NYT: “Secretary General Kofi Annan said Monday that the United Nations would mediate talks on the release of Israeli and Hezbollah prisoners…. Mr. Annan said the talks would be conducted discreetly, with the goal of setting up the “mechanism” to effect the release of prisoners from both sides, which he said he hoped would be the first step in more thorough-going talks involving Israel and Lebanon. He also said he would insist on control of the negotiation and no interference from outside.”
