Iran-Lebanon-FM
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Thursday welcomed the release of a number of Lebanese captives from Israeli prisons.

He said the pleasant event is part of the achievements of the Hezbollah resistance movement and the Lebanese nation.

"We congratulate this great victory to all the people, particularly the world freedom-seekers," Mottaki added.

He urged the Zionist regime to abandon obstinacy and make efforts to release all the Palestinian prisoners and the Iranian diplomats abducted in Lebanon.

Five Lebanese prisoners held by Israel were exchanged for bodies of two captured Israeli soldiers at the Israeli-Lebanese border on Wednesday.

Among those freed in a prisoner swap greeted with triumph in Lebanon was Samir Kantar, who was sentenced to five life terms for a 1979 triple murder.

The four freed Hezbollah fighters were captured in the July-August 2006 war which killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon and 160 in Israel. They and Kantar were the last remaining Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails.

The five prisoners were released in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, whose capture in a deadly cross-border raid in July 2006 triggered a devastating 33-day war in Lebanon.

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---> Iran-Lebanon-FM