KIDNAPPED ISRAELI SOLDIERS CAUGHT IN STALE-MATE

THE U.N. IS CLEARLY NOT GOING TO FORCE HEZBOLLAH TO RELEASE THE ISRAELI SOLDIERS IT KIDNAPPED. HOW CAN ISRAEL AGREE TO TRADE THEM FOR HEZBOLLAH TERRORISTS IT HOLDS WHEN, RATHER THAN ACCEED TO SUCH DEMANDS THIS SUMMER, ISRAEL WENT TO WAR WITH HEZBOLLAH?

Israel Pegs Lebanon Pullout to Release of Kidnapped Soldiers - Laura King
Israel signaled Wednesday that it would not lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon or withdraw the rest of its troops until two Israeli soldiers seized by Hizballah were freed. After UN Secretary General Kofi Annan met Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem and called for an immediate easing of Israel's embargo, Olmert responded by saying the UN cease-fire resolution must first be fully implemented. His office said later that Israel would not consider the terms of the resolution to have been met until the two captured servicemen were freed. (Los Angeles Times)

See also Hizballah: Israeli Soldiers Won't Be Freed Unconditionally
Hizballah cabinet minister Mohammed Fneish said in Beirut Wednesday that Hizballah will not release two captured Israeli soldiers unconditionally, and that they would only be freed in a prisoner exchange. (AP/San Diego Union-Tribune)

Saniora considering prisoner swap (JPost)
Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said Thursday that a prisoner swap with Israel was being considered by his government but "nothing has materialized." Fuad Saniora said Lebanon was "continuing the contacts" with Israel about a possible swap in which two Israeli soldiers would be released in exchange for all Lebanese detainees in Israeli prisons.

"The matter is being looked over," he told reporters in Stockholm. "There is nothing really that has materialized so this matter is going to be of considerable interest by the Lebanese government."

Saniora said Lebanon was interested in seeing the return of all detainees, "in other words the abducted soldiers as well as the Lebanese detainees that have been in Israeli prisons for over 28 years."

"I hope the Israeli government will respond to the call of reason so that we can finish with this and everybody will return to his home," he said.

Israeli military officials have said Israel is holding 13 Hizbullah prisoners and the bodies of dozens of guerrillas that it could swap for the two captive soldiers. Earlier, a senior Israeli political official said that Israel would agree to conduct negotiations over the release of the soldiers kidnapped by Hizbullah, if they were handed over to the Lebanese government.

The official told Army Radio that if the talks are conducted with the Beirut leadership the move will not be perceived as a reward for Hizbullah. The proposal will be submitted to Nasralla's associates and the Lebanese government via UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Veteran civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson who are visiting the region.

JESSE JACKSON IS INVOLVED, SO YOU KNOW ISRAEL'S INTERESTS WILL BE LOOKED AFTER.