Copyright 2002 Ha'aretz
Ha'aretz
October 2, 2002
HEADLINE: Congress to hold discussion over fate of kidnapped Israelis in Lebanon
BYLINE: Daniel Sobelman
Congress is slated to hold a discussion Wednesday over the fate of
the four Israelis kidnapped and believed held in Lebanon.
The four, Benny Avraham, Omar Suweid, Adi Avitan and Elhanan
Tanneboim were kidnapped by the Hezbollah organization in October
2000. Following information obtained last November, Israel declared
that the three IDF soldiers, Avraham, Suweid and Avitan are no
longer alive.
The families of the four will be present at the discussion.
Relatives of missing IDF navigator Ron Arad, ahot down over Lebanon
and captured in the 1980s, will not attend the meeting, however.
The meeting, which will be held by Congress's Human Rights
Committee, is the first of its kind. The four families will present
their cases and request assistance from the committee in obtaining
information from Syria and Lebanon over the fate of their loved
ones. They will also ask the committe to promote the prisoner
exchange talks between Israel and Hezbollah.
The hearing, which will last no longer than two hours, will be
divided into two sessions. In the first session, each family will
privately present its case to the Congress members.
The second session will include representatives of the United
Nations and the International Red Cross, who, despite efforts over
the past two years, have not managed to reach the four.