Iran Picks Italy To Negotiate Israeli Soldiers' Return
Ryan R. Jones - All Headline News Middle East Correspondent Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - Iran has reportedly singled out Italy as the third party it would like to see negotiate with Hezbollah over the return of two abducted Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers. Italian Senator Sergio De Gregorio told Reuters Monday that Iranian national security adviser Ali Larijani told him Tehran would instruct Hezbollah to deal only Italy on the matter. Hezbollah and its sponsors in Iran and Syria want Israel to release hundreds of jailed terrorists in return for its two soldiers. The abduction of IDF reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser and the killing of eight of their comrades in a July 12 Hezbollah assault on northern Israel sparked a 34-day war that ended last week with a UN-imposed ceasefire. In the first indication in more than a month of how Regev and Goldwasser are fairing in captivity, Gregorio said that "they are alive," but that their condition is "not great." In a related development, UN peacekeepers stationed in Lebanon told the AP Monday that Israel had handed over to them five Hezbollah guerillas captured during an August 1 IDF commando raid on the terror group's stronghold in Baalbek.
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