Moussa Abu Marzouk
Photo: AP
Gilad Shalit
Photo: Noam Rotem
Hamas delegates in Egypt to discuss Shalit deal
Terror group delegation to hold talks with Egyptian officials on possible prisoner swap in exchange for kidnapped IDF soldier’s release; deputy leader of Hamas’ political bureau in Syria rejects charges that group obstructed prisoner swap with Israel in the past
A delegation of the Hamas Palestinian militant group arrived in Cairo late Monday for talks with Egyptian officials about a possible prisoner swap in exchange for the release of a captured Israeli soldier, a senior Hamas leader said.
Imad al-Alami, Hamas’ representative in Syria, and lawmaker Mushir al-Masri, the spokesman for Hamas in the Gaza Strip, were heading the delegation that landed in Cairo, an Egyptian airport official said.
The delegates were due to meet with Egyptian chief of intelligence Omar Suleiman to talk about the soldier and the formation of a Palestinian national unity government, said Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy leader of Hamas’ political bureau in Syria.
Hamas Leader
Sources in Hamas deny Egyptian presidential spokesman's declaration that visit of group's politburo chief will take place in coming days. Meanwhile, Iranian foreign minister meets with Mashaal, says 'continuing fight against occupiers is the only possible method of resistance'
Abu Marzouk said Hamas’ political leader, Khaled Mashaal, who lives in exile in Syria, would not be attending the talks.
Some progress has been made regarding the possible exchange of Cpl. Gilad Shalit for Palestinians held in Israeli jails, Abu Marzouk said, but there are problems hindering the deal. They include the timing, names and numbers of Palestinian prisoners to be released, he said. Shalit was captured June 25 and is believed to be held in the Gaza Strip.
His abduction sparked an Israeli military offensive there that has killed more than 200 Palestinians. In Jerusalem on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said no prisoners would be released as long as Shalit remained in captivity.
'Historic blunder'
Olmert was talking to lawmakers about efforts to set a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has demanded that Israel commit itself to a prisoner release as a condition for such a meeting.
“I can’t release prisoners so long as Gilad Shalit is captured,” Olmert said, according to lawmakers. In Damascus, Abu Marzouk said prisoner swap talks were now centering on the release in three stages of 1,400 Palestinian prisoners in Israel, including 400 children and women, in exchange for Shalit.
Egypt has been attempting to negotiate his release, and Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, visiting Cairo earlier this month, said his government accepted Egypt’s conditions for a prisoner swap but blamed Mashaal for the deal’s collapse.
Abu Marzouk rejected charges that Hamas has obstructed a prisoner swap with Israel in the past. He also accused the moderate Fatah party of blocking attempts to form a Palestinian national unity government, calling the Palestinian Authority’s recognition of Israel “A historic blunder” which the ruling Hamas would never repeat.
The tensions between the Hamas-led Palestinian government and the Fatah party have escalated in recent months in the Palestinian territories, sparking armed street clashes in which scores have been killed or wounded. Fatah has advocated recognizing Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state on parts of the West Bank and Gaza. But Hamas has refused, and talks over forming a power-sharing government have stalled over the issue.
