Official to lead contacts for release of troops

Prime Minister Olmert has appointed Ofer Dekel, a former deputy director of the Shin Bet, head of a task force that will work for the release of Israel's three kidnapped soldiers. The cease-fire resolution that passed in the United Nations over the weekend and in the cabinet on Sunday calls for the unconditional return of the soldiers, though the call is made in the non-binding preparatory paragraphs.