PM's associates: Return soldiers' before ceasefire

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in response to his Lebanese counterpart's request for a ceasefire, demanded that the Lebanese first return the two soldiers that they had kidnapped on Wednesday. The disarmament of Hizbullah and deployment of the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon were certainly among the objectives of the campaign, Olmert's associates said, but first the soldiers must be returned, Army Radio reported. Meanwhile, Meretz-Yahad Chairman Yossi Beilin called upon the prime minister to engage in negotiations that would include a ceasefire, the return of the soldiers and deployment of the Lebanese army in southern Lebanese.