Jerusalem bomb kills 10, prisoner swap goes ahead

Sharon was at his ranch at the time. Police said the bomb was packed with nuts and bolts to maximise casualties. ‘‘It was like a pastoral scene — the sun was shining and it was serene outside — but the bus was a nightmare,’’ said witness Drora Resnick.

Hours after the blast, Israel released some 400 Palestinian prisoners into the West Bank and Gaza, and returned over its border with Lebanon the bodies of 59 Lebanese and Arab fighters killed during a 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon.

Some of the prisoners knelt in prayer as they alighted from Israeli tour buses and others waved farewell to jailers who watched them go.

‘‘Most of those freed were due to be freed in a few months’ time anyway,’’ said released prisoner Annam Sayel, 20, who was sentenced in August 2002 to 28 months in jail for throwing petrol bombs and stones at soldiers.

The key to the German-mediated deal was the identification at a Cologne air base of the bodies of three Israeli soldiers handed over by Hizbollah with abducted Israeli businessman Elhanan Tannenbaum.

-Reuters