Israel may free Palestinian militant leader Mr Marwan Barghouthi in a prisoner-exchange deal with Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbullah, a senior Israeli security source said today.
He said a deal involving hundreds of prisoners, mainly Palestinians, was "in the making with the definite possibility Barghouthi will be included. An agreement could be struck soon, but it's not fixed yet".
Israel has been seeking the release by Hizbullah of an Israeli businessman and the bodies of three soldiers believed to have died after capture, as well as information at least on the fate of an Israeli airman shot down over Lebanon in 1986.
Hizbullah has sought the release of Lebanese, Palestinians, Syrians and Jordanians held by Israel.