Israel condemns Qantar on YouTube

Samir Qantar was released from an Israeli jail on Wednesday

Israel's government has posted a video on the website, YouTube, explaining to the Arab world its position on the freed Lebanese militant, Samir Qantar.

Qantar, convicted of murdering three people, had been Lebanon's longest-held prisoner in Israel until Wednesday.

His release, part of an exchange for the remains of two Israeli soldiers, was greeted with jubilation in Lebanon.

But the video says in Arabic that for the rest of the civilised world Qantar is "the most despicable of murderers".

The prisoner exchange agreement has caused controversy in Israel, with some government ministers opposed to exchanging five live Hezbollah prisoners for two bodies.

Qantar was jailed in 1979 for killing a four-year-old Israeli girl, her father and a policeman. The girl's two-year-old sister was accidentally smothered by her mother as they hid.

'Cold-blooded murder'

In the YouTube video, Ofir Gendelman, deputy director of the Arab press and public affairs division in the Israeli foreign ministry, explains who Qantar is and the background to the deal.

"For Hezbollah, Samir Qantar is a first-rate hero, while for Israel and the rest of the civilised world, he is the most despicable of murderers," he says.

The age of waiting for an interview with an Arab station is over Ofir Gendelman Israeli Foreign Ministry

"This is a child killer whom Hezbollah is welcoming with praises, cries and parades. This is a savage murderer, whom you extremists see as a hero.

"Hezbollah is a radical terror organisation that is working under Iranian sponsorship. Hezbollah is proud of cold-blooded murder."

The video ends with the warning that "if Hezbollah tries to carry out another kidnapping, the Israeli response will be tougher than it was in July 2006", when it invaded Lebanon after the capture of the two Israeli soldiers.

Mr Gendelman said the clip was part of a new Israeli initiative to target the Arab world directly through the internet.

"The age of waiting for an interview with an Arab station is over," he told Yedioth Ahronoth. "The aim is to create a dialogue through the channel's talkback mechanism."

Hezbollah's television station, al-Manar, is reporting that the Israelis are also sending voice messages to mobile phones in Lebanon, promising Israeli retaliation for any Hezbollah attack.

The Lebanese minister for telecommunications has said he has ordered his staff to take all necessary steps to stop such a "flagrant violation" of his country's sovereignty.