Israel, Hezbollah swap prisoners

ROSH HANIKRA, ISRAEL, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah group began swapping prisoners Wednesday morning at the Rosh Hanikra Lebanon-Israel border crossing.

An Israeli forensic team is now conducting DNA tests to identify the two bodies which Hezbollah delivered via the Red Cross to the Israeli side in two black coffins and said were the remains of Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, who were kidnapped by the Lebanese group two years ago.

Many Israelis, including the two captives' families and friends, burst into tears when they saw the coffins on TV. People lit up memorial candles outside the soldiers' houses upon hearing the news.

Before the swap, Israeli army said they believed Goldwasser and Regev were dead, while the families insisted that no evidence could verify that conclusion.

Should experts verify the identities of the bodies, which may take hours, Israel will then begin the process of returning four imprisoned Hezbollah militants and a Lebanese killer named Samir Kuntar, who were pardoned by Israeli court and President Shimon Peres Tuesday in order to carry out the exchange.

Besides, Israel is also to hand over the bodies of 199 others killed while infiltrating northern Israel. Red Cross spokesperson Kram Helge told Xinhua at the scene that the remains have been transported by Red Cross trucks to the border after being excavated during the previous days.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah will return the remains of Israeli soldiers killed in south Lebanon during a 34-day war sparked by Goldwasser and Regev's capture. The group also calls for Israel to release scores of Palestinian prisoners at a later date.

The return of Kuntar, who was sentenced to life plus 40 years in prison for murdering three family members and a police officer in Nahariya in 1979, and the four militants is seen as a big victory for Hezbollah.