Rev. Jesse Jackson discusses prisoner exchange with Hamas leader

Veteran civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson met with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Syria and offered to mediate an Israeli-Palestinian prisoner swap, a senior official of the Palestinian group said Monday.

During their meeting Sunday night, Jackson offered to broker a deal "to release the Israeli soldier captured by the Palestinian resistance, and Mashaal welcomed his mediation," said Mohammed Nazzal, a member of Hamas' political bureau. Palestinian militants in Gaza captured an Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, in a cross-border raid on June 25. 

According to Nazzal, Mashaal stressed that Shalit would only be released in exchange for Palestinians jailed in Israel, and that their release must be simultaneous.  He called the meeting between Mashaal and Jackson "frank, important and useful."

Mashaal and other Hamas political leaders live in exile in Syria. His group refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and is labeled a terrorist organization by the United States.  Hamas runs the Palestinian government in the West Bank and Gaza, and holds a majority in the Palestinian parliament.

Jackson was in Damascus on the first leg of a tour to meet with Syrian, Lebanese and Israeli officials and appeal to them to stick to a UN-brokered ceasefire that ended 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hizbullah. 

Hizbollah operatives captured two Israeli soldiers in a raid across Israel's northern border on July 12, which started the war. Hizbullah said it took them to trade for three Lebanese prisoners in Israel.

At a news conference Sunday with Syrian deputy foreign minister Fayssal Mekdad, Jackson said he also brought up the subject of an Israel-Hizbullah prisoner swap in his discussions with Syrian leaders.

Jackson was leading a 10-member ecumenical delegation representing Jewish, Muslim, Roman Catholic and Protestant Groups on his Middle East tour.  He was due to arrive in Lebanon late Monday.