Israeli newscast) her body has not been identified in the exchange so far.

Officials prepare for release of live prisoners

Israeli President Shimon Peres signed official pardon papers for the infamous Lebanese fighter Samir Al-Quntar on Tuesday evening. Peres added that signing the pardon does not mean that Al-Quntar has been forgiven.

For its part, Lebanese sources said that Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Lebanese President Michael Suleiman and Head of the Deputy Council Nabih Birri will be waiting for the returned fighters at the Beirut airport.

United Nations and International Red Cross representatives will be present to oversee the exchange.

Military sources within Israel have said that the country is paying a high price for the swap, but confirmed that they are prepared to respond to a number of scenarios if they should occur.

Festival in Ramallah honouring released bodies

Date: 16 / 07 / 2008 Time: 10:12

Ramallah – Ma'an –

Fatah spokesperson Fahmi Za'arir confirmed on Tuesday evening that his movement has completed preparations to hold a festival in Ramallah in the West Bank on Wednesday.

The festival will honor the resistance fighters whose bodies are scheduled to be released from Israel as part of the prisoner swap deal with Hizbullah. Participants in the festival will rally at the tomb of the late Palestinian president Yasser Arafat.

Za'arir said in a Ramallah press conference that Fatah was "proud of the martyrs and all the others who have sacrificed their lives for Palestine."

According to Za'arir the bodies being returned are: Dalal Al-Mughrabi, Azmi Al-Zughayer, Bilal Al-Awsat, Kamal Udwan, Yahya Skaf, Muhammad Shammari ( from Yemen), Ali Murad (Lebanese), Ahmed Jura'an, Muhammad Asa'ad, 'Amir 'Amiriya, Muhammed Musameh, Abdul-Razzaq Abdul-Salam, Khaled Abu Isba'a and Hussain Fayyad.

At the end of his statement, Za'arir said that bodies of 146 Fatah-affiliated fighters would eventually be released, and concluded by saying that " Fatah again expresses its appreciation and thanks to every one who played a role in releasing the bodies of the fighters."

Hamas: Prisoner-exchange deal big victory for resistance, Hizbullah

[ 16/07/2008 - 11:43 AM ]
GAZA, (PIC)--

The Hamas Movement on Wednesday said that the ongoing prisoners' exchange between Lebanese Hibzullah party and Israel was a big victory for resistance and for Hizbullah.

The Movement in a press release said that the prisoner exchange deal was a proof that the only way to liberate prisoners from Israeli jails was kidnapping Israeli soldiers as long as occupation is adamant on retaining those prisoners in its jails.

Israel's release of Samir Al-Kuntar and his colleagues, who were serving high sentences, had broken occupation's previous rejection to free prisoners serving high sentences and made its former positions "worthless and meaningless".

Hamas assured the Palestinian masses that the day "our prisoners are freed from occupation prison is coming no doubt", and added that Hamas was doing all it could to release those serving high sentences.

The Movement addressed its final words to the family of the captured soldier Gilad Shalit saying that Israeli premier Ehud "Olmert was delaying the return of your son to your embraces by refusing to accept conditions for his release".

Isma'il Haniyah congratulates Al-Quntar's adoptive mother over release

Date: 16 / 07 / 2008 Time: 12:41
Gaza – Ma'an –

Isma'il Haniyah, Prime Minister of the Hamas de facto government in Gaza, visited Al-Buraij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday, to congratulate Um Jabr Washah, the adoptive mother of Samir Al-Quntar, over his imminent release.

Al-Quntar, who has been in prison since 1979 for the killing of three Israelis, is due to be released as part of the prisoner swap between Hizbullah and Israel. His release was one of Hizbullah's key demands in the negotiations to secure the deal

Um Jabir became Al-Quntar's adoptive mother when her son was imprisoned in the same jail as the Lebanese militant. After her son was released, Um Jabir continued to visit Al-Quntar, providing him with the support usually reserved for a real son.

The Palestinian organization, Detainees' Support, also distributed sweets in the streets of Gaza City in celebration of the prisoner swap. Families of Palestinian prisoners still being held also expressed their happiness over the prisoners swap and declared the hope that their sons would soon be released in a similar deal with Israel.

Al-Barghouthi: Prisoner swap is triumph of steadfastness

Date: 16 / 07 / 2008 Time: 12:35
Ramallah – Ma'an –

Palestinian lawmaker and Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative Mustafa Al-Barghouthi affirmed on Wednesday that the prisoner swap between Israel and Hizbullah marked a triumph for Lebanese and Palestinian steadfastness and continued resistance.

He issued a statement congratulating freed prisoners emphasizing that completion of the deal is a guarantee that all prisoners will be set free eventually.

Barghouthi added that the profile of more than 11,700 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody topped the priority list of the Palestinian people. He therefore called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization to focus on the matter of a Palestinian prisoner exchange so that the men might live in freedom with dignity.

He explained that Israel used Palestinian prisoners to blackmail the PA, and that they have used arbitrary categories for the prisoners (such as those with "blood on their hands") to discriminate against some and ensure that they are not released. Barghouthi, on the other hand, describes all prisoners as political prisoners and heroes who defended the Palestinian national cause giving all they could for the sake of freedom and independence.

Barghouthi went on to say that Israel has "trodden" on the Geneva Convention by detaining Palestinian lawmakers, women and children.

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