» 06/30/2008 14:08 LEBANON - ISRAEL Hezbollah celebrates victory in prisoner exchange The Israeli government has announced the decision despite the vote against it by three ministers. The reason for the opposition was the inclusion, among those set to leave Israeli prisons, of "a despicable terrorist".
Beirut (AsiaNews) - Hezbollah is celebrating victory, after "dictating its terms" to Israel over the exchange of prisoners: "What happened in the prisoners issue is a proof that the word of the resistance is the most faithful, strongest and supreme", says Hashem Safieddine, chief of the executive council of the Party of God.
While in southern Lebanon demonstrations have been held with the display of the image of Samir Kuntar, the most widely known of the prisoners that Hezbollah wants to have released, in Israel the announcement of the agreement yesterday, although it is not definitive, is prompting some negative reactions precisely in relation to the name of Kuntar. Kuntar has, in fact, received four life sentences for the massacre of an Israeli family.
The decision to accept Kuntar's liberation was taken by the Israeli government against the votes of three ministers. Justice minister Daniel Friedmann says that "the price is too high", maintaining that the release of Kuntar "will be a huge victory for Hezbollah". For finance minister Roni Bar-On, the exchange "is a dangerous precedent", in that it permits the liberation of a bloodstained terrorist, something never before conceded. According to the minister, this opens the way to a future request for the liberation of Marwan Barghouti, the Fatah leader condemned to life in prison, at the risk of raising the price that Hamas will ask for the liberation of the soldier Gilad Shalit, kidnapped two years ago.
