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Hagai Hadas
Photo: Moshe Millner, GPO
Noam Shalit
Photo: Gil Yohanan

Report: Amos Gilad in Cairo for talks on Shalit

Arab media reporting head of Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau in Egypt for series of meetings in attempt to secure broad ceasefire agreement with Hamas that may include release of captive Israeli soldier

Amos Gilad, the head of the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau, arrived Thursday in Cairo, Arab media reported citing Egyptian sources.

 

According to reports Gilad's trip is intended to be very brief, and he will return to Israel later in the day. While there he will meet with a number of senior Egyptian officials to discuss developments in the effort to secure a lull between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as well as the negotiations for the release of

captive soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

 

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's hopes for a 'mega lull' in the region have been hampered by the recent tensions between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas. Cairo has been mediating the reconciliation talks for some time now, but the goal date for a deal has been postponed till the end of the month.

On Wednesday the headquarters of the campaign to free Shalit released a statement expressing its disappointment with the government's work to free the captive IDF soldier since it took office 100 days ago.

 

Shimshon Libman, who recently took over as head of the campaign, said he hoped Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would make "sincere efforts to secure the soldier's prompt return."

 

Representatives from the headquarters and Noam Shalit, Gilad's father, are scheduled to meet on Friday with Hagai Hadas, Netanyahu's recent appointment to the position of special envoy to the Shalit negotiations. This will be the first meeting between the two sides since Hadas' company found itself embroiled in a fraud scandal.

 

Too busy for Shalit?

Hadas, a former Mossad official, is a director of SafeSky, which claimed this week it had won a $370 million investment from a Taiwanese company in a miracle medical product it has developed. The alleged purchaser, Micro-Star International Corp., has denied any deal.

 

SafeSky says its 'Life Keeper' heart monitoring patch can be put on the wrist and predict a heart attack a half hour before it occurs. Israeli medical experts have expressed skepticism about the claim, and Israeli newspapers have reported that one of the company's founders, Aharon Klein, has served two prison terms for fraud.

 

Hadas has reassured Israeli media that the business is legitimate. "In the next few days, everyone will see the proof of the deal," he was quoted as saying.

 

The Shalit headquarters has decided not to address the scandal, saying that Hadas' private business affairs have nothing to do with the negotiations and that Hadas' integrity is not being questioned.

 

But the issue is certainly expected to be broached at Friday's meeting, and the Shalit activists are expecting Hadas to be upfront about any possible backlash he foresees the scandal may have on the negotiation efforts – namely whether Hadas will be able to give the talks his full attention as he struggles to defend his company's reputation.

 


פרסום ראשון: 07.09.09, 17:46
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