A spokesman for the Hezbollah party in Lebanon says that it is preparing to hand over the bodies of Israeli soldiers killed in the conflict in southern Lebanon in return for Lebanese prisoners held by the Israelis.

In an interview with the BBC's Arabic Service, the spokesman, Naif Kreiyem, said final arrangements were being made for the exchange of around thirty Hizbollah prisoners in return for what he said would be all the bodies of Israeli soldiers that Hezbollah was holding.