US hails lifting of air restrictions

Washington: The US administration has welcomed the lifting of the blockade describing it as a "long overdue" move, an American official said on Thursday.

"It is good. The blockade should have ended a long, long time ago, but this is very good news," said Alberto Fernandez, director of Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of Near East Affairs, US State Department.

"We have all been working, the international community, the US, the Lebanese government to lift the blockade and to have the requirement needed for further implementing UN resolution 1701," he added in an interview with Gulf News.

The UN is mediating negotiations between Israel and Hezbollah, which has demanded an exchange of Arab prisoners for the two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah.

Asked whether the US was playing a role in the exchange discussions, Fernandez said, "We don't speak to Hezbollah directly, and we have nothing to do with that."

However, he admitted talking to the group indirectly by saying, " I think everyone speaks to everyone indirectly in the world."