To defuse tension, Lebanon has demanded that Israel return the bodies of three Hezbollah guerrillas killed in this week's border clashes, the worst in several years. "What is required is the handover of the bodies of the resistance fighters who fell as martyrs during the latest confrontations in order to defuse the tension on Lebanon's international border," Prime Minister Fuad Saniora told reporters during a visit to Qatar on Wednesday.
| There's a major difference between "ask", which is in the original headline, and "demand", which is in the body of the story. |
A Lebanese Cabinet minister close to Hezbollah reiterated the demand Thursday, warning Israel that unless the bodies were returned, the militant group might try to kidnap Israelis to trade them for the bodies. "They must be handed over in order to avoid an escalation," Health Minister Mohammed Jawad Khalife of the Amal party told Voice of Lebanon radio. "It is known that the resistance will try to secure the return of the bodies one way or another, and this usually ends up in negotiations to trade them for the bodies of Israeli soldiers or for prisoners."
| If Hezbollah is a part of the government of Leb, and it engages in kidnappings in a neighboring nation, doesn't that make the government as a whole complicit? |
In Israel, there was no immediate response to the Lebanese demand.
| I think the Israelis do better with "ask" than they do with "demand." |
| Update: The Israelis have agreed to return the bodies. |
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