Hezbollah demands truce

Hezbollahon demands immediate ceasefire and talks for prisoner exchange after world diplomats failed to agree an instant truce.

Shia militant group Hezbollah, locked in fierce battles with Israeli forces in south Lebanon, on Wednesday demanded an immediate ceasefire and indirect talks for a prisoner exchange after world diplomats failed to agree on an instant truce.

HT Image

Mohamad Raad, leader of Hezbollah's 14 member parliamentary bloc, said, "The position for the Lebanese government is to establish an immediate and complete ceasefire and to start indirect negotiations for a prisoner exchange.

"Anything other than that is not acceptable," he said in a statement, as representatives of 15 nations met in Rome to address the crisis but failed to agree on an immediate ceasefire.