Lebanese militia releases Muslim prisoners as Israelis retreat

May 23, 2000
Web posted at: 8:41 a.m. EDT (1241 GMT)

In this story: Pullout met with mixed emotions Hezbollah demands return of land RELATED STORIES, SITES

METULLA, Israel (CNN) -- In the wake of the Israeli army's exodus from south Lebanon, the Israel-allied Lebanese militia released all the inmates at the infamous El-Khiam prison on Tuesday, Israeli sources said.

The South Lebanon Army, which in some parts of the region has fallen into disarray as their allies abandon the Israeli-declared "security zone" on the Israel-Lebanon border, handed over control of the prison to the International Red Cross, which freed the prisoners to return to their homes.

MESSAGE BOARD Israeli withdrawal     AUDIO Beirut Bureau Chief Brent Sadler reports from southern Lebanon that the Israeli withdrawal from its self-styled "security zone" has begun in a much more chaotic way than the Israeli government envisioned 524K/48 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Lebanese Information Minister Anwar Khalil says South Lebanon Army members should turn themselves in to Lebanese authorities 447K/41 sec. AIFF or WAV sound    VIDEO Beirut Bureau Chief Brent Sadler describes the collapse of much of the South Lebanon Army. Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Jerrold Kessel is on the Israel-Lebanon border as troops return to Israel. (May 23) QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     RESOURCES CNN In-depth Special: Mideast Struggle for Peace

The prison, on the border near Metulla, housed some 140 mostly Shiite Muslim prisoners.

Israeli soldiers began withdrawing from the disputed territory early Tuesday, well ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's July 7 deadline.

Barak failed in attempts to make the withdrawal part of an overall peace agreement with Syria and Lebanon, and decided to pull out of the occupied territory unilaterally. The prime minister's Cabinet authorized the early pullout late Monday.

"This 18-year tragedy is over," said Barak, who made the withdrawal a cornerstone of his election campaign last year.

But as the Israelis began a pullout that Barak said would likely be complete in 10 days, the SLA collapsed. Abandoning their arms, equipment and bases to advancing guerrillas, hundreds of militia members and their families fled across the border into Israel, seeking asylum. They are considered traitors by the Lebanese government and the guerrillas.

Reaction to the withdrawal was mixed -- soldiers and their families celebrated the troops' return to Israeli soil, while Israelis living in northern Israel took to bomb shelters, fearing attacks from Hezbollah and Amal guerrillas who rushed to fill the vacuum left by the departing Israelis and Lebanese.

"I am afraid," said Eitan Davidi, director of a cooperative farming community on the border. "It is said that the Israeli army is the strongest in the Middle East, and it just can't be that in 2000 it will be in the back and we will be on the front line."

But Shoshannah Greenberg, whose son Tzahi died four months ago at an Israeli outpost in the security zone, said she had always been "in favor of a withdrawal."

"I am in favor of (the army) protecting us from our area, not from beyond the border," she said. "Eighteen years is a long time. Every soldier that fell hurt me very personally, and then it happened to my son."

The Israeli army said that more than 900 Israeli soldiers have been killed in south Lebanon since the Israelis first invaded in 1978. Since 1985, when the security zone was established, about 250 Israelis have been killed.

The departing soldiers celebrated their return to Israel, many phoning their families with the simple message, "I'm home."

"'A stone has been lifted from my heart,'" a young soldier reported as his mother's response.

Across the border, Lebanese Muslims also celebrated.

"This is the happiest day of my life. I could not be happier," said Zeinab Samhat, who was 12 when the occupation began. "I never thought that this day would come."

Prisoners at the El-Khiam prison, located on the border near Metulla, Israel, were released by the SLA on Tuesday

Hezbollah, meanwhile, claimed victory over Israel and pledged to keep fighting until the South Lebanon Army was defunct and all prisoners held by Israelis and the SLA were released.

Syria, also, said the withdrawal represented "a total failure and disaster" for Israel.

To fill the void left by the departing Israelis and Lebanese, the U.N. Security Council was on the verge of adopting Secretary-General Kofi Annan's plan to increase the number of U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon. There are currently 4,500 U.N. troops there, and Annan wants to boost the number to 5,600 and eventually 7,500.

Hezbollah guerrillas and the Lebanese government also demanded the return of disputed territory near the Golan Heights called Shebaa Farms.

"Shebaa Farms is undoubtedly Lebanese land, and we will never abandon it," said Prime Minister Selim al-Hoss. "But we will not be a stumbling block on the path of withdrawal of the occupation forces."

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said the guerrillas would not rest until Israel returned the land it took in the 1967 war.

"If the Israelis stay in the Shebaa Farms and keep any Lebanese prisoner ... we at Hezbollah will deal with the withdrawal as if it did not happen, and we have to fight to liberate our country," he said.

Beirut Bureau Chief Brent Sadler, Correspondent Jerrold Kessel, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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