Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said last night that the
two kidnapped Israeli soldiers would not be freed without indirect negotiations
on a prisoner swap.
Nasrallah made the comments in an interview broadcast on Qatari television
station al-Jazeera.
Nasrallah added that no Hezbollah leaders were injured in a massive Israeli
air raid on a south Beirut target Wednesday night. Nasrallah denied Israeli
claim that 50 percent of his organization's power has been destroyed.
The capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants and rocket attacks
on Israeli border areas prompted Israel to began pounding heavily Hezbollah
stronghold in southern Lebanon on July12.
Israel has demanded unconditional release of the captive soldiers and
pullback of Hezbollah guerrillas from the border as condition for ceasefire.
