LETTER BY RON ARAD

The AFP reports that the Hezbollah handed over a letter by Ron Arad:

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah has given Israel a letter written by an air force navigator who has been missing for more than 20 years, an Israeli newspaper reported on Monday.

Written by Ron Arad to his wife in 1986 shortly after he was captured in Lebanon during the civil war, the letter was handed over to Israel as part of a prisoner and body swap with Hezbollah last week.

His wife Tami confirmed the letter was from her husband by the handwriting and the intimate endearments they used for each other, Israel's top-selling Yediot Aharonot newspaper reported.

Arad has been missing since he ejected from an fighter-bomber in 1986 during Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war. He was captured by another Shiite movement, Amal, headed by Nabih Berri who is now speaker of the Lebanese parliament.

Israel refuses to declare Arad officially dead. In January 2006, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said he was probably dead although he had no proof.

That Berri should be declared an international criminal for his part in Arad's abduction. And he may be one who knows of Arad's exact whereabouts too.