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World Jewish News
Top Hamas officials head to Cairo for Shalit talks
13.08.2009
Senior Egyptian sources say a Hamas delegation that is negotiating over the release of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit will soon leave Gaza for Cairo to continue with the talks.
The sources declined to say who was in the delegation but indicated that the Israeli special envoy for the Shalit case, Haggai Hadas, is also expected in Cairo.
Hadas was last in the Egyptian capital last month. According to the Egyptians, the most important element in sealing a deal is intensive talks under Egyptian mediation.
Mahmoud al-Zahar, one of four members of the Hamas team that conducted intensive indirect negotiations with Israeli envoy Ofer Dekel and Shin Bet security service chief Yuval Diskin in March, has been in Cairo for the past several days. He was joined in March by the head of the Hamas military wing, Ahmed al-Jabari, as well as Marwan Issa and Nizar Awadallah, who are also from the military wing.
It is not certain, however, that the three have joined Zahar this time.
The minister for prisoner affairs in the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, Mohammed al-Ghul, said on Wednesday that the "Israeli occupation will soon give in to the conditions demanded by Gilad Shalit's captors for his release."
In a conversation with a Hamas prisoner from Tul Karm who was released after years in detention in Israel, Ghul said Israel would free the prisoners on the list that Hamas gave the Egyptians and which includes longtime detainees, as well as women, children and prisoners sentenced to life terms.
Without their release there will be no deal, he added. Shalit was serving in the Israel Defense Forces when he was abducted on the Gaza border in 2006.
Some progress made
The London-based newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported Wednesday that according to Egyptian sources, some progress had been made in contacts for Shalit's release. But the sources say progress in the case has not been dramatic.
They report a positive direction in the contacts because Israel has agreed to resume indirect talks with Hamas where they left off in Cairo in March, when Ehud Olmert was due to end his term as prime minister. According to the report, the progress is a result of decisions by the current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Western Wall prayer
Wednesday, a rally and prayer session was held at the Western Wall in Jerusalem for Shalit to mark his 23rd birthday according to the Hebrew calendar.
The prayers were led by former Israeli chief rabbi Israel Meir Lau, who is now chief rabbi of Tel Aviv.
When asked at the gathering whether he was optimistic, Gilad Shalit's father, Noam, replied, "If we were optimistic, we wouldn't have come to pray."
By Avi Issacharoff
Источник: Haaretz
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