ISRAEL - Apr 23 - Olmert Admits 'No Escape' From Prisoner Swap.

PM Ehud Olmert says his government will not repeat past mistakes by releasing prisoners who then carried out more attacks against Israelis. Speaking during his Memorial Day speeches, Olmert touched on the issue of possible prisoner swap deals for the release of an Israeli soldier held by Palestinian militants in Gaza and for two others held by Hizbullah in Lebanon. However, the premier admitted there would be "no escape in the end from making a difficult decision" on trading prisoners for the captured Israeli troops. In Lebanon, a top Hizbullah official said UN-mediated negotiations on a prisoner swap are going on in a "serious" manner, but so far there have been no results. Hizbullah number two Shaikh Naim Qassem said the two Israeli soldiers, captured by Hizbullah on July 12, triggering last summer's war, would be released only in exchange for freedom of all Lebanese prisoners held in Israel. "The negotiations are serious and when they reach any result, it will be announced, because we have agreed not to announce details of the negotiations to secure their success and to keep them away from political and media blackmail", Qassem said. UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the war on August 14, called for an unconditional release of the two soldiers. On the same day the two Israelis were captured, Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah told a news conference that the two soldiers would be released only through a prisoner exchange with Israel. Israel had initially rejected calls for a prisoner swap to secure the soldiers' freedom, calling instead for their unconditional release. It later accepted UN mediation in the case. An unidentified special UN envoy dispatched last September by then-UN Sec Gen Kofi Annan has been mediating between Hizbullah and Israel on a possible exchange of prisoners. Hizbullah has not released any details on the conditions of the two soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, or provided any sign that they are still alive since their capture. Earlier in the month, Hizbullah politburo member Mahmoud Qmati reportedly told an Arab-Israeli newspaper that the prisoners were receiving humane treatment. However, Hizbullah denied the report and said Qmati had told the Arabic-language Al-Sennara "he was not authorized to speak on the subject". Qassem hoped the indirect negotiations between Israel and the resistance party would end "quickly and in a better way", stressing that all Lebanese prisoners must be freed in any deal. "We are committed to this slogan regardless of the patience and sacrifices we endure. We are confident that the Israelis will eventually comply", he said. Qassem was speaking at a Hizbullah rally in a mosque in Beirut's war-devastated southern suburbs to mark the 28th anniversary of Samir Kantar's captivity in Israel. Kantar, the dean of Lebanese prisoners, is serving a 542-year prison sentence in Israel for killing three Israelis during an attack in 1979. "There can be no solution to the prisoners' issue except through an equal exchange that will release our prisoners, on top of them is Samir Kantar", Qassem said, drawing cheers from the crowd which included Kantar's mother as well as family members. Israel says it will not release Kantar until it receives information about Ron Arad, an air force navigator who went missing after his plane was shot down over Lebanon in 1986. His fate is unknown. Israel and Hizbullah have had prisoner swaps in the past.