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Report: Deal for Shalit's release to be announced Sunday

Saudi newspaper Okaz reports that prisoner swap deal will be on its way within next day, during which time Shalit will be transferred to Egyptians, Israel will release Hamas ministers. Report is not confirmed by any other source, joining series of contradictory reports published this week. Senior Palestinian official: More time needed to seal deal

Saturday morning Saudi newspaper Okaz reported, "Gilad Shalit will be transferred Sunday to the Egyptian regime." According to the report, the prisoner swap deal will be on its way within the next 24 hours, during which time Israel will release the Hamas ministers and members of parliament being detained in Israel.

 

Sunday the release of Cpl. Gilad Shalit will be announced, thus initiating a process in which Israel will release 740 Palestinian prisoners in two stages.

 

According to the report, which has yet to be confirmed by any other source, the first stage of releasing prisoners will be carried out by the end of the month, along with the establishment of a Palestinian national unity government. During this stage, women and prisoners under the age of 18 will be released.

 

In the second stage, which will be completed by the end of October, hundreds more Palestinian prisoners from an array of Palestinian organizations will be released.

 

Palestinian sources reported that the prisoner swap deal between Israel and the Palestinian organizations will start to be carried out secretly in Amman, Jordan within the next day.

 

'More time needed' 

In the meantime, a senior Palestinian official estimated in an interview with Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram that more time is needed to seal the Shalit deal. According to him, a new Palestinian unity government will be formed prior to the release of the Hamas ministers and members of parliament, and before the release of Shalit is solved.

 

The Palestinian official estimated that about another three weeks are needed.

 

In recent weeks, a slew of Arab newspapers have published numerous reports on the planned deal between Israel and the Palestinians on Shalit. Some of the reports contradicted one another, and about half of them turned out to be untrue.

 

For instance, the influential London-based newspaper al-Hayat reported a number of days ago that Shalit had already been transferred to the Egyptians. Following denial from many high-ranking officials, one of the newspaper's editors apologized for the mistake saying he did not sufficiently check his facts.

 

Palestinian sources are also continuously claiming that there have been substantial advancements in contacts between the two sides, but it has as of yet to be clarified whether or not they have resulted in any sort of agreed upon deal.

 

Secret meeting

Only Friday, Hamas figure in the Palestinian Authority Ziad Abu al-Ainin reported that two sides had concluded the details of the deal that would be soon carried out, saying that the deal would be sealed once solid Egyptian guarantors and American aid would be secured.

 

However, in the same breath, he added that the deal was already slated to be carried out, but didn't actualize due to problems that he did not elaborate.

 

According to sources quoted by the Saudi newspaper, the delay in carrying out the deal stems from a disagreement on the names of some of the Palestinian prisoners to be released in the second stage of the deal.

 

The same sources noted that a secret meeting was held Tuesday in the Jordanian capital between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman. During the meeting, the two discussed the details of transferring the Israeli soldier to Egyptian hands.

 

As well, the sources revealed that a similar meeting was held between Abbas and Israeli Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin in order to discuss the prisoner swap arrangements between the two sides.

 

Reports of the meeting between Abbas and an Israeli official in Jordan were reported already earlier this week by a Palestinian source.

 

The source said that the Palestinian president was meeting an Israeli official in Amman, even though there were no exceptional developments necessitating his return to the city.

 

According to the source, only the Shalit affair or meeting with a senior Israeli official on the matter could be reason for Abbas' rushed flight to Jordan.

 

Confidence Building Measures

Thursday a foreign source involved in the contacts for Shalit's release said that the contacts were had entered into an advanced phase, and that negotiations were the most encouraging since Shalit's kidnapping at the end of June.

 

According to this same source who is deeply involved in the mediation between Israel and the Palestinians, a number of confidence building measures were expected by Israel in the next stage.

 

Palestinian newspaper al-Ayyam reported on Friday that Egypt hand over to Israel a letter written by Gilad Shalit, telling his father that he is alive and well. The newspaper said the letter is the first sign of life from Shalit since his kidnapping in a cross border attack on June 25.

 

A Hamas delegation headed by the group's Gaza politburo Imad al-Alami handed the letter to Egypt two days ago. The letter was delivered to Israel on Friday by Egyptian diplomats.

 

Hamas insists that lawmakers arrested by Israel after Shalit's kidnapping, as well as Fatah's Marwan Barghouti and Popular Resistance Committee leader Ahmad Saadat, be released part of an exchange deal with Israel.

 

The newspaper reported that Israel refused to discuss a prisoner exchange deal with the Palestinians before receiving proof that Shalit is alive.

 

The report said that former deputy Shin Bet head Ofer Dekel, who was appointed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to negotiate Shalit's release, traveled to Cairo two days ago where he was handed the letter.

 

Noam Shalit refused to comment on the report, saying "It could be competition between Arab journalists, or misinformation by Hamas people."

 

Shalit added that Arab media reports about his son have been erroneous.

 

"I am sure that concrete developments, whenever they may happen, won't be published in any media apparatus, and that's how things should be," he said.

 


פרסום ראשון: 09.16.06, 10:56
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