Last update - 00:00 15/11/2006
Groups holding Shalit blame Israel for impasse release of IDF soldier
By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent
GAZA - Negotiations on a prisoner exchange that would free abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit have been halted, and Israel is to blame for the impasse, spokesmen for the groups who kidnapped Shalit charged Tuesday.
Abu Obaydeh, a spokesman for Hamas' military wing, told Haaretz that Israel had withdrawn its consent to certain elements of an emerging agreement that it had previously accepted, and that is why the talks were halted. Among other things, he said, Israel is refusing to allow the Palestinian organizations to decide which prisoners from their ranks Israel should release as part of the exchange; instead, it insists it decide which prisoners to free.
Abu Mujhad, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees - which carried out the kidnapping together with Hamas - offered a slightly different nuance: He said that the negotiations had slowed rather than stopped completely. However, he also blamed Israel and cited its refusal to allow the Palestinians to draw up the list of the prisoners to be freed. In addition, he said, Israel is refusing to release Palestinian prisoners simultaneously with Shalit; it wants Shalit freed first.
Abu Mujhad added that Shalit is alive and being well treated.
Khaled Meshal, head of Hamas' political bureau, took the hardest line: He charged that Israel rejects the idea of a deal over Shalit in principle, even though it is talking with several European mediators.