Lebanon hails militants freed in prisoner swap

[Gunny]

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Five Lebanese militants, including a convicted murderer, received heroes' welcomes Wednesday as they returned to Beirut from Israel as part of a prisoner swap.

Once in Beirut, convicted murderer Samir Kuntar -- who was the longest-held Lebanese prisoner in Israel -- told a crowd of thousands he'd continue to fight for the liberation of the Palestinian territories.

"I return today from Palestine, but believe me, I return to Lebanon only in order to return to Palestine," Kuntar said.

Kuntar -- convicted of killing a man and a girl in Israel in 1979 -- and the other four were released by Israel and crossed into southern Lebanon to cheers. They then were flown to Beirut, where Lebanese President Michel Suleiman called them "our dear liberated heroes."

The other four are Lebanese militants captured during the Hezbollah-Israel war two years ago. Israel on Wednesday also released the remains of 199 fighters from Lebanon.

Earlier Wednesday, Hezbollah released to Israel the bodies of two Israeli soldiers who had been abducted in 2006, the Israel Defense Forces said.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, making his first public appearance since September 2006, also greeted the five militants before cheering throngs of thousands of Hezbollah supporters in Beirut.

"I'm here to congratulate all of you," Nasrallah said. "As we said in the year 2000, the time of defeat is done and now it is a time of victories." Because of security concerns, Nasrallah typically does not appear in public.

Suleiman said Lebanon "feels very proud as we welcome back the heroic resistance fighters who were released from the Israeli occupation."

more ... Lebanon hails militants freed in prisoner swap - CNN.com

 

[Gunny]

By STEVEN GUTKIN and ARON HELLER
Associated Press Writers

updated 1 hour, 45 minutes ago
JERUSALEM - Critics of Israel's lopsided prisoner exchange with Lebanese guerrillas said Wednesday that such deals only encourage more hostage-taking — a fear underscored by Gaza militants who said the swap proves that kidnapping is the only language Israel understands.

The deal, in which a notorious Lebanese attacker, four other militants and the bodies of 199 Arab fighters were traded for two dead Israeli soldiers, closed a painful chapter from Israel's 2006 war in Lebanon.

But it also raised questions about whether Israel should reconsider its policy of bringing back every soldier from the battlefield at just about any cost.

more ... Israel's lopsided swap criticized - Mideast/N. Africa - MSNBC.com

 

[Baruch Menachem]

more ... Israel's lopsided swap criticized - Mideast/N. Africa - MSNBC.com

I don't understand the why of it, but the US has pretty much the same policy and I think for the same reasons. Which make no sense to me, but obviously are important to the soldiers involved. It is a huge motivator when the state fulfills its agreements with the troops.

 

[NumberFour]

The deal was a disgrace. I just wish the stage at the Hizballah "victory" rally would have been bombed while Nasrallah was on it.

 

[Sunni Man]

These brave Freedom Fighters deserve the Heros welcome that they recieved.

 

[Shogun]

The deal was a disgrace. I just wish the stage at the Hizballah "victory" rally would have been bombed while Nasrallah was on it.

oh hey.. make sure you demonize muslim violence in that same breath, dude.. Captian fucking Irony sure didn't let you borrow his spandex suit, it seems.

 

[NumberFour]

oh hey.. make sure you demonize muslim violence in that same breath, dude.. Captian fucking Irony sure didn't let you borrow his spandex suit, it seems.

Hizballah is a military organization sworn to cleanse "Palestine" of Jews by carpet bombing civilian populations with Iranian rockets. What's wrong with me wanting the head of that organization dead?