Arab, Israeli Prisoners Leave for Germany

couple bits on this story downstairs, but it hasn't received much play up here..

Arab, Israeli Prisoners Leave for Germany
Thursday January 29, 2004 4:46 AM
By RAVI NESSMAN
Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) - Arab prisoners and a kidnapped Israeli flew on separate planes to freedom in Germany Thursday, in a long- awaited prisoner swap between Israel and the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah.

A plane carrying 36 Arabs prisoners took off from Jerusalem shortly before 4 a.m., while another plane left Beirut, Lebanon, carrying businessman Elhanan Tannenbaum and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers.

``My name is Elhanan Tannenbaum and I am an Israeli citizen,'' he told The Associated Press at Beirut's airport as he walked to the plane. Asked about his treatment, he replied: ``I was treated very well by the Hezbollah.''

The German-mediated swap was expected to be completed later Thursday with Israel releasing 436 prisoners in exchange for the businessman and the soldiers' bodies.

Israel is freeing the 400 Palestinians into the West Bank and Gaza and releasing the 36 non-Palestinian prisoners, including two Lebanese guerrilla leaders, in Germany. Also, the Jewish state is turning over the remains of 59 Lebanese militants at the border with Lebanon.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3682225,00.html

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Big welcome awaits prisoners
Thursday 29 January 2004

Lebanon is preparing a triumphant official welcome for 23 Lebanese prisoners expected in Beirut on Thursday under a prisoner-swap agreement between Hizb Allah and Israel.

The 23 men, some held for more than a decade, will fly in from Germany after being released by Israel and should land at Beirut airport late in the day.

They will be greeted by President Emile Lahud, Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, Hizb Allah chief Shaikh Hasan Nasr Allah, government and religious leaders, and MPs, officials said.

To add an international dimension, some members of the diplomatic corps in Beirut have been invited to the airport ceremony, including Arab ambassadors and two European ambassadors.

German ambassador Guenther Rudolf Kniess, whose country mediated the deal to free the detainees, and the head of the European Commission delegation to Lebanon, Patrick Renauld, have said they will also attend.

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http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DC4C07FF-98D0-40CC-BBE1-E88580DB9579.htm

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