German official working for soldiers' release

The Qatari daily Al-Watan reported on Sunday that the head of Germany's intelligence service, Ernst Urlau, who arrived in Lebanon on Friday, was negotiating with Hizbullah officials for the release of kidnapped IDF reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. According to Israel Radio, the report stated that despite the cooperation of Hizbullah representatives, the organization still refused to allow Red Cross workers to visit the prisoners and refused to transfer Regev and Goldwasser to the custody of the Lebanese government until negotiations on a possible prisoner exchange progressed. Urlau also met with the head of Lebanese army intelligence.