Barak Blocks Return of Militants' Remains

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has blocked plans to hand over to the Palestinians the remains of 84 militants killed since 1967, a statement from his office said early on Tuesday.

Barak's intervention came just hours after the military confirmed the transfer had been recently approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered a halt to dialogue with the Palestinians about the possibility of transferring the bodies," it said, indicating it was inappropriate in light of the continued captivity of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was snatched by Gaza militants in 2006 and is still being held.

"This is to check and ensure that it is not a case of transferring bodies that it would not be right to hand over in light of the negotiations for the release of Gilad Shalit or for other considerations," it said.

Netanyahu spokesman Mark Regev refused to comment on Barak's intervention, and would not say whether there had been a change in the premier's stance, although he did refer back to the military's statement which spoke of a decision taken "a number of months ago."

Details of the transfer were first revealed on Monday by Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh who told Agence France Presse Israel had given the green light to return the bodies of 84 militants who were killed in armed clashes or in suicide bombings since the 1967 Six Day War.

The announcement was later confirmed by the military which released a statement saying: "A number of months ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the transfer of 84 bodies from the Jordan Valley cemetery of enemy combatants to the Palestinian Authority."

It said the two sides had been holding talks to determine the "execution of the transfer and its exact timing" although it did not refer to the identities of the dead.

Israeli public radio suggested many of them were suicide bombers, including one who carried out a 2003 restaurant bombing in Haifa, which killed 21 people.

The bodies are currently interred in numbered, rather than named, graves in Israel and will have to be identified before they can be returned to their families.

The Palestinian minister said a first batch of 84 would be handed over "in the next few days, after DNA checks."

Salem Khala, a Palestinian campaigner for the return of the militants' remains, said a total of 334 Palestinian combatants were currently buried in Israeli graveyards.