- Title: SYRIA: Recently released Lebanese prisoner Samir Qantar visits the Golan heights
- Date: 25th November 2008
- Summary: SYRIAN STUDENT HOLDING PICTURE OF A SYRIAN PRISONER IN AN ISRAELI PRISON
- Embargoed: 10th December 2008 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA6Q71UM0E1YESBBJMC32008U0J
- Story Text: Released Lebanese Prisoner Samir Qantar gave a speech to Syrians living in Golan heights on Monday (November 24) as part of a visit to Syria.
Recently released by Israel in a prisoner swap deal, Qantar spoke to several hundred residents of Golan heights.
Addressing Syrian prisoners in Israeli prisons, Qantar said fighters are ready and waiting to take on Israel.
"We are waiting for stupid Zionists to make just one stupid move so we can reach you. Fighters are ready on the front lines and waiting for one stupid act so they can switch the equality once and forever," he said.
Qantar, who was serving a life sentence for a deadly 1979 raid on northern Israel by a Palestinian guerrilla group, returned to Lebanon under a prisoner swap deal, which brought to Israel the bodies of two captured Israeli soldiers.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had described Qantar as the last bargaining chip for word on the fate of Israeli airman Ron Arad, who disappeared after bailing out during a bombing run on Lebanon in 1986.
Qantar was captured in 1978 after he carried out an armed attack at Naharia and killed a number of Israelis.
Syria has demanded the return of the Golan Heights, a plateau overlooking Damascus on one side and the Sea of Galilee on the other. Israel captured the territory in a 1967 war, annexing it in 1981 in a move not recognised internationally.
Israeli-Syrian peace talks, last held in 2000 in the United States, collapsed over control of the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee, Israel's biggest reservoir. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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