Hezbollah is asking "a price" for information about whether two Israeli soldiers kidnapped by the militant group are still alive, Britain's U.N. ambassador said Thursday.

Emyr Jones Parry's comment comes two days after Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah revealed that "serious negotiations" were taking place over the soldiers, whose capture provoked a 34-day war between Hezbollah and Israel.

"They're asking a price for proof of life," Jones Parry said Thursday.

He gave no details on what he meant by "price."

Nasrallah said in an interview on his group's television channel Al-Manar that a negotiator appointed by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan _ who has not been publicly identified _ had been mediating between Hezbollah and Israeli officials...