TEL AVIV, June 7: Israeli forensic experts have determined that human remains handed over by the Hezbollah are not those of missing airman Ron Arad, who bailed out over Lebanon in 1986.

Israel demands to know Arad's fate before it frees Samir al Qantar, a Lebanese serving a 542-year prison term over the killing of four Israelis in 1979, in the second stage of a German-mediated prisoner exchange.

In the first stage in January, Hezbollah turned over an Israeli businessman and the bodies of three soldiers in exchange for the release of 400 Palestinian prisoners and the bodies of 60 Lebanese and other Arab fighters.

Arad was held for two years by the Amal faction before he went missing. A picture of him, bearded and gaunt, was circulated a short time after his capture. Beirut-based sources close to the prisoner exchange talks said last month that Arad and three other missing Israeli soldiers were dead. -Reuters