Pelosi to discuss kidnapped Israelis with Syrian president

April 1, 2007

Jerusalem - U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she will bring up the plight of Israeli soldiers kidnapped by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah during her delegation's upcoming visit to Syria.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she will bring up the plight of Israeli soldiers kidnapped by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah during her delegation's upcoming visit to Syria.

Hezbollah has strong support from Syria. The Islamist militant group's abduction of two Israeli soldiers from inside Israel last summer sparked a war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Speaking to a dinner of the Knesset in Jerusalem, Pelosi displayed I.D. tags of three Israeli soldiers -- Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, held by Hezbollah, and Gilad Shalit, who was abducted by Hamas militants last year in a cross-border raid into Israel from Gaza. The Hamas militant group has leadership in Syria and support from the Syrian government.

Pelosi said the tags were given to her by Goldwasser's wife Karnit during a visit to Washington. She said she displays them prominently in her office, and tells visitors about "the priority that my colleagues and I" place in securing their safe return.