Hizbullah is not prepared to discuss the details of negotiations over the fate of three Israeli soldiers captured by the movement on Saturday.
Sheikh Naim Kassem, Hiz bullah's deputy chief, said yesterday that only the Secretary-General, Mr Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, was authorised to announce a deal at "the appropriate time". Hizbullah would not release a bulletin on the health of the soldiers or permit a visit by the International Red Cross.
He was sharply critical of the international community for calling for the release of the Israelis. "We did not learn anything about [Sheikh] Abdel Karim Obeid [a senior Hizbullah cleric kidnapped by Israel in 1983] for two years . . . No party sent any information. We do not accept to be asked" about the Israelis, he said.
"Israel knows very well that there is no solution except a swap . . . through channels acceptable to both sides . . . The exchange will be for prisoners in Israel jails", he said.
Israel holds 19 Lebanese and 1,600 Palestinians as well as other Arabs.
In the opinion of Mr Abduh Saad, an authoritative source who spoke to The Irish Times after a press conference, Hizbullah would demand "the return of Lebanese territory still occupied by Israel, compensation for Lebanon's losses since [Israel's creation] in 1948 and the return of all Palestinian refugees" to their homeland as well as "the release of all ALL Arab prisoners".
Asked if a Hizbullah representative would meet the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, during his visit to Beirut, Sheikh Kassem said the movement had "not been informed" of any meeting.
Sheikh Kassem said Hizbullah could not accept Mr Annan's "assessment that Israel had implemented resolution 425" when it withdrew from south Lebanon in May or his characterisation of the capture of the Israeli soldiers as a "breach of [resolution] 425".
While Sheikh Kassem left the door open for UN mediation, Mr Saad said the movement "would not accept Annan as a mediator . . . he has lost all credibility with Hizbullah".
