Posted on 06/29/2008 8:04:26 PM PDT by forkinsocket
Lebanese families are feverishly preparing to welcome home the Lebanese prisoners Israel is set to free as part of a prisoner exchange deal with Hezbollah. The prisoners' families have begun festooning their homes with Lebanese and Hezbollah flags, and reception ceremonies are being planned in major towns.
In downtown Sidon on Sunday, political activists decorated a central city square, the site of an installation two years ago depicting longtime Lebanese prisoner Samir Kuntar, who murdered an Israeli family in Nahariya in 1979, behind prison bars.
"We will not vacate this spot until Kuntar comes here himself," a young female activist said Sunday.
The preparations come as Israel's cabinet voted Sunday to approve the prisoner swap. According to the deal, Hezbollah will return Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, the Israeli reservists it abducted in a 2006 cross-border raid that sparked the Second Lebanon War, in exchange for Israel's return of Kuntar, four Hezbollah militants, the remains of Lebanese citizens and several dozen Palestinian prisoners. The swap is expected to take place by July 12, the second anniversary of Hezbollah's abduction of Goldwasser and Regev.
Hezbollah television station Al Manar launched round-the-clock broadcasts on the cabinet vote. It said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had backed down from his stated position that Kuntar would be released only in return for information on the fate of missing Israeli navigator Ron Arad.
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
Uh, I think some US and Israeli fireworks are in order for their Welcome Homecoming! Any ideas, folks?
High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]
----------------------------
Hard to believe that the article left out the very important fact that the IDF soldiers Goldwasser and Regev are believed by the Israeli government to be dead!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.