United Nations Radio

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is deeply satisfied that the humanitarian aspects of the Security Council Resolution ending the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah have finally been met Wednesday.

This comes as a long-anticipated prisoners exchange between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah got underway Wednesday morning, in a diplomatic effort mediated by the United Nations. In the exchange, Israel swapped the bodies of 200 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters and five Lebanese prisoners for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers.

United Nations deputy Spokeswoman Marie Okabe says the Secretary-General expresses his deep appreciation to the work of the UN Facilitator and also thanks the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for their important logistical support.

"The Secretary-General is looking forward to witnessing further positive moves as envisaged during the negotiations. He has received messages to that effect from both the Government of Israel and from the leadership of Hezbollah.

Finally, the Secretary-General hopes that there will be action soon for the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit and of Palestinian prisoners. He believes these steps will contribute to improving the overall humanitarian situation in the region."

Speaking to reporters in Berlin earlier, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed the "hope this will be the beginning of many to come in the future."

This is Donn Bobb reporting for United Nations Radio.

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