Abbas flies to Jordan
Photo: AP
Kidnapped soldier, Gilad Shalit
Photo: Noam Rotem
Palestinian source: Abbas flies to Jordan to meet Israeli official
Palestinian source says to Ynet that Palestinian president has left for Amman once again in order to promote solution of kidnapped soldier affair. There were no outstanding developments that necessitated his return to Jordan, source says
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to meet, or has already met, a senior Israeli security officer in Jordan in order to promote a solution to the affair of kidnapped soldier, Gilad Shalit, a Palestinian source said to Ynet.
The source said that there were no outstanding developments that necessitated Abbas, who met with the Jordanian leadership a few days ago, to return to Amman on which to update the Jordanians. According to him, only the Shalit issue or meeting with a senior Israeli security officer could provide reason for the president's rushed flight to Jordan.
About two months ago, London-based newspaper al-Hayat reported that Abbas left urgently for Jordan in order to meet with Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin. According to the report, Israel announced officially for the first time at the meeting its willingness to perform a prisoner swap in which hundreds of Palestinian prisoners would be exchanged for Shalit's release.
The assumption is that contacts between Abbas and Israel are being renewed Tuesday night in order to secure Shalit's release following the expected establishment of a Palestinian unity government, based on the Prisoners' Document.
The Palestinian Authority hopes that recent diplomatic contacts, in which many European figures were involved, will also create a breakthrough in the Shalit kidnapping affair.
Nonetheless, the Palestinian source said that the central key to the whole issue remains in the hands of Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal, who claims that there are no serious prisoner swap negotiations being held.
The source estimates that during the meeting with Israeli security figures, the issue of presidential guard Mahmoud Tamra Abu Awad, arrested a month ago by the IDF near Ramallah, is also likely to come up. Abbas expressed his resentment at the arrest of Tamra, considered one of the leading security figures in the PA, and an associate of Abbas.
His arrest was made, according to senior officials in the PA, despite understandings that allowed granting Tamra travel documents even though he is wanted for his activities at the start of the Intifada.
