Hezbollah gives coffins to Israel, tests under way

---

ROSH HANIKRA, Israel, July 16 (AP): Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas turned over to Israel two coffins believed to contain the bodies of Israeli soldiers captured two years ago, setting in motion a dramatic prisoner exchange between the bitter enemies Wednesday.

The swap - mediated by a U.N.-appointed German official who shuttled between the sides for 18 months - is likely to be a significant boost for Hezbollah at a time when the guerrillas are regaining their footing following the blows they suffered in a 2006 war against Israel. It also closes a painful chapter for Israel, which launched a war in against Hezbollah response to the soldiers' capture in a cross-border raid.

"We are handing over the two Israeli soldiers that were captured by the resistance ... and whose fate has been unknown until this moment," senior Hezbollah security official Wafik Safa said. "Now you know their fate."

Forensics teams began tests to identify the two bodies in a process that could take several hours, the Israeli army said. Meanwhile, trucks carrying the remains of some 199 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters began crossing into Lebanon as part of the exchange.

If the bodies are confirmed to be those of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, Israel will turn over five Lebanese prisoners to Hezbollah - including a militant convicted in what is perceived here as a monstrous attack.

The Israeli servicemen had been presumed dead, but there had been no confirmation. Their Hezbollah captors had withheld any information about them since they were captured on July 12, 2006.

Family and friends outside the homes of the soldiers burst into tears as they watched on television as Hamas handed over the coffins to the Red Cross.