Israel-Hezbollah prisoner swap completed

JERUSALEM, July 16 (UPI) -- Five Hezbollah prisoners were freed by Israel Wednesday, completing a swap that returned the bodies of two Israeli soldiers to their families, officials said.

Hezbollah officials gave Israeli representatives two coffins believed to contain the bodies of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, abducted by Hezbollah guerrillas in a cross-border raid two years ago that triggered a 34-day war between Lebanon and Israel.

The remains of 12 Lebanese fighters were later transported through the Rosh Hanika crossing into Galilee under the auspices of the International Red Cross Committee, The Times Online reported.

The five Hezbollah prisoners were not released until Israeli forensic science teams confirmed the two coffins contained the corpses of Goldwasser and Regev, the news Web site reported.

The released Hezbollah militants included Samir Kuntar, who has been in an Israeli jail since 1979 for the deaths of four Israelis.

Meanwhile, hundreds of jubilant Lebanese welcomed home the five detainees released by Israel, The Christian Science Monitor reported.

The five freed prisoners were flown to Beirut where they were honored by a mass rally.

Israel also returned the remains of 199 Lebanese fighters who Israel says were killed in clashes over the years, CNN reported Hezbollah turned over remains of Israeli troops who died in the Second Lebanon War, a monthlong battle sparked by the kidnapping of Goldwasser and Regev, Haaretz reported.