Israel pardons Qantar before prisoner swap

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel formally pardoned Lebanese prisoner Samir Qantar on Tuesday, clearing the way for his release through a prisoner swap deal with Lebanon's Hezbollah group scheduled for Wednesday, an official said.

Israeli President Shimon Peres's bureau said in a statement he had "taken this difficult decision" to grant a pardon under the law to the Palestinian serving a life sentence for a lethal 1979 attack, for the sake of freeing two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah guerrillas in 2006.