Hamas: No serious dialogue on Shalit deal
Moussa Abu Marzouk stresses recent reports on progress in prisoner swap deal baseless, blames Israel for deadlock
Hamas' deputy politburo chief Moussa Abu Marzouk said Monday that there has been no progress in efforts to strike a prisoner swap deal with Israel. Various reports throughout the past week have indicated progress in efforts to release captive soldier Gilad Shalit.
"No serious dialogue regarding an exchange deal has started," Marzouk said in an interview with al-Arabiya. "When Israel becomes more serious the other sides will be ready for a dialogue," he said.
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The Hamas official further claimed that reports of progress in swap deal negotiations are baseless and "affect the prisoners' relatives." He expressed Hamas' desire to keep the issue far from the media eye.
On Sunday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Egypt's leader Mohamed Tantawi discussed the Shalit deal.
State officials told Ynet that the Shalit deal is at a sensitive stage and is back on the negotiating table after a long period of deadlock. They claimed that Egypt "was back in the game" following the political upheaval.
Roee Nahmias contributed to this report
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