Release "must not be linked to Arad issue"
Daily Star 5/1/00
Samir Qantar, who served more than 20 years in Israeli
prisons, asked Lebanese authorities on Tuesday to resist
Israeli attempts to link the issue of Lebanese detainees
with that of missing Israeli navigator, Ron Arad.
"The issue of Ron Arad angers Lebanese detainees because
it makes their case more complicated. The Israelis become
more strict and use us as hostages to get more information
about his whereabouts," Qantar said in a letter he sent
to the Follow-Up Committee for Lebanese Detainees In Israeli
Prisons.
Qantar, the longest-serving Lebanese detainee, called on
officials to insist Lebanon was not responsible for locating
Arad. "On behalf of all detainees, I ask the Lebanese
government to announce that Arad's case has nothing to do with
ours."
Meanwhile, Israel has reportedly agreed to release 22 Lebanese
detainees from Khiam prison. However, a date for the release
was not announced.
Hizbullah's Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah met Henri
Fournier, the head of the International Committee of the Red
Cross in Lebanon, to discuss the status of Lebanese detainees and
Hizbullah's SLA prisoners.
There are more than 170 detainees in Khiam.