Israel Releases 13 Lebanese Detainees

At the behest of the Supreme Court, Israel Wednesday, reluctantly released 13 Lebanese prisoners. They were held for more than a decade, as bargaining chips, to secure the return of an Israeli airman missing since 1986.

The Israeli High Court had ordered the release of the prisoners last week, ruling that they cannot be held in efforts to return Israeli MIAs.

But the release was delayed by another petition which was thrown out Monday. There were government attempts to quickly draft legislation to keep them imprisoned.

Prime Minister Ehud Barak's inner cabinet decided on Tuesday not to take further legal action to prevent the release.

The family of missing Israeli navigator Ron Arad, captured after his plane was shot down 14 years ago over Lebanon, appealed to the Supreme Court Wednesday, seeking to block the release.

Arad's mother, Batya, pleaded with the judges not to abandon her son, who has been held since 1986. "Look me straight in the eyes," she said, on the verge of tears. "What would you do if your son or grandson were in the same situation?"

Chief Justice Aharon Barak said that while the court understood her pain, it had to uphold the law. The government is doing all it can to bring back the MIAs, Barak said, but "this has to be done within the framework of the law."

Arad was initially captured by Shi'ite Muslim Amal guerrillas, but later passed on to a splinter group and has not been heard of. Israeli officials believe he may still be alive.

After the court ruled, the blindfolded and handcuffed prisoners were driven from an army base to the Fatima Gate, an Israeli-Lebanese border crossing, where they were transferred to a bus operated by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Security officials have said that they never posed an actual threat to Israeli security, but were meant to be used to negotiate the return of Arad and other MIA's.

The government now says that releasing Mustafa Dirani, the Amal guerrilla group's security chief and Sheik Abdel Karim Obeid, spiritual leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah organization, would threaten Israel's security. Both groups are battling Israel in south Lebanon.

Obeid, seized in 1986, and Dirani, captured in 1994, were to remain in detention while their case is considered.

Hezbollah is the main movement fighting to end Israel's 22-year-long occupation of south Lebanon.

The next hearing for the case before a Tel Aviv District court, is set for May 8.