Lebanon's Nasrallah says contacts for prisoner swap begins

Lebanese Hezbollah's Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Sunday that "contacts" for negotiations on a prisoner swap between Israel and his guerrilla group had already begun.

"Contacts recently began for negotiations," Nasrallah said in an interview with local New TV (NTV) station, adding that Italy and the United Nations had showed interest in helping to mediate.

"The Israelis have acknowledged that this issue is headed for negotiations and an exchange," he said, adding that Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was in charge of the negotiations.

The Hezbollah, meanwhile, expressed that UN troops preparing to deploy in southern Lebanon would not encounter any problems as long as their mission is not disarming his fighters.

"We have no problem with UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) as long as its mission is not aimed at disarming Hezbollah," Nasrallah said.

He added that if the Lebanese army encounters any armed person, "it has the right to confiscate their weapons".

The Nasrallah's remarks came on the eve of a visit to Beirut by UN chief Kofi Annan, during which he would discuss with Lebanese leaders the deployment of around 15,000 UN peacekeeping troops in southern Lebanon as well as measures to secure the border with Syria.

Source: Xinhua