Lebanese paper: Olmert approved release of five Hizbullah prisoners

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Ofer Dekel, the official charged by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert with dealing with the kidnapped soldiers issue, informed Hizbullah that Olmert had approved the release of five Lebanese prisoners, including Samir Kuntar, in exchange for captured IDF soldiers Ehud Golwassser and Eldad Regev, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar quoted senior officials as saying Tuesday. Kuntar has been in prison since 1979, when he led a terrorist attack in Nahariya that led to the death of policeman Eliyahu Shahar, and Danny Haran and his two young daughters. On Monday night, in a speech broadcast to thousands of supporters in Beirut, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah said he expected Israel to release a number of Lebanese prisoners, including Kuntar "very soon."