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French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting in Paris last week.
 (Reuters)
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Last update - 09:24 29/06/2009
Sarkozy: No Shalit deal unless Israel frees jailed Palestinians
By Avi Issacharoff and Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondents
Tags: nicolas sarkozy, hamas 

During their meeting in Paris last week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he should seek the assistance of Syria and Qatar to speed up the talks for releasing abducted soldier Gilad Shalit.

Sarkozy said France could ask the leaders of the two Arab countries to seek Hamas' consent for either a sign of life from Shalit or permission for a visit by the Red Cross.

Sarkozy also told Netanyahu that during the Olmert administration he had contributed to exchanges on the Shalit affair through his ties with Syrian President Bashar Assad and the Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa. Both leaders have regular contact with Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshal, who is based in Damascus.
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Sarkozy also told Netanyahu that the release of Shalit, who has been held in Gaza for three years now, is "key to a change in the situation in the area." But Sarkozy also stressed that "you will have to release prisoners, otherwise there will be no deal."

Meanwhile, at the cabinet meeting Sunday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak refuted reports of a breakthrough in the negotiations to bring Shalit home.

"Not a day goes by that we do not think of Gilad Shalit," he said. "Not a day goes by that the best minds in the country are not working on the issue.

"The reports are not correct and they may even be damaging, and in this matter the less we talk and the more we focus on doing, the better."

Hamas also issued an official statement denying any progress on Shalit. The Hamas official assigned to the Shalit case, Osama al-Muzaini, said there had been no progress on the matter since Netanyahu assumed office.

Muzaini said no new Israeli offer on Shalit had been received, though the soldier was alive and had received the letter sent to him by his family through former U.S. president Jimmy Carter.

Regarding the negotiations, Muzaini said the latest Israeli offer had been for the release of 325 prisoners out of a list of 450 demanded by Hamas. However, he said Israel demanded that 125 of the 325 prisoners would be exiled from the West Bank.

Muzaini said that many of the prisoners had been imprisoned for life, and that Israel had offered to release 550 others who had been jailed for five to seven years. Their terms would be completed soon.

Contract negotiator

Unlike his predecessors, the newly appointed Israeli negotiator to win Shalit's release, Hagai Hadas, is employed as an external consultant and is being paid by the Prime Minister's Office, Channel 10 reported yesterday.

The contract for his employment is for a year, starting this month. The total remuneration stands at NIS 22,684 per year.

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  • Hamas: No truth in media storm over Shalit deal
  • Shalit transfer to Egypt is imminent
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      1.   Emperor Sarkozy I and his delusions 05:52  |  Mark Lincoln 29/06/09
      2.   Syria has been so helpful in the past 06:11  |  David K 29/06/09
      3.   Living in Gaza for three years is not so bad 06:16  |  Natallie Durson 29/06/09
      4.   Sarkozy calls-a-spade-a-spade... hark to him... 07:49  |  Esther 29/06/09
      5.   Sarkozy 08:02  |  MR 29/06/09
      6.   Mr. Sarcosy, all the good in your work 08:16  |  Miron 29/06/09
      7.   Funny how Israel always has the keys 08:32  |  Alon 29/06/09
      8.   Gilad is French 08:41  |  Freddy 29/06/09
      9.   I agree. But how many? One? Maybe two? 08:46  |  Cesare 29/06/09
      10.   This is newsworthy?? 09:30  |  John 29/06/09
      11.   Dead or alive ?? 09:37  |  GA 29/06/09
      12.   In the West, we are used to thinking that Israel cannot ... 09:55  |  Lane 29/06/09
      13.   protective custody 10:26  |  abraham 29/06/09
      14.   Lane, blockades and building settlements are not Western values 10:30  |  Miggy 29/06/09
      15.   Is there any country in the World France has ever helped ? 11:03  |  Absolute Sweden 29/06/09
      16.   Haaretz Selective Censorship 11:45  |  Ricahrd 29/06/09
      17.   Sarkozy 12:11  |  Nili 29/06/09
      18.   As the occupier, Israel has no right to expel anyone 12:36  |  Zero tolerance. 29/06/09
      19.   #4 Lane in TA--you are not in Europe or the West 12:43  |  Zero tolerance. 29/06/09
      20.   Absolute sweden & Nili 12:46  |  Tip 29/06/09
      21.   Sarkozy, Jewish? 21:01  |  Tarzan 29/06/09
      22.   absolute sweden 15 04:46  |  potobac 30/06/09
      23.   miggy in ireland:look to your own first 04:03  |  Arie 02/07/09
      24.   #3: How can be people be so stupid 07:30  |  Susan 04/07/09
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