Israel May Be Ready For A Conditional Cease-Fire
Shaveta Bansal - All Headline News Staff Writer Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - Israel on Monday for the first time hinted its readiness for a cease-fire provided the Hezbollah guerrillas pull back from the Lebanon's border and release two of its captured soldiers. The Israel-Hezbollah fight on Monday entered into sixth day as Israeli aircrafts continued hammering targets across Lebanon. A senior anonymous official on Monday said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had conveyed Israel's position to Romano Prodi, his counterpart in Italy, who is trying to broker a cease-fire deal. The offer of a cease-fire also came from Iran, which the United States and Israel blame as a guiding hand behind Hezbollah. Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, in Damascus, Syria for talks with Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa, said talks of truce and prisoner exchange would be "an acceptable and fair" way to stop the fighting. Israel had previously demanded the full dismantling of Hezbollah as a condition for ending the warfare. However, the official said Israel has now relaxed the conditions which call Hezbollah to pullback roughly 20 miles from the Israeli-Lebanese border and release of two captured soldiers. The idea of deploying an international peacekeeping force in South Lebanon, put forth by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, was rejected by Israel as premature. "I don't think we're at that |
