Hezbollah turns over two coffins to Israel

The swap, approved by Israel's Cabinet on Tuesday, revived raw emotions on both sides of the 34-day conflict: Israel's frustration over its failure to crush an Arab foe and Hezbollah's euphoria in holding off a powerful army until a U.N.-brokered truce.

But it brought closure in the case of Israeli reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, who were captured on the battlefield and left to a fate kept secret by the militant Islamic group until today.

As the exchange organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross got under way, two black coffins carrying the reservists' bodies were driven to a seaside border crossing for inspection by Israeli forensic authorities.

DNA testing confirmed their identities five hours later, setting in motion the release of a Lebanese militant convicted of murdering two adults and a child. He went home unrepentant to a festive, government-sponsored hero's welcome.

Painful though it is for Israelis, the arrangement reflects their country's tradition of sparing no effort to retrieve captured soldiers or their remains. It is also the result of a campaign by the missing soldiers' families to sway officials who were reluctant to give up a high-value prisoner.

"It's not a happy choice," Israeli President Shimon Peres said Tuesday before signing a pardon for the convict, Samir Kuntar. "On one hand, we have the most terrible murderer. On the other hand, we have our commitment to our boys who were sent to fight for their country. It is our moral duty and our heartfelt wish to see them come back."

As the Israeli soldiers' families waited at their homes this morning for word of their loved ones, Kuntar and four other Lebanese inmates included in the swap left prison in a police escorted convoy to an army camp near the border to await handover.

The televised arrival of the two coffins at the Lebanese side of the Nakoura-Rosh Hanikra crossing was the first concrete sign of the two men's fate. They were turned over to the Red Cross for passage to the Israeli side.

"We are handing over the two Israeli soldiers who were captured by the resistance . . . and whose fate has been unknown until this moment," Wafik Safa, a senior Hezbollah official, was quoted as telling Lebanon's Al-Manar TV. "Now you know their fate."