Last update - 00:00 08/01/2008
Hamas: Barghouti among prisoners we want freed for Gilad Shalit
By The Associated Press
Hamas has added Fatah/Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti to a list of prisoners it wants released in exchange for captured Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, a senior Damascus-based Hamas official said Tuesday.
Barghouti's name was on Hamas' list of prisoners it demanded be released in exchange for Shalit, Mohammed Nazzal, a member of Hamas' political bureau, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. Nazzal did not indicate whether the list had been sent to Israel.
A senior government official told the AP in Jerusalem on Tuesday that Barghouti's release was not on the table at the current time. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.
On Saturday, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai became the latest high-ranking official to publicly support Barghouti's release, despite the government's declared policy of not freeing prisoners involved in attacks on Israelis.
National Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, a former defense minister, and Environment Minister Gideon Ezra, a former deputy chief of the Shin Bet security service, have also endorsed freeing Barghouti.
Israel is holding some 9,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Barghouti, viewed as a potential successor to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, is serving five consecutive life terms in prison for masterminding the killing of four Israelis and a Greek monk in West Bank attacks.
Nazzal said Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Meshal hopes to lead a delegation to Egypt to negotiate the prisoner exchange. Egypt has been negotiating between Hamas and Israel for the release of the soldier.
"There is no definite schedule for a visit, but there is a plan for a visit," said Nazzal. "We hope it will take place soon, but until now no date has been set."
Speaking in Damascus on Friday, Meshal said Shalit would not be released until Palestinians held in Israeli jails were freed. He did not give further details.